Why was the Building Bridges Initiative constitutional amendment bill rejected by Kenya’s Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court of Kenya ruled that the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) constitutional amendment bill was unconstitutional primarily because of the involvement of then-President Uhuru Kenyatta in the process.1

The court determined that Kenyatta improperly utilized a constitutional provision designated for ordinary citizens to initiate amendments, rather than one appropriate for a sitting president. Because the president was found to have bypassed the correct legal framework for constitutional changes, the Supreme Court—following similar rulings by the High Court and the Court of Appeals—declared the bill unconstitutional, effectively halting the effort to implement the BBI’s recommendations.12