Calls to amend the constitution are absurd

The new devolution structure denies them large tribal catchment bases from which to bargain for personal power and corruptly amass individual wealth.

They don’t like kadhi courts because they are religious bigots. They oppose abortion because they are misogynists.

You get the point. It shocks me that anti-reformers think that progressives would agree to the amendments they want to force down our throats.

What, then, would have been the purpose of the referendum? Wasn’t the referendum meant to let the electorate settle the “contentious issues”? Didn’t the voters do just that on August 4?

But the “Reds” are saying that “it’s their way or the highway”. They want to impose the dictatorship of the minority on the majority. They want to achieve through manipulation, threats, and skullduggery what they failed to obtain at the ballot box.

They couldn’t convince Wanjiku, and now want to use their access to the privileged corridors of power to subvert the will of the people.

We remember well what happened in 2002 when Narc booted Kanu out of power on a platform of reform. The people were ecstatic. But the networks of corruption and anti-reform found their way back to the inner sanctum of power.

Those who had tormented Kenyans for over two decades escaped sanction. They kept their looted wealth. Many found their way back in government.

Impunity and corruption continued unabated. Soon, they were offering us moral lessons and lecturing Kenyans on “good governance”.

Anti-reformers are resilient. Like a deadly virus, there is no cure for them. But we can hold them accountable and prevent them from looting the State and “squatting” in public office. We can stop the abuse.

The lesson of the failed Narc dream is that an election does not reform a country. Nor does merely passing a constitution. That’s why we must immediately – and fully – implement the new constitution.

Makau Mutua is Dean and SUNY Distinguished Professor at the State University of New York at Buffalo Law School and Chair of the Kenya Human Rights Commision.