Kenya's Court of Appeal will deliver its verdict Friday on the president's controversial three-year quest to change the constitution, a ruling that could shake up the political landscape less than a year before elections. President Uhuru Kenyatta argues that the initiative will help end repeated cycles of election violence in the East African country, a hot-button issue that has divided the political elite. The proposed reforms came about following a rapprochement between Kenyatta and his erstwhile opponent Raila Odinga and a famous handshake between the two men after post-election fighting in 2017 left dozens of people dead.

The so-called Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) seeks notably to dilute the current winner-take-all electoral system blamed by Kenyatta for poll unrest, by expanding the executive and parliament. "Make or break: BBI verdict to shake politics," was the headline in Kenya's The Standard newspaper, while People Daily declared: "Moment of Truth for BBI". Election campaigns in Kenya are often fought between ethnically-based alliances and communal violence can flare, notably in 2007-8 when more than 1,100 people died.

Kenyatta's proposed reforms to the 2010 constitution were approved by parliament in May and were then due to be put to a referendum. But just two days later, the Nairobi High Court ruled they were illegal as the president did not have the right to initiate the process, only parliament. Kenyatta criticised the decision as "an attempt to stop the will of the people" and his government appealed. Proponents of the BBI argue it will improve fairness in the electoral system and help curb violence.

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