This article may be expanded with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (June 2021)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Kenyaportal |
The "Building Bridges Initiative" (BBI) was a constitutional referendum scheduled to occur in Kenya in June 2021. [1] The initiative consisted of a series of 78 proposed amendments to the Constitution of Kenya and spanned 13 of its 18 chapters. [2] The referendum, which was approved by 30 of the 47 county assemblies, was halted on May 13, 2021, by a five-judge panel of the High Court of Kenya. In its decision, the court stated that the process by which the referendum was formed was unconstitutional and barred the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission from proceeding with the referendum. [3] [4] In response to this, the Attorney General of Kenya and the Kenyan government filed an appeal of the court's decision, asking that the ruling be overturned. [5] [6]
On August 20, 2021, a seven-judge panel from Kenya's Court of Appeal upheld the High Court's ruling that the BBI process was unconstitutional. [7]
In September 2021, Kenya's Attorney General's Office filed a notice of appeal announcing that it will challenge the Court of Appeal's ruling, taking the case to Kenya's Supreme Court. [8]
The initiative's amendments were based on the works of a task force and steering committee established by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta in early 2020. [9] [10] On February 23, 2021, 30 of the 47 county assemblies approved the BBI referendum. The approval of at least 24 counties is needed to trigger a plebiscite. [11]
BBI included, among other topics, eight proposed amendments to the Kenyan constitution. These included changes relating to corruption; divisive elections; safety and security; responsibilities and rights; devolution; ethnic antagonism and competition; and national ethos, inclusivity and shared prosperity. [10] [12] [13] [14] The initiative also included a proposal to alter the executive structure of the Kenyan government through the reestablishment of the Prime Minister of Kenya and two Deputy Prime Ministers. [13]
The president of the Republic of Kenya is the head of state and head of government of Kenya. The president leads the executive arm of the Government of Kenya and is the commander-in-chief of the Kenya Defence Forces. The official residence of the president is State House, Nairobi.
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta is a Kenyan politician who has served as the fourth President of Kenya since 2013. He served as the member of parliament (MP) for Gatundu South from 2002 to 2013. He also served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2007 to 2013. Currently, he is a member and the party leader of the Jubilee Party of Kenya whose popularity has since dwindled. Uhuru was previously associated with the Kenya Africa National Union (KANU) before founding The National Alliance (TNA), one of the allied parties that campaigned for his election during the 2013 general elections and later on went to form a merger with the William Samoei Ruto's United Republican Party (URP) to form the Jubilee Party. Uhuru's tenure has been marred by endless cases of corruption and impunity.
The Supreme Court of Ireland is the highest judicial authority in Ireland. It is a court of final appeal and exercises, in conjunction with the Court of Appeal and the High Court, judicial review over Acts of the Oireachtas. The Supreme Court also has appellate jurisdiction to ensure compliance with the Constitution of Ireland by governmental bodies and private citizens. It sits in the Four Courts in Dublin.
Amendments to the Constitution of Ireland are only possible by way of referendum. A proposal to amend the Constitution of Ireland must first be approved by both Houses of the Oireachtas (parliament), then submitted to a referendum, and finally signed into law by the President of Ireland. Since the constitution entered into force on 29 December 1937, there have been 32 amendments to the constitution.
Andersen v. King County, 138 P.3d 963, formerly Andersen v. Sims, is a Washington Supreme Court case in which eight lesbian and gay couples sued King County and the state of Washington for denying them marriage licenses under the state's 1998 Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defined marriage as between a man and a woman. The court ruled that banning same-sex marriage is constitutional since the legislature could reasonably believe it furthers the government interest in promoting procreation.
Prior to the Supreme Court's decision in Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), U.S. state constitutional amendments banning same-sex unions of several different types passed, banning legal recognition of same-sex unions in U.S. state constitutions, referred to by proponents as "defense of marriage amendments" or "marriage protection amendments." These state amendments are different from the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment, which would ban same-sex marriage in every U.S. state, and Section 2 of the Defense of Marriage Act, more commonly known as DOMA, which allowed the states not to recognize same-sex marriages from other states. The amendments define marriage as a union between one man and one woman and prevent civil unions or same-sex marriages from being legalized, though some of the amendments bar only the latter. The Obergefell decision in June 2015 invalidated these state constitutional amendments insofar as they prevented same-sex couples from marrying, even though the actual text of these amendments remain written into the state constitutions.
Ballot Measure 2 of 1998 is a ballot measure, since ruled unconstitutional, that added an amendment to the Alaska Constitution that prohibited the recognition of same-sex marriage in Alaska. The Ballot measure was sparked by the lawsuit filed by Jay Brause and Gene Dugan, after the two men were denied a marriage license by the Alaska Bureau of Vital Statistics. In Brause v. Bureau of Vital Statistics, 1998 WL 88743, the Alaska Superior Court ruled that the state needed compelling reason to deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples and ordered a trial on the question. In response, the Alaska Legislature immediately proposed and passed Resolution 42, which became what is now known as Ballot Measure 2. Ballot Measure 2 passed via public referendum on November 3, 1998, with 68% of voters supporting and 32% opposing. The Bause case was dismissed following the passage of the ballot measure.
