The Star portal assured that the highest court was thus eliminating the initiative to Build Bridges, which Kenyatta had promoted as a request from the population.
However, he clarified that the body had left a window open for eventual amendments to the 2010 Magna Carta, which has since made more than 21 attempts (two by Kenyatta) to reform it.
For the Nairobi news, it’s a blow to the President and his allies in the face of what they see as a crucial August election, in which the ruler is backing opposition Raila Odinga to the detriment of Vice President and former ally William Ruto.
“The President cannot initiate constitutional amendments or amendments by popular initiative under Article 257 of the Constitution,” said six of the seven justices overseeing the Supreme Court case, who published their verdict the previous day.
However, the court left open the possibility that the amendments could be requested by Parliament or by other means, so long as the President did not intervene in the process.
The President of the High Court of Kenya, Martha Koome, explained that the popular initiative is being started from below; at the initiative of citizens, as opposed to representative institutions.
He added that popular initiative is a means of direct democracy and that direct democracy can only be exercised by the people and not by their representative.
Kenyatta, in launching the initiative, argued that the change would make politics more inclusive and help end repeated cycles of electoral violence. Thursday’s decision came after the High Court and Court of Appeal ruled against the proposed changes last year.
Some voices even called for an indictment of the president in a civil court, an issue also decided by the Supreme Court as it is legally impossible.
The failed reform included the creation of 70 new constituencies as well as new figures in government, such as the prime minister, who raised suspicions that Kenyatta was trying to hold on to power after his second and final term ended.
The August 7th fair will feature a confrontation between Ruto and Odinga, who has already announced that if he wins he will push for constitutional changes.
Odinga and Kenyatta surprised themselves and others when they signed a pact to end post-election violence in 2018, 2017, which they sealed with a handshake that is often remembered in domestic politics.
mem/ro