KENYANS WENT to the polls yesterday to vote on a new constitution which is designed to transform the way the country governs itself.
The new constitution is a result of the power-sharing agreement brokered by Kofi Annan in the months that followed Kenya’s 2007 election violence. It waters down the sweeping powers of the president, devolves power from the capital Nairobi to the regions and sets up a commission to settle land disputes, an issue that has fuelled post-election violence in the past.
Opinion polls suggest the new constitution will be approved, with reports from around the country suggesting a high and peaceful turnout. Tallying of votes began yesterday evening – an official result is expected on Friday.
In three days of violence following Kenya’s disputed 2007 general election, raw ethnic conflict broke out between the Kikuyu community which supported President Mwai Kibaki and the Kalenjin and Luo ethnic groups, which supported the opposition. Buildings were burnt and homes looted. By the end of January more than 1,000 people countrywide were dead.
The town of Nakuru lost 60 members of its community. Its pastor, Naftul Chweye Oganja, sits on a plastic patio chair looking out on the smoke-charred houses and abandoned shop fronts along the Githima Estate. Where he is sitting used to be a house. But all that is left is a fireplace, standing erect and useless beside him.
“We had taken the peace for granted,” says Pastor Oganja, casting an eye on the new metal sheet roof of his church, which was burnt during the violence. “But the Kenya of today is wiser. I’ve never seen a vote so peaceful. Today is the start of a new dawn for the country.”
At St Xavier’s primary school in Nakuru, a banner with the slogan “Katiba Mpya, Kenya Moja” (New Constitution One Kenya) hangs between the croton trees shading the polling station from the midday sun.
Inside, Evans Maimki hands over his voter registration card and has his finger print scanned, to make sure he is who he says he is. He casts his vote, and has his baby finger coated in blue ink.
“I came at 10am but the queue was too long so I came back now,” says the second-hand clothes dealer. It is 3.30pm. “This constitution is good for Kenya. We need to go forward. We’ve been talking about a new constitution for a long time.” A total of 9,700 people are registered to vote at St Xavier’s, and voter turnout has been high says presiding officer Philip Njenga.
“People started queuing up at 5.30am but we didn’t open until 6am. “Seventy per cent of the people registered here have already voted and we expect to get 80 per cent by the end of the day,” he says. Turnout for the 2007 election was just under 70 per cent countrywide.
At the polling station in Baharini primary school, Damaris Wangoi says she voted against the constitution, even though she believes there are some good provisions in it.
“I have a problem with abortion and the Khadi courts, so voted No. This country is not a Muslim country, why do we need to give them their own courts?”
The draft constitution provides for abortion where the mother’s life is in danger and cements the place of Khadi courts, which deals mainly with Muslim family issues.
However, some of the most controversial provisions relate to land, which has stoked opposition among many around Nakuru and in the Rift Valley. Long regarded as Kenya’s breadbasket, the Rift Valley is home to a substantial horticultural and agricultural industry. However, it is also one of the most volatile regions in the country, where the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin ethnic groups have fought for decades over land and political power.
“I can’t say that we are united but we are all facing challenges,” says Pastor Oganja, who unusually for a church leader is voting Yes, many of his colleagues are opposed to the abortion clause.
“But with challenges comes an enemy. And a common enemy brings unity.”