AFTER MUGIRANGO BACK TO THE DRAFT CAMPAIGNS

A day after failing to convince the S. Mugirango electorates to vote for Magara, the Party of National Unity-PNU- 'Yes' side has decided to commence its massive rallies in support of the proposed constitution starting this weekend.

Speaking on Friday after a closed door meeting, the members led by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitution chairman Abdir Kadir, said they are scheduled to start their rallies in Nyahururu and Nanyuki on Saturday before spreading to other areas.

The chair at the same time refuted claims that the 'Yes' team was divided saying that they all had a common goal of seeing to it that the country achieved a new constitution and hence were united.

The journey to acquiring a new constitution is intensifying with less than two months before the 4th August referendum.

The YES and NO camps have a hard task of educating Kenyans whom majority have little knowledge on the draft.

The government has committed 7 billion shillings to the civic education and the referendum.

On Wednesday, the government said it will marshal resources to spearhead the Yes campaign as part of its promise of delivering a new constitution under Agenda Four of the national accord.

Speaking while issuing a statement in parliament Prime Minister Raila Odinga said the executive was keen on implementing parliament's resolutions which unanimously endorsed the draft.

Odinga dismissed opponents of the draft who have decried the use of state resources in the campaigns.

The No team has been consistently hitting out at the Yes team saying it was using state resources in its campaigns and calling on the government to equally fund the No team.

However Odinga who was issuing an update on the road map to constitutional reforms in parliament expressed confidence that sufficient funds have been factored into this year's budget to foot the cost of the August 4 referendum.

Odinga said the government had put in place a full proof plan to ensure a resounding victory of at least 60% and above of the votes in the referendum.

Odinga exonerated the government from claims that it had failed to fund the Committee of Experts early enough to allow for civic education on the proposed constitution saying CoE's budget was never factored in the current budget and the government had to source for funds from other ministries.

However the activities of CoE have been factored in the 2010/2011 budget to avoid a recurrence of financial constraints.

Odinga was adamant that the government would continue to lead the Yes campaigns despite opposition from the No camp as it has the mandate of delivering a new constitution to Kenyans.

The PM issued a stern warning against politicians engaging in hate speech during the campaigns for the referendum saying the National Cohesion Commission has been directed to take action against such politicians.

Meanwhile this week, opponents of the proposed constitution launched its No campaign secretariat with a scathing attack on America for reportedly interfering with the constitution making process.

The No camp said it was wrong for the U.S to support the proposed constitution and yet some of the contentious clauses in the document were not allowed in that country.

America's vice president Joe Biden who was on a visit to the country said America would fully support Kenya in terms of aid and investment if it acquired a new constitution as part of its agenda four reforms.

The No camp maintains the document was borrowed largely from the US constitution.