NO REFORMS, NO ELECTIONS!

[wanyee]

Fellow Kenyans, this was presented last week...


The CCR-Kenya
Roadmap For Constitutional Reforms Before The 2007 Elections in Kenya

Presented to

Amb. Bethuel Kiplagat,
Chairperson
Committee of Eminent Persons
Cooperative Bank House, 20th Floor
P. O. Box 10526 - 00200
Nairobi, Kenya

19th April 2006

Presentation
by Jared Buoga
(Egerton University Student)

Coordinating Organizations

· Madaraka Party of Kenya www.madaraka-kenya.org
· Youth Anti-Corruption Movement
· Progressive Youth Leadership Assembly www.kenya-pyla.org
. East African Regional Youth Network (EARYN)
· National Youth Political Advocacy Bureau
· National Youth Empowerment Council
· Youth Agenda for Peace & Development (Mombasa),
· National Movement for Good Governance


Coalition for Constitutional Reform Kenya [ccr-kenya]
p.o box 4777-00200 nairobi. kenya

18 April 2006

To the Committee of Eminent Persons

REF: Roadmap For Constitutional Reforms Before The 2007 Elections.

I] THE URGENCY OF ENACTING A NEW CONSTITUTION BEFORE 2007 ELECTIONS

We are here today because of the misguided notion that we can fix our country's woes by merely changing governments, or presidents. We are here today because of our hitherto national gullibility, whereby we hand over imperial, undemocratic, and autocratic powers to individuals, and then expect them to facilitate the reduction of those powers. In essence, we are here today because of conducting elections under the old constitution, disregarding the realities that kick in after elections, and the self interest that ensues. We end up with the same governance arrangements, and trapped in an expensive vicious cycle of lip-service, opportunism and betrayal.

The new constitution was supposed to have been enacted within 100 days of the last elections. Reverend Mutava Musyimi witnessed the signing of that famous Memorandum of Understanding, on behalf of the people. We remember the President attesting to the fact that a sound constitutional framework is not only the basis for good governance, but of absolute necessity, particularly in light of our dark economic history.

Various incidents spanning the last few years, must only serve to remind us of the urgent need, for a complete overhaul of our governing structures. At this very moment, we are engrossed in massive financial scandals, including Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing. We have also witnessed the peddling of our national heritage, the unresolved Ouko and Delamere murder-cases, escalating crime, particularly sexual offences that go unpunished, and controversial investment ventures, such as the Tiomin mining project in Kwale and the Dominion farm in Yala Swamp etc. The latter, for instance, not only highlight the dire need to revise our Investment Code, but also prompt us to establish a suitable policy framework, to facilitate transparency and accountability. Simply reviewing the Mining Bill will not suffice. As the press effectively summed it: If we had a constitutional framework that would insulate crucial national and governmental processes from the political nonsense, we would have the luxury of turning our backs on our clamouring politicians (The circus and greed for power - Daily Nation, 9th April 2006).

For the continued survival of our country as a peaceful and democratic state, Kenyans must not venture into another election without constitutional reform. The present constitution is a recipe for disaster. How can we talk about elections when we do not even have the legal framework for transfer of power?


Our election laws are flawed.

The results of a presidential election are only conclusive if there is a clear-cut winner. What happens, for example, when none of the contenders garners the required 25% of votes in five provinces, even after repeating the elections thrice? Do we start afresh, or do we bend the constitution to suit the whims of the moment?

Of greater concern is the fact that the President can only stay in office at the mercy of Members of Parliament. Section 59 empowers Parliament to remove a popularly elected president from office, by a simple majority of votes. A president-elect without a majority in Parliament will be thrown out of office on the first day that Parliament sits. Knowing how emotions run high during elections, why should we consciously risk such potential threats to national continuity?

We need a very clear definition of the role of the President, and how the chief executive is elected. We need rules governing political party membership by Parliamentarians. We need to streamline laws governing coalition governments. And we need to devolve power to the people, so that they can start living like human beings in their own country, instead of being mere pawns in a chess game of the elite, being played by the elite, for the elite.


Kenya's Democracy in Peril.

It is obvious that if Kenyans go to the next elections under the present constitution, then corruption and further erosion of democratic practices are going to continue, since the office of the presidency has immense power, which the occupant does not wish to relinquish. The East African Standard captured this perfectly in their editorial on March 11, 2006: For as long as the current Constitution remains the supreme law of the land, the President will continue to wield huge executive powers. These include the power to hire and fire ministers, permanent secretaries, top security officers and others who occupy constitutional offices. This also includes the power to control the calendar of Parliament.

Today, the president is using his immense powers to take away the rights of association. There is a danger that the present government wants to curtail multiparty democracy and take us back to the dark pre-1991 days of one--party dictatorship. Kenyans, it seems, have lost their hard-fought right to form political parties. For example, only three political parties have been registered since the present administration took over: New-KANU, a splinter of the official opposition KANU; the Orange Democratic Movement Party, registered by persons not affiliated to the coalition that galvanized the NO vote in the referendum; and NARC-Kenya, the party under which President Kibaki is expected to seek re-election.

