Renowned Historian and political scientist Professor Nyacheio Bogonko says Jubilee government ‘survived an embarrassment’ following the imminent collapse of proposed referendum by opposition Cord.
The Independent Boundaries and Electoral Commission on Tuesday announced that the opposition did not manage to collect a million authentic signatures as one of the prerequisite to moving on with the process.
In an exclusive interview with us on Wednesday, Bogonko said the government was headed for an embarrassing defeat if the referendum went through due to its inability to tackle a host of social-economic challenges.
“In my view, Jubilee government has survived an embarrassment and they should thank IEBC for that," said Bogonko.
"I do not know the next step for Cord but all I know is that crafting a successful referendum delayed the entire process making it difficult for the opposition to continue with their plans,” he said.
“The Okoa Kenya Bill was cleverly drafted and it touched on essential needs for the people and I am sure it was going to go through," said Bogonko.
"Devolution is taking roots at the grassroots and many Kenyan are ready to see it make an impact despite a myriad of challenges it’s facing. Cord wants more resources devolved,” Bogonko added.
According to the University of London-educated professor, the inability of Jubilee government to tackle corruption and insecurity are also among the reasons Kenyans would have voted for Okoa Kenya as a warm up for 2017 polls.
“We would have seen a similar scenario to what we saw in 2005. The government has been unable to fight corruption and secure the nation so Cord would have taken the day," said the professor.
"The victory in the referendum would have also put them in a good position to floor government in 2017 polls,” he said.
Bogonko however, believes IEBC’s decision to thwart the plebiscite on technical grounds would have serious repercussions including its eventual collapse.
“They (IEBC) may have saved Jubilee from a possible embarrassment but I think they are not yet off the hook. We will witness a lot of things before 2017 and that includes IEBC’s possible disbandment due to political pressure,” he said.