Kenya prepares for referendum on new constitution
Kenyans reflected on their choices for tomorrow’s referendum on a draft constitution that spells out how East Africa’s largest economy will be run and its resources should be shared.
Campaigning closed yesterday, but supporters and critics of the proposed constitution placed advertisements in Sunday newspapers in a last-minute pitch for votes ahead of Kenya’s first ever referendum since its 1963 independence from Britain.
Both supporters and opponents of the proposed constitution agree that Kenya needs a new charter to curb decades of misrule and abuse of power by its leaders. But they disagree on contents of the new law, leading to violence that has marred the campaign in which at least seven people have died.
“You may have been bribed, lied to, threatened or otherwise influenced to support a certain camp. But remember, you will be alone in that voting booth and no one will ever know how you voted. Do not sell Kenya, vote for it instead,” the independent Sunday Standard said in a rare front page editorial.
An international anti-corruption watchdog published a list of what voters should look out for to prevent their vote from being stolen and stop either side from winning the referendum through fraud.
Voters should watch out for signs of poor supervision of polling stations, ballot papers not being wrapped and sealed at the start of voting or that contain markings, improper voter identification procedures and issuing more than one ballot paper to a registered voter, the local chapter of Transparency International said in an advertisement placed in the Sunday Nation, one of Kenya’s leading newspapers.
Critics argue that the proposed charter fails to curb presidential powers and would undermine multiparty democracy by allowing the leader to appoint Cabinet ministers from opposition parties without consulting opposition leaders.
Supporters says the charter introduces land reforms, including banning foreigners from owning land and reducing the term for which foreigners can lease land – from 999 years to 99 years.
President Mwai Kibaki appealed for calm on Friday and said his government would deal firmly with anyone attempting to disrupt the referendum in which voters will choose a banana for yes or an orange for no. A third of Kenyan adults cannot read.
Kenyans will cast their ballots at 19,134 polling stations across the country. The country has about 11.6 million registered voters, out of a population of 34 million.
Polling stations open at 7am (4am Irish time) and close at 5pm (1pm Irish time). Vote counting will be done at the stations and initial results are expected late on Monday.
The only opinion poll, released in October, showed opposition at 42% and support at 32% – leaving a large block undecided.
The document on which Kenyans will vote has been public since August, crafted by Attorney General Amos Wako from a draft created by a constitutional conference in March 2004 and one proposed by parliament in July.
Wako’s 197-page combination appears closer to parliament’s draft, which critics had charged gave the president too much power and contained provisions that were rejected by the constitutional conference. Like parliament, Wako proposed a prime minister who would be appointed – and could be dismissed – by the president.
Some have argued that the only legitimate draft emerged from a constitutional conference and an earlier exercise that saw a government-appointed commission soliciting views of ordinary Kenyans across the country.
Violence over the charter has decreased in recent days, said Koki Muli, spokeswoman of the only local group organised to observe the referendum. But Muli said the Kenya Civil Society Observation Programme has received reports of voter intimidation, buying and selling of voter cards and bribery.