All other parties seeking registration (including Madaraka Party), social movements, pressure groups, associations, and other organizations formed to address social issues, have been told one thing by the registrar of societies: the government has put on hold the registration of any new organizations until further notice. Kenyans are therefore supposed to proceed to the next elections only with those whom the government has approved of. Is this democracy?


II] THE CCR ROADMAP TO CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM.

The Coalition for Constitutional Reform has been formed specifically to raise citizen-awareness, to bring pressure on the government, to allow Kenyans to reform the constitution before another election. CCR is comprised of organizations and individuals, both in Kenya and abroad. We believe that the enactment of a constitution "for the people" and "by the people", before the next elections, is the only way to avert the otherwise imminent degeneration of our beloved country into political and social chaos.

Legislation that will underpin the review process.

CCR recognizes the Bomas Conference as the legitimate representation of the people of Kenya. In our opinion, therefore, there is no need for a constituent assembly or another review commission to oversee the enactment of the constitution. This very Committee of Eminent Persons can be expanded to render the process all-inclusive.

The first legislative step is for Parliament to amend Section 47, to allow for the overhaul / promulgation of the constitution. The aforementioned Constitutional Enactment Oversight Council would be the child of the amended section 47. The amended Section 47 should explicitly state that the results of the referendum automatically define the new constitution. Parliament should play its role, merely as that of legitimization, of what the people have agreed upon.

A process that will facilitate the resolution of contentious issues.

1. The first step entails three months of civic education, which can run from July 1 to
September 20, 2006. The curriculum for this exercise should be people-driven, based
on the principles of action-research and Paulo Freire's Pedagogy of the Oppressed.
The method used by the now defunct CKRC was based on the methodology that Freire
called the "empty container" approach, whereby citizens were perceived as passive
recipients of knowledge (empty containers) being filled by the "wise" civic educators.
This method is not only contemptuous and insulting to the intelligence of the people,
but renders hollow the claim that the constitutional reform process was people-driven.
The process has to be participatory if it is to be educational at all. The educator must be
ready to facilitate a discussion where citizens' views on the draft are captured before
any referendum questions are drafted.

2. CCR insists on consensus building as opposed to acrimony. Civic education should
be conducted by sectoral groups as opposed to politicians / tribal groups.

3. CCR's position is that the previous referendum should never have been a blanket YES
/ NO vote on the entire draft, but only on the contentious issues. The civic education
process will therefore enable citizens to raise any contentious issues that they might
have. Once these views are collated by November 1, 2006, a trend will emerge
showing which issues are raising the most contention. Those issues will constitute the
questions in the final national referendum on November 22, 2006, and the people will vote
specifically on them. The final draft would then be taken to Parliament, and passed
without debate by December 10, 2006. President Kibaki can present the new constitution
to Kenyans by December 31, 2006.

In closing, we wish to thank this committee for granting us the opportunity to air our views. It is our most sincere hope, that the government will support the people in facilitating the vital conclusion to the review process. Last, but certainly not least, we wish to urge all Kenyans everywhere to join hands in this worthy task.

Sincerely,

Wanyee Kinuthia
Interim Coordinator, International Secretariat
Coalition for Constitutional Reform (CCR-Kenya)
Ottawa, Canada.

Chris Kiliko Musyoka
Interim National Coordinator
Coalition for Constitutional Reform (CCR-Kenya);
Chairman, Madaraka Party of Kenya
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: [phone].

Presented by Jared Buoga (Egerton University Student).

C.C: --The people of Kenya.
--Friends of Kenya.


www.madaraka-kenya.org/Roadmap%20fo...20elections.pdf

-------------------------------

You are all welcome to join the CCR forum. To do so, please click:

[e-mail]

[wanyee]

Here's the PDF format:

www.madaraka-kenya.org/Roadmap%20for%20constitutional%20reform%20before%202007%20elections.pdf

---

CCR has been invited back to give a more detailed explanation on
Monday April 24, 12 noon (East African time).


* 'Mzee Mombasa' - email tafadhali.

[kamalet]

Is this not a tired argument that we should not have elections before reforms? Just who do expect will preside over the reforms that you seek? The same crew whom you accuse of all misdeeds that now necessitate the same reforms? Me thinks you putting the cart before the horse!!

What you should be seeking is a change in mindset of our leaders if we cannot replaces them as it now seems impossible. Even the reforms you seek can only be reforms if they are transformed into action and not just lie as words on a piece of paper.

Change your leaders and their minds and you may just find that the present constitution is only faulty because of the quality of leaders we have and not the contents of the document!!

Kamale

PS. I note with interest all the "NGOs" representing youth affairs and can only give a smile when I imagine what use they will be put into......and finance must surely top the list!

[pharlap]

Is this one of those hay fire political fadss that come and go in the blink of an eye? What new agenda are they pushing for? I think pretty much has been done in terms of what they are duplicating. It is good for the general atmosphere though. All the best. Just remember that it is much easier to make reforms with the right people in government, so let the people excercise their right to vote. It is part of reforms.