Nebraska Initiative 416 was a 2000 ballot initiative that amended the Nebraska Constitution to make it unconstitutional for the state to recognize or perform same-sex marriage, same-sex civil unions or domestic partnerships. The referendum was approved on November 7, 2000, by 70% of the voters. The initiative has since been struck down in federal court and same-sex marriage is now legally recognised in the state of Nebraska.
2006 Virginia Question 1, the Marshall-Newman Amendment is an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia that defines marriage as solely between one man and one woman and bans recognition of any legal status "approximat[ing] the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage". The amendment was ratified by 57% of the voters on November 7, 2006. It became part of the state Constitution as Section 15-A of Article 1. In 2014, the amendment was ruled unconstitutional in Bostic v. Schaefer.
Johnson Nduya Muthama is a Kenyan businessman and politician. He is currently the chairman of the new party UDA affiliated with the deputy president of Kenya William Ruto. He has since officially resigned from the Wiper party & NASA coalition and now campaigning to popularize his UDA party best known as hustler movement ideals. He was drawn to the Deputy President's agenda of the bottom up economic structure to support the common mwananchi.
Florida Amendment 2 is an amendment made to the Constitution of Florida in 2008. It added Article I, Section 27 to the constitution, which defines marriage as a union only between one man and one woman, and thus bans the creation of similar unions, such as civil unions or same-sex marriage.
Since Kenya gained independence in 1963, the constitution has been altered many times. During the early years of Kenya's existence, the constitution was abused by the president and the ruling party to gain and consolidate power. This was achieved through the creation of a single-party state, the abolition of secret ballots, and increasing the power and prestige that comes with the presidential position.
The Constitution of Kenya is the supreme law of the Republic of Kenya. There have been three significant versions of the constitution, with the most recent redraft being enabled in 2010. The 2010 edition replaced the 1963 independence constitution. The constitution was presented to the Attorney General of Kenya on 7 April 2010, officially published on 6 May 2010, and was subjected to a referendum on 4 August 2010. The new Constitution was approved by 67% of Kenyan voters. The constitution was promulgated on 27 August 2010.
Same-sex marriage has been legally recognized in the U.S. state of Alaska since October 12, 2014, with an interruption from October 15 to 17 while state officials sought without success to delay the implementation of a federal court ruling. A U.S. District Court held on October 12 in the case Hamby v. Parnell that Alaska's statutory and constitutional bans on same-sex marriage violated the Due Process and Equal Protection clauses of the United States Constitution. On October 15, state officials obtained a two-day stay from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which the United States Supreme Court refused to extend on October 17.
The Thirty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Children) Act 2012 amended the Constitution of Ireland by inserting clauses relating to children's rights and the right and duty of the state to take child protection measures. It was passed by both Houses of the Oireachtas (parliament) on 10 October 2012, and approved at a referendum on 10 November 2012, by 58% of voters on a turnout of 33.5%. Its enactment was delayed by a High Court case challenging the conduct of the referendum. The High Court's rejection of the challenge was confirmed by the Supreme Court on 24 April 2015. It was signed into law by the President on 28 April 2015.
David Kenani Maraga is a Kenyan lawyer and jurist. He was the 14th chief justice and president of the Supreme Court of Kenya from October 2016 till his retirement in January 2021.
Florida Amendment 4, also the Voting Rights Restoration for Felons Initiative, is an amendment to the Constitution of Florida passed by ballot initiative on November 6, 2018, as part of the 2018 Florida elections. The proposition restored the voting rights of Floridians with felony convictions after they complete all terms of their sentence including parole or probation. The amendment does not apply to Floridians convicted of murder or sexual offenses.
A constitutional referendum was held in Liberia on 8 December 2020 alongside Senate elections and two by-elections to the House of Representatives. It had been planned for 13 October, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Voters were asked whether they approved of eight amendments to the constitution, voting separately on each one. Although a majority of valid votes were in favour for each proposal, the two-thirds quorum was not met for any proposal.
Lady Justice Martha Karambu Koome is a Kenyan advocate and Human Rights Defender, serving as the Chief Justice of Kenya since 21 May 2021. She is the first woman to serve as Chief Justice in Kenya.
David Ndii & Others V. Attorney General & Others also known as the BBI Judgement was a landmark ruling made in the Kenya High Court on 13 May 2021, declaring an injunction on Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) from proceeding with President Uhuru Kenyatta's and retired Prime Minister Raila Odinga's Building Bridges Initiative. The five-judge bench was to determine seventeen questions raised on the petition against the BBI Process.