Kenyan court stops bid to amend Constitution

Kenya's Supreme Court has nullified an attempt to make amendments to the country's Constitution, bringing to an end a process that started four years ago.

The court agreed with two lower courts that the constitutional amendment process, known as the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which aimed to expand the executive and legislative branches of government, was unconstitutional, reports Xinhua news agency.

The process was initiated by President Uhuru Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga months after the 2017 general election.

"I endorse the findings of the two superior courts that the president ought not to be a player and an umpire in the amendment process," said Chief Justice Martha Koome.

A majority of the judges said that the basic structure doctrine cannot be applied in Kenya, that the President cannot initiate amendments through popular Initiative and that the creation of 70 constituencies was unconstitutional.

"The basic structure doctrine can only be deduced by our constitutional past. It is unnecessary to import basic structure doctrine to Kenya," said Justice Njoki Ndung'u, one of the judges on the bench.