[wanyee]

Would I be wrong to assume that you are both aware of the '97 election boycott, that almost was? When these very "leaders" were inciting us to burn our voting cards?

If so, do you remember why?

---

Additional questions for Kamalet:

1. In your opinion, who do you consider to be 'the youth'?

2. Do you doubt their ability to organize themselves, for a specific purpose, with genuine intentions?

3. Do you truly believe that this is about money?

[roughrider]

It beats me why anyone in his right mind would make any submissions to an irrelevant, inconsequential, exclusive committee of self declared ‘eminent’ people…

I suggest you redirect your views to relevant members of parliament who are supposed to create a legal framework for a new constitutional dispensation. After all you are asking the committee to ask parliament to make the relevant laws

On the apparent focus on environmental issues and ‘controversial investments’ that are referenced here and are also the subject of the ‘Tomin….’ thread, I believe there are telltale signs of certain misplaced notions originating mainly from the activist NGO sector that need to be disabused; but we can do that later.

[pharlap]

I thought Elections were part of reforms. ;-/

[wanyee]

roughrider,

Let me start by stating that this is not a mere fad.

---

Ref:
Groups for all inclusive law review - Daily Nation, 23rd April 2006

There is a need for an all-inclusive approach to getting a new Constitution, two organisations said yesterday.

The Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA) and the Independent Sector Consultation and Dialogue Group (ISCDG) separately said the country needed a new Constitution now more than ever before and urged Kenyans to work together to speed up the process.

Speaking during the closing of the General Assembly of the church at the St Andrew's Church in Nairobi, PCEA Moderator David Githii called on political leaders to unite to help the country realise a new constitutional order.

"We call on all political parties , the Government and other stakeholders to work together towards the attainment of a new Constitution in the shortest time possible," Dr Githii said.
ISCDG, for their part, demanded a speedy process to ensure that the country got a new constitution before the General Election next year.

"With the expert documentation of people's views by the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission it is quite feasible to finalise the review within a period of five months," said the group.
It brings together members of the civil society, including Muslim Consultative Council, the Media Council of Kenya and League of Women Voters.

At a press conference in Nairobi yesterday, the group dismissed the committee of eminent persons appointed by the President to evaluate the process as an exercise in futility.

The group plans to hold a "National Dialogue Conference" next month.

The attacks on the Committee of Eminent Persons come just as it is winding up listening to views from the public.

The committee will conclude the sittings at KICC on Friday.

The chairman, Ambassador Bethuel Kiplagat, announced last week that the committee would also make consultations with local and international experts in conformity with their mandate.

See also:

EDITORIALS:
Give review team a chance - Daily Nation, 23rd April 2006.

Mr Bethwel Kiplagat, a retired career diplomat, is one of our best negotiators ever. He has been involved in brokering peace in various conflicts, and is lauded for his role in the Somali peace process, which has given hope in the possibility of restoring a legitimate government in that war- torn country.

So when Mr Kiplagat agreed to lead a new bid to help end the stalemate over our own constitutional review process, he was putting his reputation on the line. But Mr Kiplagat, who heads a group of imminent Kenyans chosen by the Government to see how the deadlock can be broken, has come across as candid, honest, and non-partisan.

As he has explained, his team's mandate is not to write a new constitution for Kenya. It's only to help come up with a road map on the way forward on an issue that has badly split the nation.

Since his team's proceedings began, we have seen various groups present their views on what needs to be done. And some have been quite inspired, cogent, thought-provoking and potentially valuable.

The intransigence of some of the interested groups will not help. The general feeling is that Kenyans what a new constitutional dispensation. And this must reflect as broadly as possible the interests, concerns and aspirations of all Kenyans.

The best we can do now is give the Kiplagat team a chance to consult widely at home and overseas, as they have done by hosting the hearings and inviting a team from South Africa to give its views on how the review can be jumpstarted.

We must, therefore, divorce short-term political interests and competition for power from this crucial national undertaking.

---

The President has basically presented ALL Kenyans with an opportunity to air their views on the way forward. What he does with them, however, is entirely a different story. The CCR is simply giving the idea a fair chance.

Meanwhile, we know better than to trust the power elite. Our presentation was therefore made with the following in mind:

1. We are simply giving the government the "heads up".

2. We ARE essentially directing our views (or rather, "our roadmap"), to M.P's, who we do not expect to advocate for reforms before elections.

3. We are fully aware that 'the Committee of Eminent Persons' has merely been set up to receive views "on the way forward". (In this regard, do you have any suggestions of your own? If so, what are you doing with them?)

4. Last, but not least, there is no apparent focus on anything (ref: 'environmental and controversial investments'). CCR's objective is to illustrate the gravity of the situation. As clearly stated in our letter to the committee, these two projects not only "highlight the dire need to revise our Investment Code, but also prompt us to establish a suitable policy framework, to facilitate transparency and accountability. Simply reviewing the Mining Bill will not suffice". As the press effectively summed it: "If we had a constitutional framework that would insulate crucial national and governmental processes from the political nonsense, we would have the luxury of turning our backs on our clamouring politicians" (The circus and greed for power - Daily Nation, 9th April 2006).

