Post by Onyango Oloo on Sept 30, 2005 1:40:58 GMT 3
INTERVIEW:
Public Vote Seen as Payback Ttime, says assistant minister
Publication Date: 9/30/2005, Daily Nation
Dr Noah Wekesa, an assistant minister for Livestock Development and a prominent member of a group of MPs in the Middle Ground pushing for fresh talks before the November 21 referendum, spoke to the Nation's NJERI RUGENE.
Please define your group.
It is on record. The Middle Ground MPs have taken positions on the referendum with either the Yes or the No camp. We are not fence-sitters.
We are worried by the fact that Kenyans are being subjected to politics with falsehoods and violence being peddled around. Issues to do with the Constitution have been swept aside.
We are also worried that, if the November 21 vote is not postponed, the winner will most likely get only 55 per cent. In our view, this will be a loss for the country.
Where do you come in?
The reason we have come together is to try to persuade the two camps to come together and address the issues that have caused so much animosity and are dividing the people. The polarisation now very apparent can be addressed if leaders come together and negotiate.
Negotiations in the Constitution review have been many. Your effort also comes quite late in the day. The Yes and No teams have declared they will not negotiate on this one. What can you do?
First, we are asking that the referendum be postponed for three months. We will then get a non-partisan group of Kenyans with enough expertise to look at what is dividing us. They will address those issues so that, eventually, we are able to register a decision made by the real majority of Kenyans.
We intend to move a motion to amend the Constitution of Kenya Review (Amendment) Act to provide for postponement.
When do you intend to move the motion? What other amendments are you seeking?
The motion has already been drafted by a group of lawyers and we intend to table it in the House to be able to bring a postponement motion.
We have done it before. It can still be done. But I do not want to talk about the actual amendments or the motion's wording.
How much support do you have in Parliament?
By Wednesday afternoon, 56 MPs had signed the statement in support of our effort. All we will need is a simple majority.
What alternative do you have if your effort fails in Parliament?
If they have the interests of this country at heart and they know that Kenyans have been waiting this long for a new Constitution, they should agree to negotiate.
We are saying, please, give us only three months (to negotiate).
We shall get an independent group of level-headed Kenyans, among them top religious leaders and top constitutional lawyers, to look at the contentious issues.
Is it possible for any country to write a Constitution acceptable to every individual?
We are aware that no country has ever delivered a Constitution unanimously. We are also aware that the players on both sides of the divide cannot agree on all issues.
But with the spirit of give and take – the same spirit that was used in 2002 to bring together the leaders under the National Rainbow Coalition, it is possible to identify Kenyans who are prepared to work on the remaining contentious issues with the purpose of getting a way forward. Kenyans are very tolerant people.
What, in your opinion, has caused the stalemate? What is the obstacle to reconciliation?
We know the Constitution debate and the reconciliation effort have dragged on for years. It is our approach in addressing the review issues. Things went wrong at Bomas, where all delegates, including MPs and Cabinet ministers were expected to participate fully.
But the MPs, and particularly ministers, did not take the task seriously, while the district delegates did. When the Bomas Draft came out, the MPs and ministers who did not take the conference seriously were shocked at its contents. This is the reason we went to Naivasha and Kilifi. And this explains what is going on now.
The other reason for this division has to do with the direction our coalition has taken since elections, in particular, the formation of the so-called government of national unity (GNU).
The Cabinet ignored the structures we put in place and the role of political party leaders in the coalition, and it usurped all those roles and functions. This was the genesis of the problem.
Had we retained those structures, there would have been a proper linkage between party leaders and the Cabinet and there would have been no need for the GNU.
What does all that have to do with Constitution-making?
You see, some people now see this referendum vote as payback time.