NO OR YES

The quest for a new constitution in the country entered its most refined state Thursday with the publication of the draft law by the Attorney General.

But with the YES and NO proponents having already hit the campaign trail, the stage is all set for a bruising battle pitting the church which is notably leading the NO crusade and a coalition government determined to go down in history as having delivered an elusive constitution in extremely challenging circumstances.

The church has vowed to mobilize Kenyans to shoot down the draft unless the clauses on abortion and the kadhis' courts are removed.

However cracks may already have begun to emerge in the battles as some begin to reconsider their positions.

The clergy in western province caved to the YES storm and changed their NO stand on the proposed draft with Bishop Salala breaking ranks with the collective position adopted by the church's umbrella body NCCK and backing the draft constitution.

Bishop Salala said the church should facilitate the realization of a new constitutional dispensation.

This stand comes even as the Chrisco church finally broke its silence and rejected the proposed constitution warning Kenyans on the dangers of passing a draft that contains contentious clauses.

Former vice president moody Awori voiced his support for the draft and cautioned NO camp which has among its crusaders Higher education minister William Ruto on sailing against the wind of change and reforms.

The Kenya national union of teachers says it will mobilize its members to vote for the draft claiming it addresses their concerns.

However, civic leaders in Malindi say politicians should stop imposing their personal stand on Kenyans.

Following the publication of the draft on Thursday, the Committee of Experts now has 30 days to carry out education and awareness creation among the public on the contents of the draft .

The Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) on its part has 90 days to announce a referendum date on the document.