There are therefore NO "misplaced notions originating mainly from the NGO sector". Pursuant to this, what exactly do you mean by "need to be disabused"?

---

In closing, I will quote you from elsewhere on this forum:

"It’s always good to read other people confirm what one has been trying to say all along. The beauty of this kind of exchange is that quite often, one is able to sieve out some unpleasant moments where folk driven by passion without any reason at all come in and hurl insults and make comments based on emotion, and realize that after all, you actually had a point and that truth is hard, really hard to digest".

"Two men in a burning house, should not stop to argue" - Ghanaian proverb.

---

N.B: The youth are the patriots who have now stood firm to rebut KANU, and ANYONE threatening to destroy our beloved country. We say that enough is enough. NO REFORMS, NO ELECTIONS!

[pharlap]

wanyee..you quoted me....o remember rambling something like that sometime back. I think the general feeling of this No reforms No Vote Campaign is that as kenyans, we are done with the foreplay. We are beyond holding hands.

What this forum aims to do has been done in the past, by many equalliy enthusiastic and talented groups. We all had to end up rejecting the draft because of some fat cats in parliament who doctored the document for their own benefit. I say what we need is to get rid of the rotten potatoes using the VOTE and move on with the good players, the likes of Tinga, Kalonzo, *Tuju* Saitoti and a few others.

Otherwiase, we will just be runnning in circles doing a repeat of what has been done before as this group gains political mileage and divides the country to reject another draft, if it is not in agreemenr, making things take another 10 years to accomplish.

Just my thoughts.

[wanyee]

Pharlap,

You say:

"I think the general feeling of this No reforms No Vote Campaign is that if we were lovers in kenya, we are beyond holding hands".

I say:

It is unfortunate that you have lost faith in our ability to stand as a united nation. You have allowed 'them' to steal your dream. Let those who still believe, continue doing so, even for your own sake.

No. The elections are not part of 'the reform process'. By the latter, we are specifically referring to the act of 'changing the constitution', whereas the former, refers to the act of 'changing the government'. We believe that this time around, Kenyans must change the constitution, before changing the government.

No more MoU's.

---

The review process was derailed at a very specific point in time, and in one single move.

Do you know or remember, when and how?

[pharlap]

Enligten me@wanyee. Whsn it oeft bomas? When it landed in the AGs office? Ama when akina Tinga staged a walk out and embarrased mheshimiwa Moody awori? Please Enlighten me.

[wanyee]

When P.L.O Lumumba of the CKRC handed over "the zero draft" to the M.P's, who then proceeded to "do their thing".

I'm happy that you asked this question Pharlap. Very happy indeed.

Now we shall get somewhere...

[pharlap]

So in retrosepect you are saying that the draft was messed up in the hands of the government, hence we cannot trust the government to handle such matters. But tell me, then how do we go about it? We can't let the looters and greedy snakes stay in government a single day longer than they are supposed to. All of them must go. Do we solve anything by boycotting elections? There has to be a better way to go about this issue than burning our voters cards.

[wanyee]

Pharlap,

Have you read the letter to "The Committee of Eminent Persons"?

Boycotting elections is what we do, if all else fails, although I don't think they will let it get that far. Hence the reason why Moi was threatened with that move in '97. You cannot have an election without an electorate. Sindio?!

I would rather tolerate these people for another year, than risk another term, and who knows what else...

We need to breath down their necks until they give us our constitution. That way, even if they pull some 'fast moves' during the polls, we can at least keep things in check. Hata sijui kwa nini tunadiscuss hii maneno. Si hawa machali walisign MoU? Si 100 days ziliisha kitambo?!

What do you propose, considering that they are "looters and greedy snakes"?

[kamalet]

Wanyee,

I can only see idealism in you. You now need to move to the real world where there are living people both saints and devils. Do you think calling for a boycott would work in Kenya? I do not think so!

What you forget is that the politicians we are all so beholden to are not any different to each other despite the differences they display in the glare of the media. Kibaki still speaks to Raila Uhuru and Moi in private, and it would perhaps be a betrayal to their followers if these meetings were in the public domain!

Instead of calling for a boycott which invariably backfires in an election, you should actually call on Kenyans to go out and vote out these "undesirables" and let them put in those they think are acceptable to provide the reforms you seek!

Earlier you aske me if:

1. In your opinion, who do you consider to be 'the youth'?

I consider those people between the ages of 18 and 35 to be the youth of this country.

2. Do you doubt their ability to organize themselves, for a specific purpose, with genuine intentions?

I think they can organise themselves to achieve what they want, but the effort would be futile without economic empoowerment, Without this, any group of youths that get together only end being pawns of the rich power brokers who use their economic weakness!When this happens, human greed takes over and the leaders of these groups eventually love their vision. Remember that the road to hell is paved with good intentions!

