History made as jubilant crowd celebrates 'Yes' win

By Alex Ndegwa

The frenzied crowd danced to the corrupted renditions of popular tunes, interrupted intermittently by the deafening roar of vuvuzelas.

They ensured entertainment flowed uninterrupted whenever the police band took a break.

The water, jetting out furiously from adjacent fountains, blew away in the wind, the cool droplets coolly soothing the sun-scorched brows of the enthusiastic crowd that grew even wilder.

The excited crowd pushed and shoved menacingly as the dozen policemen held firmly on the security barrier, one officer using his baton to reinforce the cordon on the ground. This was in sharp contrast to the army of armed paramilitary policemen who sealed off the venue- Kenyatta International Conference Centre in December 2007, after the disputed presidential vote.

Then the deserted KICC grounds resembled a paramilitary outpost, but yesterday, civilians had outrun it.

The venue was a national jamboree to celebrate a new constitution that ironically five years ago they had rejoiced to its rejection.

Yesterday, President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, whose bitter contest in 2007 nearly pushed the country to the brink, chose the venue to make acceptance speeches following the resounding approval of the new constitution.

That choice was symbolic perhaps meant to exorcise the ghost of post-election violence, whose seeds were sowed at KICC, where tallying of the presidential vote was bungled.

Official tally

And yesterday the ceremony scheduled to start at 4pm was held up for nearly two hours as the two principals awaited the announcement of the final official referendum results.

When Kibaki and Raila walked out of KICC’s main entrance, down the steps to the podiums placed on level ground, the ecstatic crowd broke through the cordon, and the presidential guards rushed to take positions on the last barricade.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka had a hectic time addressing the chanting crowd, whose loud noises drowned prayers by the clergy.

In his characteristic posture President Kibaki told the cheering audience: "Tafadhali tusikizane kwa muda halafu mtaweza piga kelele dunia mzima baadaye. (Let us keep quiet for a moment then you will have an opportunity to address the whole world later). They had broke into chants of "Ruto must go! Ruto must go!"