Kenyans have now crossed the Rubicon; there’s no turning back

The die is cast “Lacta alea est”. These words were uttered by Julius Caesar before crossing the small river Rubicon in northern Italy in 49 BC.

An ancient Roman law forbade any general crossing the Rubicon and entering Italy proper with a standing army. To do so was treason. Julius Caesar had to do it to avoid falling prey to the conspiracies of the Roman Senate. It was the crossing of the Rubicon which opened the doors for the Roman Empire to expand exponentially and take over most of the modern-day Europe.

The crossing effectively changed the course of history. Today, when we say “the die is cast”, it means we have reached a defining moment – a point of no return and a point of decisive action in our lives. Wednesday was a defining moment in Kenya.

The die was cast for a new constitution in Kenya. Kenyans have already crossed the Rubicon, and will no longer remain in a state of despondency and hopelessness. They have been struggling to do so for nearly a quarter of a century, and they have reached a point of no return.

Nobody can stop the drumbeats of history. Both sides of the divide – the ‘Yes’ and the ‘No’ agreed that there was a need for a new constitutional dispensation. The only point of departure was on the content and substance of a few clauses in the proposed constitution.

But this did not prevent the momentum of history from marching forward. We have reached a point in our history to shake off the old order and turn on the tap for a new more robust, more re-energised and more progressive nation. The waiting has been painfully long.

It has been very costly in terms of human sacrifice and resources. The human mind abhors an endless state of stalemate and suspense, no matter the merits or demerits of any particular quest. History is on the march and most Kenyans have now disentangled themselves from the swirl and babble of any further debate on the new constitution.

The “Greens “and the “Reds” are all Kenyans. Unless one wants to be totally oblivious of our nascent history, nobody would dispute that the existing order since 1963 has been a perfect case study of excessive abuse of human rights, wanton abuse of State power, reckless pillage of our national resources, and the perpetuation of decapitating social injustices and inequalities.

The history of independent Kenya is a tale of betrayal of pre-independence hopes and aspirations of the Kenyan people. The new constitution will be an important starting point in reclaiming the hopes and aspirations of Kenyans towards a dignified future for all in this great nation.

It is one of the ironies of Kenya’s history that for nearly quarter of a century, this county has been governed through a moribund constitution designed primarily by our colonial masters. That constitution has even been substantially adulterated by the post-independence rulers. Historians will continue wondering why it took Kenyans so long to change their constitution.

The new constitution is an unprecedented milestone in not only shaking off the vestiges of our colonial past but also in the full emancipation of Kenyans. The provisions in the new constitution of vesting sovereign powers to the people of Kenya, the Bill of Rights, the full separation of powers between the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary, and the devolution of power and resources to the grassroots far supersede any arguments that may have been fronted to block it.

It was the French poet and playwright Victor Hugo who wrote: “An invasion of armies can be resisted” but “no one can resist an idea whose time has come”. No one could resist the dawn of independence on December 12, 1963, and no one could resist the dawn of a new era on Wednesday.

Just as the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 in Paris, ushered in the French Revolution and a new world order, August 4, 2010, ushered in a new order in Kenya. This is the rebirth of the nation. It will be the onset of the Second Republic – a renaissance of a new more democratic, more egalitarian, more just, more rejuvenated, happier and more hopeful nation. Today is Kenya’s finest hour. We are on the right side of history.

Mr Ngumo is a historian and management consultant.