3. Do you truly believe that this is about money?

Unfortunately, any NGO with names as you suggest above cannot surely be involved in ensuring a stake for the youth of this country but only those "leaders" who OWN the NGOs. Sadly that is the fact of not just youth NGOs but most other social responsibility based NGOs - key motivation is MONEY.

If you wish to change this country, do not drag the youth into activism. Use their time effectively be developing schemes that empower them economically for only then can you transform them into political animals that can take on the present aged elite. Surely that is not rocket science! If you need assistance on such schemes, ask for advise and I will give you leads!

[ndauosa]

For sure Wanyee we are leading somewhere, but we have to adress the issues that Kamalet has summarised. We can never achieve or attain what we want and stand for in the present set up. The power of the majority youth will be abused and used for the benefit of those who have the "resources" and can afford to dangle it. We must first, work at empowering the youth, both economically and socially. Then the political part comes automatically.
Boy mgani ana time yaku fuatana na siasa bila ganji? We'll be going in cycles and the youth will be cheaply bought and used.
I happened to work in Makueni district during a draught season, and mothers would ask us to take their daughters just to save them from starvation. That is the same situation that the youth find themselves, desparation. And it's true that a hungy man is an angry man, which leads to: hasira, hasara. We loose when we are hungry. Tumbo jamaa.
Not that the people in power are darlings within the youth cycles, no! no! no!.. they are classified as those who are generous and those who are stingy. If you can throw in a bit of our language then we go for you. Keroro, ganji na action. For that moment. Then we are asured of stories while idling and looking forward to the next campaigns. Save the youths, empower them, they are still very sane, only frustrations.
Lets device, look for a cheap way, feasible way to give power to the youth, for that is what scares the old folks in power, and i believe that it's upon us the youth to do ourselves good and make sure that the phrase majority rule is not abused and stands to mean exactly that.

[wanyee]

Kamalet,

Had you been a voter in '97, would you have agreed to the boycott that the then 'opposition' (which was basically everybody but Moi's KANU), was calling for?

Were they too, simply being idealistic?

Please consider the supplementary notes below.

---

ndauosa,

waonaje kuhusu hio story ya '97?


---
Meanwhile, here are the supplementary notes to the committee (based on the specific qestions that they had):


1. What do you think were the major weaknesses or obstacles of the constitutional making process?

These two issues we believe are the reason why Kenyans do not have a new constitution today. They both relate to the process of enactment.

ISSUE 1. GIVING PARLIAMENT THE POWER TO DETERMINE THE FATE OF THE BOMAS DRAFT--TO EITHER ACCEPT IN TOTO OR REJCT IT IN TOTO.

It is our opinion that this decision to hand over the fate of the draft to parliament was the root cause of the Naivasha accord Kilifi accord, Wako draft, YES/NO referendum and now Kiplagat Committee (all consciously devised by the elite of Kenya to deny the ordinary Kenyan the only instrument of empowerment-a new people driven constitution that can institutionalize good governance, transparency and accountability).

Anyone who has even a tiny inkling of the kind of people we have in parliament should have known that the parliament of Kenya would never in a million years pass a motion to empower wananchi..

This is a fundamental historical mistake which the CKRC made.

Section 47

Further, related to this is the failure by ALL the actors-to place the amendment of section 47 (of the present constitution), as the triggering legislation leading to the overhaul of the current constitution. The CKRC Act should have been the child of the amended section 47. The failure to amend section 47 by either the 8th or 9th parliament is a very clear testimony to the lack of seriousness of parliamentarians and the entire elite of Kenya.
Further, it shows that there has been no well-thought out step-by-step plan of action-a flow-chart which shows how the process of enactment would start and finish and when that will be.

ISSUE 2: MAKING THE REFERENDUM TO BE ON EITHER YES OR NO, ON ENTIRE DRAFT INSTEAD OF JUST ON CONTENTIOUS ISSUES

The first mistake led to the second mistake. Once parliament got the draft in their hands and they had been told by the CKRC they could do whatever they liked with it, the Wako Draft was inevitable. But what is even more disconcerting is the connivance and legitimization of the Wako draft by the elite when they accepted to participate in the referendum. We are talking about referendum based on a daft which was not even discussed by parliament (it makes one’s stomach turn to recall that Wako emerged from his hiding place where he was drafting his draft, and whatever he drafted went straight to the people without the benefit of debate in parliament). This fraudulent and illegal document is what Kenyans voted for or against on November 21st 2005.

2. What do you think were the major successes of the constitutional making process?

The most important success was the collecting of views ad drafting of the initial draft (also known as Draft zero).
It is this draft that formed the basis of Bomas draft. That is why all discussions need to be restricted to the Bomas draft as the only legitimate document that represents the views of the people of Kenya.

3. What do you think are the key challenges/obstacles likely to impede the constitution making process?

Key challenges are the obvious lack of commitment by the government of President Kibaki to enact a new constitution. We believe all half-hearted efforts by the government since 2003 are merely stage-managed time-buying stratagems. The main aim of president Kibaki is to ensure that Kenyans will never have a new constitution.

