DIVIDED HOUSE

By Billow Kerrow

Anyone who thinks there will be a binding political consensus on the Proposed Constitution must be dreaming. Just as much as those entertaining the absurd thoughts that Kenyans are desperately impatient to vote ‘Yes’.

A constitution is a political document and writing a new one undoubtedly raises political temperatures, with the attendant brinkmanship, impunity and hypocrisy inherent in local politics.

The battle lines are yet to be drawn, swords yet to be unsheathed and the war cries not just yet. From our chequered political history, it would be easier to wage a ‘No’ campaign than a ‘Yes’ one. With an often-gullible public that is usually disinclined to sift the wheat from the chaff, a well-orchestrated campaign against the draft built on half-truths, misrepresentations, and innuendos will spread like bushfire. Throw in a bit of ethnic, religious and regional paint, juggle in a bowl of fear about the future, and you have the perfect recipe for success.

Moreover, a ‘Yes’ campaign will come a cropper if the PNU-led promoters of the team hit the road half-heartedly, and play politics with their Raila-led ODM faction. For a start, it is not lost on many Kenyans that central Kenya leaders thought to be the main beneficiaries in the draft have been dead silent this whole week except for a few murmurs. They have not run away with the document as expected.

Then in the midweek we saw Raila come out to launch a low profile ‘Yes’ campaign. The PNU heavyweights such as Kalonzo, Uhuru and Saitoti were conspicuously absent. In my view, letting the PM lead this campaign would be a political disaster, and they will be playing into the hands of their opponents. Many, even in PNU, would be happy to see him midwife a stillborn child, far from lending him a hand.

The ‘KKK’ alliance bigwigs, Simama Kenya ‘toddlers’, and other PNU stalwarts have no soft spot for the PM. Any activity that elevates his political stature and gives him mileage, real or perceived, is unpalatable to this team.

In the realm of political power plays, this is fair game. In spite of the fervent appeal of the draft, the beckoning 2012 power dream may cloud their intellect and deny the campaign their undivided attention. Kalonzo has started entertaining thoughts of accommodating Ruto’s concerns and the PM has rubbished it. On the one hand, if the draft were perceived as a Raila project, as in the case of Mau and Moreno-Ocampo matters, it would be easy to effortlessly poison Rift Valley public against the draft.

On the other hand, if Kibaki were to crack the whip against Kalonzo, Michuki and other ‘wayward’ PNU ministers and frog-match them to lead the campaign, it would send a message to the rank and file to toe the line. This is one process that does not require a laid-back approach, or fencesitters. Equally, the PM should keep his flock in check. The principals must draw a line in the sand or else watch the 2005 spectacle repeated.

It is the politicians who have the capacity to scuttle the process, not the churches. The principals would be better advised to give more time to keeping the political ‘Yes’ team intact rather than baby-sit the Church who I believe have a bloated image of themselves.

To the discerning Kenyans, the Church is engaging in moral fraudulence on the Kadhis’ Courts and abortion issues and it is time to call their bluff.

Political corruption has permeated many a pulpit, and the moral integrity of most Church leaders is today in question. Since 2003, it has acquiescenced to State largesse and reinvented itself to be politically correct. When the Judiciary chapter that includes Kadhis’ Courts was adopted in Bomas, Bishop Phillip Sulumeti chaired it. When Ufungamano first Okayed these courts, Reverend Mutava Musyimi chaired it. Who says only politicians master in double-speak.

Those who argue that it would be difficult to amend the document in future may be right. But re-opening the draft for further discussions would sound its death knell too. And to lower the threshold for its amendment would be so utterly reckless as to allow the likes of Reverend Peter Karanja’s whimsical reasons to scramble the wishes of Kenyans.

The writer is a political economist and former MP for Mandera Central.