CONTOVERSY

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 12 - The process of enacting a new Constitution has been rocked by a new controversy following claims that there are two different drafts in circulation.

The contentious document said to be in circulation concurrently with the authentic one has amended section 21 (1) (d) to limit the Bill of Rights in cases the government deems “prejudice to National Security.”

The Committee of Experts was quick to state that the anomaly had been noted and that the Office of the Attorney General had demanded that it vets all drafts to be distributed.

“The draft now being printed and distributed to the public is authentic as certified by the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitution Review and the AG,” said CoE Director Ekuru Aukot.

However, chief political No campaigner William Ruto led nine MPs in demanding for the suspension of the August referendum, to rectify the anomaly saying the inclusion of the words “national security” in one of the clauses negated all the gains in the Bill of Rights.

“These same words (national security) have been the excuse used all the years to deny the people of this country their rights,” said Mr Ruto adding that the No team saw this as “an orchestrated move by the powers that be to endorse a fundamentally wrong document to Kenyans.”

“Under the pretence of National Security we have seen people sent to detention without trial, media house raided and even rallies of anti government people cancelled.”

Mr Ruto claimed that he had information that there were one million copies of the controversial draft already in circulation. The AG’s Office has admitted the circulation of the illegal draft but said it had ordered the suspension of printing the wrong document.

“I talked to the AG who acknowledged the error which he suspects occurred at the government printer and he intimated that some people in government had been pushing for the changes,” said Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo who joined Mr Ruto.

Attorney General Amos Wako directed that investigations take place to determine who sneaked the illegal clause and action be taken against them.

“The AG should have recorded a statement with the police by now,” said Igembe South MP Mithika Linturi.

The AG published the draft on Thursday last week.

The Committee of Experts in turn launched a nationwide civic education campaign in readiness for the referendum to be held in less than three months.

Mr Wako was expected to address a news conference on the controversy on Wednesday afternoon.