The second obstacle is parliament. Like Kibaki, parliamentarians are totally opposed to the enactment of a new constitution. They will never support the review effort, they , from time to time, use the people quest for democratization to further their political agendas, and that is about it.

The third obstacles are the elite in general and the civil society in particular. These "lords" of tyranny and corruption have designed their careers around constitutional reform process. They depend on the process itself as the source of funding and their livelihood. They will delay the enactment even up to 2050 if they are able to. The main aim of the elite is to ensure that Kenyans will never have a new constitution.

4. The constitution making process and the Referendum resulted in major divisions in the country. How best and by whom can these divisions be addressed through reconciliation and healing?

Divisions and ethnic animosity were created by politicians during the referendum. It was easy to do this because of the NO/YES question framework. The designing of referendum question only on contentious issues will be non-acrimonious as compared to the NO/YES one which created so much heat and even hatred. The civic education process will help raise people’s awareness and consciousness. Organizing civic education along sectoral as opposed to tribal will help groups see that they have a common problems, thus need for more harmony among that sector across ethnic lines. For example women would deal with women issues etc.

5. Which is the best mechanism for completing the review process?

- The Bomas draft is the only legitimate draft that can be placed before Kenyans for fine-tuning
- A referendum should be conducted on contentious issues only
- After the referendum, parliament and the president have no role other than to sanctify, legitimize and assent the new constitution into legality. Further, that new constitution should come into force with immediate effect.
- This process need not take more than 1 year. The new constitution should be enacted not later than December 31, 2006.

----------------

Like O.O reminded us, aluta continua...

[wanyee]

Youth Coalition Wants Review Before 2007 Elections.

NAIROBI, KENYA April 24, 2006--Another election under the current constitution will seriously compromise Kenya's future prospects. In its presentation to the Kiplagat Committee, the newly formed Coalition for Constitutional Reform (CCR-Kenya) insists that if elections are held under the current constitution, the very viability of Kenya as a nation-state is at stake. They say Kenyans should not be talk about elections, when there is even no well-defined legal framework for transfer of power.

The Coalition includes Madaraka Party of Kenya, Youth Anti-Corruption Movement, Progressive Youth Leadership Assembly (Kenya-Pyla), East African Regional Youth Network (EARY N), National Youth Political Advocacy Bureau, Youth Agenda for Peace & Development (Mombasa), and the National Youth Empowerment Council.

The coalition argues that because of handing blanket power to Kibaki, the latter has used draconian powers he inherited not to conclude the democratization process as he promised during elections, but to move the country back towards the dark pre-1991 days of one-party dictatorship.

Kenyans, they argue, have lost their hard-fought right to form political parties. For example, only three political parties have been registered since the present administration took over all of them registered to serve the interests of the government. All other parties seeking registration (such as Madaraka Party), social movements, pressure groups, associations, and other organizations formed to address social issues, have been told one thing by the registrar of societies: "the government has put on hold the registration of any new organizations until further notice"..

The coalition argues that three important factors have to be put into account by the Kiplagat committee when making their recommendations-the first one is the process through which the constitution is going to be enacted. The second one is the content, mainly how the contentious issues are gong to be resolved. The third factor is the time-frame.

In terms of legislation that will underpin the review process and lead to a new Constitution of Kenya, the first legislative step is for Parliament to amend Section 47, to allow for the overhaul / promulgation of the constitution. The aforementioned "Constitutional Enactment Oversight Council" would be the child of the amended section 47. Parliament should play its role, merely as that of legitimization, of what the people have agreed upon.

CCR recognizes the Bomas Conference as the legitimate representation of the people of Kenya. In our opinion, therefore, there is no need for a constituent assembly or another review commission to oversee the enactment of the constitution. This very Committee of Eminent Persons can be expanded to render the process all-inclusive.

As for a process that will facilitate the resolution of contentious issues, they maintain that contentious issue should be decided by the people in civic education workshops across the country. "This will be a give and take interactive process, whereby the civic education facilitators explain to the people the Bomas draft and the people respond. Their views are captured and contentious issues are sifted out of those views. The contentious issues are resolved via a referendum based on contentious issues. An issue is taken as resolved when 50% +1 of votes are cast for one side of the contention," the CCR Roadmap for Constitutional Reforms Before 2007 Elections explains.

www.pressbox.co.uk/detailed/Government/Youth_Coalition_Wants_Review_Before_2007_Elections_63373.html

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Coalition for Constitutional Reform (CCR) brings together organizations and individuals who believe that for Kenya to truly attain genuine democratic reform, constitutional reform must be completed before the 2007 general elections. The coalition will work to raise awareness to bring pressure on the ruling class to allow Kenyans to reform the constitution before another election.

[wanyee]

The route ODM must avoid in Law Review, by Jerry Okungu.


This parliament has to be made to pay for its sins.

Parliamentarians’ mileage claims aside, it was sad to read that the ODM members of parliament, of all the people, had set up a parallel Constitution review committee comprising of all members of parliament except one, Martin Shikuku. I wondered aloud what wisdom there was in setting up such a committee. It showed the folly of not listening to the voices of the people and instead listening to your own voices.

