HOW THE NEW CONSTITUTION SEDUCED CORRUPTION AND IMPUNITY AND UNEMPLOYMENT

Conclusively, having no part or clause in the constitution that attempts to explain how corrupt and undoing public-office holders can be dealt with (read recall), means we don’t understand the problem as well as the solution. What about powerful politicians who break the law (moral or otherwise) mercilessly like Simon Mbuguas and Wanjalas? The proposed draft continues giving them immunity

Snippets

1. Voting for the new constitution is here to remind us how easily we forget our mistakes
2. Campaigning too early before 4^th July (one month before referendum) is a resounding complicity in impunity
3. IIEC merely reflecting formality to ratify government stand
4. CoE threatening that contravening or rejecting their constitution-proposal is criminal veto
5. The draft not addressing key issues like public office corruption, tribalism, unemployment and impunity
6. After Americas endorsement Kenya will need Jose Mourinho to endorse it further or otherwise

Siri MagatzineHitherto, given the prevailing cross-fire on the proposed constitution, it is intuited that trouble looms larger than the actual national solace we have been speculating for long time now.

From the outset, despite the polarization of Kenyans into two opposing, polemical yet emotive Yes/No camps, the residuary civility, tolerance and rule of law have been flouted right, left and centre. It is the same disregarding virtues that Kenyans moral frame loosely hinges on since the 2007/2008 upheaval. Now that the proposed constitution is here to remind us how easily we forget our mistakes, keen observers must not fail to notice the way our difference are concreted over.

Civic education corrupt

First the Prime Minister Raila Odinga and President Kibaki, by the virtue of campaigning too early, is in itself a resounding complicity in impunity. If Kenyans memory has not lapsed, I recall campaigns were to start on 4^th of July—one month before referendum, but after civic education.

This, expectedly therefore, speaks volume of how, whether the constitution passes or not, impunity and corruption is here to stay with us. If the bigwigs who should obey the law can bond and break overtly the law that is used to make the constitution, is there any likelihood of obeying the constitution itself?

As if that is not enough, the presumed independent IIEC, the same institution that gave us the binary-choice of YES and NO, has plainly demonstrated that its “campaigns” lie in the Yes camp. This weird development begs the question if the tendency really ensue the growing willingness to let Kenyans have a say in the referendum, or if the referendum merely reflects formality to ratify the government’s stand.

The committee of experts, on the other hand, is squandering the taxpayers’ money putting around entertainment road-shows in the name of civic education. It’s much disheartening and disgusting when the CoE shifts its mandate of educating the public into whistle-stop show-off and technical ad hominem attack to the Red-camp, clearly threatening that contravening or rejecting their constitution-proposal is criminal veto.

For a fact, in spite of being a Yes-camp turncoat, history reminds us that when governments control the referendum, they will tend to use it only when they expect to win. This is utter depressing but even worse is when we picture kenya’s level of illiteracy and joblessness interspersed with tribalism monster. Now that we are yet to vote along tribal blocs, tribalism is to be awakened in another level. Is the draft prepared for that?

Yes camp to vote No; NO contextualization!

The proposed constitution was meant to increase transparency and enhance living standards by allowing good governance. Unfortunately, the opposite might happen, namely that the constitution is likely to propagate corruption from the peaks of national assembly to the depths of counties. Why is this so?

The extant truth is that corruption, impunity, tribalism and unemployment are four stumbling blocks in this country’s auspicious future 47 year down the line.

Eliminating this, seemed to be the draft constitution raison d’être. Conclusively, having no part or clause in the constitution that attempts to explain how corrupt and undoing public-office holders can be dealt with (read recall), means we don’t understand the problem as well as the solution. What about powerful politicians who break the law (moral or otherwise) mercilessly like Simon Mbuguas and Wanjalas? The proposed draft continues giving them immunity.

Instead of marshalling ideas of how to end the menacing tribalism, the constitution has mentioned nothing about our “sharp-fanged” tribes and how to keep them in check. On top of that, I beg to rectified if, apart from article 55(c), there is any other clause in which employment opportunities are suggested or implied to be created…

Those supporting the draft describe it vehemently as better than the current one. If by ‘better’ they mean well written and widely read, they are perfectly correct. But if they mean key issues have been tackled and no complexities involved in getting it to work, they are quite mistaken.

Let’s welcome reforms by starting with noticing our inadequacies then champion to put on the table pertinent measures. For instance, we know tribal political coalitions fuel so much hatred, why didn’t this new baby constitution order for presidential elections to be done far away from those of parliamentary so that people vote on the basis of a character not a winning concoction of tribalistic politicians.

As for America’s endorsement of the constitution we wonder, should we wait for Jose Mourinho’s final endorsement for us to decide?

ALPHONCE M. MAGATI

The University of Nairobi