Kenyans reject proposed constitution
Kenyans rejected a draft constitution that was supported by President Mwai Kibaki and his allies.
The result caps months of bitter divisions in the run up to the country’s first referendum since its 1963 independence.
Opponents of the draft charter had won 3.3 million votes, while supporters took 2.2 million votes by early today, the independent Kenya Television Network said, quoting partial results released by the Electoral Commission of Kenya.
“We have won .... We are leading by more than a million votes,” Mutula Kilonzo, a leading opponent of the proposed charter, told the state-run Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.
“When I say we have won, I am not only talking about numbers. We are talking about a concept” that Kenyans demand a constitution which reflects their views, Kilonzo told KBC television.
“This is a victory for the people of Kenya.”
Electoral Commission spokesman Mani Lemaiyan said preliminary results showed the charter had been voted down.