Members of the ODM, please stop just for one moment and rewind the clock to 1999-2000 when NDP and KANU set up a 15-member commission to review the Constitution under an act of parliament together with a Parliamentary Select Committee to oversee the work of the commission. Remember that the then opposition, led by Mwai Kibaki and the so-called Civil Society rejected the government commission and responded with one of their own - the people’s or Wanjiku’s Ufugamano review team championed by Mutava Musyimi! Did it work? Did it succeed?

It did not work for two main reasons; self-interest and lack of financial resources to review the commission crippled it.Let me say something to the ODM MPs. Kenyans did not vote Orange at the referendum because they loved the Orange team. They voted Orange to defeat a government that had stopped listening to them along time ago. They voted Orange because the Constitution the government was finally trying to force down their throats was a watered down document.

They did not vote because they loved MPs in the Orange team. These MPs only happened to listen to them more at the time and sympathised with their plight.

However, the voters were collectively aware that had the MPs not collectively and individually derailed the Bomas Conference, Kenyans would today have a new Constitution. And they started messing up the process the moment they saw a recall clause in Ghai’s document. The moment a mere one third of the delegates otherwise known as MPs swore to kill the document in Parliament if the recall clause was not removed, we knew the blackmail process had begun. After this incident, the rest was downhill. From then on, MPs discovered what clout they had in the process.

In equal measure, the rest of the 400 delegates realised how vulnerable and powerless they were to push the process. After that it was compromise after compromise to accommodate the bloated egos of this or that group of MPs. And before we realised it the whole process had been hijacked back to parliament where the document was thoroughly massacred in the interest of sitting MPs.

The ODM parliamentarians had better know one fact; that if there is a group of people Kenyans are suspicious of, that group is the current crop of MPs. Kenyans do not trust them for their selfishness and endless greed for power and wealth.

Kenyans are weary of them for their pathetic performance in parliament. They are loathed because they are bent on attaining grandeur in the midst of abject squalor and misery. If they want to know how deeply they are resented, they should read the African Peer Review Report of October 2005 on Kenya. If there are two types of people Kenyans would rather not associate with constitution making, those people are lawyers and MPs. Kenyans associate them with everything negative that stalled the process. Kenyans associate them with greed, opportunism, selfishness, insensitivity and at times, outright corruption.

If a section of lawyers could sustain a case for a lost cause in the Wako-Nyachae draft constitution that they knew too well to be a fraud, which Kenyans would trust them again?

If MPs could bend so low as to sell their votes in Parliament for thirty pieces of silver on crucial occasions in that august House, who would trust them again? By declaring a parallel review team, Kibaki has got the ODM where he wants them.

He has got them by their balls. By appointing a team that is entirely non-political Kibaki made one statement; that politicians had failed him, that parliamentarians had failed to deliver the Constitution, that his Banana point-men had not read the mood of Kenyans. It was time to give other sober Kenyans a chance; hence the Kiplagat committee. If we can dare to accuse Kibaki of unilaterally appointing the Kiplagat team without wide consultations, who did the ODM outfit consult before appointing themselves to their parallel team?

Kenyans did not vote Orange at the referendum because they loved the Orange team. They voted Orange to defeat a government that had stopped listening to them along time ago

Does it mean that outside ODM members of parliament, there are no people in Kenya who are not MPs that can review the Constitution? What makes these members of parliament think they have more right to review the constitution than any other group of Kenyans?

Why must they only promise to consult widely after they have constituted themselves into the committee? What will be the difference between their wide consultations and what Kiplagat is doing now?

For the ODM to imagine that they can deliver the Constitution in this polarised society single-handedly, when they don’t even command a majority in parliament is the height of folly.

The time is now for the ODM members of parliament to retrace their steps and go back to the people of Kenya and apologise to them for this one blunder.

They carried the day last November for one reason alone; they stuck by the Bomas Draft. In that Bomas Draft, the ODM team have salvation. They don’t even need to form a parallel review team. That route is wrong and a waste of time.

All they need is to reconvene the Bomas Delegates Conference at the Bomas Conference Centre, beef up the number from all constituencies in Kenya to avoid last time’s accusations that the original composition was not representative. Let this new Bomas endorse the Bomas Draft as the ODM campaign manifesto. The Bomas Draft as it stands, is the most comprehensive political charter anybody can have in Kenya today. If they go this route, they will be home and dry.

Kenyans are tired and want to move on with their lives.

[e-mail]


www.timesnews.co.ke/26apr06/nwsstory/opinion2.html

[wanyee]

Ref: Groups for all inclusive law review - Daily Nation, 23rd April 2006

"ISCDG, for their part, demanded a speedy process to ensure that the country got a new constitution before the General Election next year".

I posted this article previously, but did not specify as follows:

ISCDG (Independent Sector Consultation and Dialogue Group) is comprised of the media council, women, and muslims.

