REFERENDUM QUESTION

The question to which Kenyans will respond as they vote for or against the proposed constitution at the referendum will be known on Monday. The Interim Independent Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary Select Committee on constitution review meet on Monday to frame the question.

In 2005, Kenyans were asked; Are you for or against the ratification of the proposed new constitution? Supporters of the No vote, who were given the Orange symbol by the Electoral Commission of Kenya, garnered 3.5 million votes against the Yes supporters whose symbol was Banana who got 2.5 million votes.

This was a 58.12 per cent win for the No campaigners against the Yes campaigners’ 41.8 per cent. On Sunday, IIEC chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan said his team would meet with PSC at 2.30pm. Mr Hassan could not, however, say when the electoral body would set the date for the referendum.

The IIEC has effectively taken over the baton for the last phase on the road to a new constitutional dispensation which involves preparing the public for the referendum. The public vote has to take place within 90 days from the publication of the proposed constitution.

Seven days

Attorney-General Amos Wako published the proposed constitution last Thursday. Mr Hassan’s team is required to frame the referendum question within seven days and have the voters’ registers ready in 21 days. The Committee of Experts (CoE) will also have 30 days to conduct civic education and politicians will only be allowed to campaign afterwards.

Speaking at Kenyatta International Conference Centre when he published the proposed constitution, Mr Wako termed the campaigns for the ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ votes as premature and asked politicians to refrain from holding rallies until after civic education.

If Kenyans endorse the proposed constitution at the referendum which is expected not later than August 6, President Kibaki will be required to promulgate it within 14 days. Mr Hassan also said the electoral body will today release the final tally of voters following the end of the manual registration on Sunday.

The registration was extended by four days, giving a chance to millions of people who had missed the Wednesday deadline. The extension had been requested by organisations such as the Federation of Women Lawyers-Kenya chapter. Mr Hassan said an additional 1.5 million voters were expected to enter the voters’ roll in the four extra days.By last Wednesday, before the extension, 11,771,068 voters had enrolled.

And as the focus turns to the referendum, MPs pushing for the rejection of the proposed constitution want the CoE barred from conducting civic education. The group claims that the Nzamba Kitonga-led committee would be crusading for the adoption of the document to justify its work.

MPs Kiema Kilonzo (Mutito), Charles Keter (Belgut), Isaac Ruto (Chepalungu) and Mithika Linturi (Igembe South) said the committee could not be trusted to impartially educate Kenyans on the contents of the proposed constitution. “For purposes of objectivity, it is important for a different neutral body to be given the task to conduct civic education ahead of the referendum,” Mr Keter said on Sunday during a funeral in Nzambani, Kitui.

Mr Kilonzo said the matter had been complicated further by the endorsement of the proposed constitution by some foreign countries, which were also funding the enactment of a new laws under the Agenda Four reforms. In an apparent reference to the United States, the Mutito MP said the CoE could not take positions contrary to the ones taken by some of those funding the Agenda Four reforms.

The US Government, through Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, has endorsed the document. Elsewhere, CoE official Gad Awuonda asked lawyers to play an active role in civic education so that Kenyans can vote with their conscience during the referendum. However, Mr Lawrence Karanja, chairman of LSK Rift Valley branch, said lawyers needed financial backing to carry out civic education.