New Constitution: An Oasis or Mirage?

So Kenya is basking in the limelight as among the few countries who can overhaul their constitution in peace time. Well, it has been along journey for both proponents and critics of the new constitution. First a deserved congratulations to all Kenyans for showing maturity and disabusing the doomsayers who never expected an African country to release poll results in REAL TIME just like any other developed country out there.

We are a lucky lot to be witnesses to a rebirth of a country. True, it is not perfect but what is? We have a plebiscite and it is upto us to better the template. At least we have the pride of place and mind to claim it as our own unlike the tattered Lancaster document that was thrust at us and then mutilated by our won for selfish reasons. And there comes the BIG catch.

It may be premature to pop the champagne just yet. We have NEW wine in old wineskin's. Implementation of the new constitution is left at the hands/mercy of the OLD POLITICAL guard. Can they make a clean break from their selfish and destructive past to do what is right? Well, the jury is already out roamimg and your guess is as good as mine.

Without abstracting the obvious, the new constitution provides a very radical road map on how to governance and other matters thereof. You can bet you next lunch that OWNERS of Kenya will not go down ushering in new FAIR ways of doing things that will jeopardize the leash and 'illegal' advantages they enjoy over the majority. They may not come out fighting but the RESISTANCE will definitely be massive.

The most difficult part begins NOW

The new constitution is no panacea to our myriad national maladies. We missed the opportunity to shape Kenya after independence and again after 2002 when we were the most optimistic nation on the planet. Will we squander this opportunity for the third time running? One only hopes and prays against all odds that we will not have the next two years of fiver pitch campaigns for 2012. How about putting a smile on the IDPs by resettling them to set the pace? Wishes!!

This new constitution provides the best rallying document to galvanize us as a country and NOT a mere sum of 42+ tribes. The ordinary voters have led the way, will we follow and take it to the next level? We MUST REBOOT of our national culture and lay out clear objectives with time lines on what we need as a country. A constitution in nothing without people respecting and living its ideals. You cannot legislate values, they must be nurtured by design.

We may be oblivious of the historic opportunity dangling before our eyes. Can we rise to the occasion and measure up? It may all sound evangelical but it is TRUE and DOABLE. Yes we can but can we seize the moment? Well, change starts from the individual before acquiring critical mass. It is incumbent upon each Kenya to start that change in his or her small way.

Welcome to NEW KENYA. Congratulations Kenyans. One people, one Nation, one Kenya.

Progressive or New Activist Draft Constitution?

A look at the proposed new draft constitution leaves you wondering whether you are listening to an NGO seminar presentation. While the draft captures the heart of most of the salient issues like devolution and judicial overhaul, the finer prints smacks of activism devoid of any trace of tunnel vision to anchor national foundation and values.

The return of two chambers may appear to rewinding the clock to 1960s but at least it is an honest reflection to help us retrace our steps towards disabusing the godfathers of impunity like Jomo and his STUDENTS who patented Kenya for themselves. The senate will ensure no region feels marginalized by either default or design as we re-invent ourselves into a modern state.

Hopefully the provincial governments will comprehensively tackle the regional militias presently roaming and BEHEADING fellow Kenyans. At least the regional authorities will be knowledgeable and armed with experience to stop the murderers at their doorsteps.

Perhaps the most progressive suggestion in the draft constitution is the provision of dual citizenship. Kenya has been blind to her Diaspora despite their enormous contribution to the economy. This development is a step towards disabusing the old guards of their primitive nostalgia and contempt towards modernism. The ball will squarely fall on the Diaspora’s court to walk their lofty talk should the dual citizenship proposal pass muster.

Saving ourselves
But predictably, the draft does not fail to inject a bitter taste onto the lips with its academic legislation on gender. While NGOs win donors with their gender campaigns, legislating that no gender should occupy two-thirds of the seats in the National Assembly turns the whole theme of equity on its own head.

On the whole the so-called committee of experts has correctly diagnosed our collective ailment. Their prescription may not be the best but at least it will keep us alive to either accept reality and reform or revert to our destructive pettiness that will only see us perish collectively.

It is incumbent upon us to rise to the occasion and save ourselves from stewing in our won blood, shall we?