[pharlap]

I wish the ISCDG was all inclusive. At the moment, it seems pretty exclusive. Doing a good job though.

[ndauosa]

As you've stated, within the crop of parliamentarians that we have today as our represenratives, non is willing to give power to wanjiku. They stay in power by all means nessesary. If their is no layed down procedure before elections, not that even agreements matter to them once they have been swone in"MOU".
Hawa wote ni sawa what we need is mass action. In 1985 the UDF in released statement protested at The collaboration of America with apartheid under the guise of constructive engaugement, and many more.
We see the similarities within our own leaders who strategise collaborations to hawx wanjiku that that it is for their benefit. I do agree it is for our benefit eventually for they won't escape with lies all the time. Can fool some people sometimes but you can't fool all the people.....Time is running out and kenyans are at lap of the struggle. The November refferendum evidence.
They will form commissions and commities, all with the intension to compromise their bargaining power in staying on. And they think they are being creative by inventing ways of adding up to their already burdening perks.
Kusema kweli siku za mwizi ni Forty, na ikifika all of them will claim innocent, or blame the other.

Clarence Cusa, ones sayed " There are those who say just get out, but that is the end of it and they loose all influence.I feel we have to be here and be humilated,but atleast try and m,ake a change.I don't think that any country was liberated by those outside, but the efforts come from within. I don't like the situation, but i must work to change it".

Iwe mbaya ama nzuri, lazima majority ita rule. Baadaye wana Jukwaa.

[wanyee]

ndauosa,

Thank you very much for your comments.

Indeed, the time has arrived for mass action. All Kenyans must unite, in demanding that the government, AT LEAST, complete the review process. There is no good reason why this cannot be done before the next elections, anyway. (Besides, hasn't it been a hundred days already?)

Time HAS definitely run out, and we must seize the opportunity.

Hawa "viongozi" hawajali masilahi yetu hata kidogo.

[pharlap]

Hapo tunaelewana. Kibaki and his boys have taken us for a ride....four years...on a wild ride...hehehehe. Wanayuthi tafadhari mujikaze tunga'gane tuipate katiba mpya hivi karibuni.

[wanyee]

Ahsante kwa kutuunga mkono.

Shouldn't the following serve to further remind us all, of the absolute necessity of a new constitution before the next elections?

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NEWS

Catholics criticise Kibaki team - Daily Nation, 1st May 2006.
Story by NYABONYI KAZUNGU and DAVID MUGONYI

The Catholic Church yesterday accused the Government of lacklustre performance, condoning corruption and failure to implement reports of its own investigations.

The bishops said the Government’s slow pace of implementing or failure to implement recommendations of key reports appeared to be a way of protecting friends mentioned in bad light.

“The hesitancy and undue delay in implementing reports seems to be the way of dealing with issues that may affect friends," they added.

In a statement signed by Kenya Episcopal Conference (KEC) chairman John Njue, they said: "The deliberate murder of an innocent human-being is against the law of God and human dignity itself. “Human life is sacred — from the moment of conception to natural death. No person can claim the right to destroy another human being."

The statement said that although governments are elected to govern, it appeared that Kenyan leaders are only interested in graft.

Greed and arrogance have permeated the society, and it appears to be business as usual in some areas of the Government, the clerics said.

Kenyans, they said, elected the Government to be accountable, ensure laws are obeyed, order is maintained, human rights are respected and peace and development are ensured, but these have not been fully realised.

“While one may find some individuals and decisions meeting these criteria and while noting some progress in certain aspects of life, the overwhelming impression is that our leaders in various categories have been overtaken by all forms of sleaze and deception," they added.

Archbishop Njue said the church had noted that corruption and insecurity had "taken the centre stage."

He added: “New words have entered our vocabulary in Kenya, such as Goldenberg and Anglo Leasing. They mean greed, theft, corruption and arrogance.”

The clerics said very little had been done to correct irregularities in land acquisition.

Archbishop Njue said the Government should deal with land grabbing even if churches were found to have been involved.

The Government is currently grappling with the implementation of the Ndung'u land report. And although the report was completed two years ago, the key recommendations, among them the repossession of grabbed public utility land, have not been tackled.

He said the Government had not fully implemented the recommendations of the Goldenberg inquiry, although some suspects had been taken to court.

The bishops said God had outlawed theft, irrespective of one's station in the society. Fraud, cheating, deprivation of wages and grabbing of land are wrong, they added.

They also condemned the taking of life, whether through mob justice or abortion. “The deliberate murder of an innocent human being is against the law of God and human dignity itself," the staement said. "Human life is sacred."

In the statement which followed a five-day plenary meeting under KEC, the bishops expressed fears that the country’s development would be stifled.

Archbishop Njue, on behalf of the church's bishops, said: “We must understand clearly that if we have no respect for the lives of other people, our community and nation will not progress. It will not even survive.”

The bishops did not spare MPs who last week raised their allowances, and said they already had enough in their pockets.

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Hakuna haja 'tubishane kama nyumba yetu inachomeka'.

Wazee wengine katika Jukwaa, munasemaje?