Respect Constitution and wage your political battles in the proper forums
What you need to know:
- With the ink still fresh on its pages; already there are those who would wish to take a guillotine to a Constitution that is barely four years old, butchering its provisions and shaping it to their whims.
- Would that coalition be calling for those amendments had it won the March 2013 General Election? Obviously not.
- Aren’t the proponents of the referendum calls the same people who declared in 2010 that the Constitution was ‘perfect’ as is?
The Constitution of Kenya 2010 is not a document received by Kenyans from the Olympian gods. Rather, it is the culmination of more than three decades of struggle and sacrifice, through which the people sought to replace the Supreme Law dictated to them by the departing colonialists.
After many stillborn attempts, Kenyans finally arrived at a generally accepted draft, which was then deliberated upon, clause by clause.
Thereafter, the nation overwhelmingly approved the draft, thus becoming the first and so far, only country to overhaul its Constitution in peacetime.
With the ink still fresh on its pages; already there are those who would wish to take a guillotine to a Constitution that is barely four years old, butchering its provisions and shaping it to their whims.
They suggest a root-and-branch overhaul of its structure, operation and provisions.
The previous incarnations of our Supreme Law were mutilated by petty, narrow minded and expedient tinkering.
Temporary political circumstances and transient considerations informed these changes. What resulted was a document and a system of government that was roundly condemned as “a mongrel”.
Having lost its once noble character and identity, the Constitution ceased being a sacred document and became the plaything of politicians.
When one compares the Kenyan situation regarding amendments to the Constitution with the experiences of the UK and the US, for example, one quickly realises that while other countries only opt for amending the Constitution as a last-resort effort to resolve grand constitutional crises, in Kenya, we have tended to rush into them without exhausting the lesser alternatives.
TYRANNY OF THE UNELECTED
Both past and current proposals for changes to the Constitution are of a character that could be adequately dealt with politically, legislatively or through developing constitutional conventions.
There is no grand crisis facing Kenya as a result of a failure of the Constitution.
There is no situation in our country that resembles the breakdown in the operation of the British Constitution that necessitated the enactment of the Parliament Acts, thus ending the perceived tyranny of the unelected Upper House with its hereditary membership scuttling reforms initiated by the elected House of Commons.
Coming second in a General Election is not a constitutional crisis. Has the minority coalition tabled any Bills in either House to address their so-called concerns?
Would that coalition be calling for those amendments had it won the March 2013 General Election? Obviously not.
MERE PRETEXT
It is also curious that the same county governments that have been criticised by a multitude of independent commissions for either leaving billions of shillings from their budgets unspent, or for engaging in frivolous expenditure, are calling for greater allocations barely a year and a half later.
Are the governors’ proposals backed by independent research? Has enough time lapsed for a proper assessment of whether the ratios need increasing? No.
The Constitution is being politicised. It is being turned into the battleground upon which a section of the political class wishes to flex its muscle or engage in supremacy wars.
The issues being presented are a mere pretext – window dressing. In reality, the referendum calls are a poisonous concoction of power-games mixed with sour grapes, posturing, political blackmail and self-aggrandisement.
If Kenyans heed those calls, we will once again have a Constitution that is the property of politicians. With every change in government or political circumstances, there will be an automatic rush to change the Constitution to suit prevailing whims.
'MONGREL' CONSTITUTION
Aren’t the proponents of the referendum calls the same people who declared in 2010 that the Constitution was ‘perfect’ as is?
Did they not warn wananchi against amendments to the Supreme Law driven by those they termed “anti-reform forces” and “enemies of the Constitution”?
Did they not advise us to guard the Constitution from “mutilation” through changes introduced while the Constitution was still “an infant”? What changed?
Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past that led to a “mongrel” Constitution. Let us not treat it like a plaything.
We should respect it, and wage our political battles in the proper forums, not on the pages of our most sacred secular document.
Mr Mbiuki, is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. ([email protected])
