Referendum shouldn’t have been a do or die contest; now we must reconcile

Ideally, a constitution should be a written statement outlining the basic laws or principles by which a country or organisation are governed. In some instances, a constitution is not even written – the one for the United Kingdom isn’t.

It is, therefore, a little sad that in Kenya, we have spent the better part of two decades and immense energy chasing the mirage of a constitution. As far as governance is concerned one can say that for three decades we have been in a state of war and done all manner of things good and bad in the name of a looking for a new constitution.

It has been a long and hard walk but when seen in the context of the fact that constitutions the world over are hardly ever made in times of peace, the long period may be understandable. It is probably for this very reason that we were unable to close this chapter in 2005.

That year’s referendum left the country deeply divided on ethnic rather than ideological lines, thus laying a fertile ground for the seeds of the disputed presidential elections of 2007 to develop into the violence witnessed in 2008.

Indeed both the Kreigler and Waki reports, and even the ICC ruling that set in motion investigations in Kenya, all trace the roots of the post-election violence to the 2005 referendum. The importance of having a good constitution notwithstanding, one wonders whether a basic governance framework is a good enough reason for any Kenyan to suffer or lose their lives as we have seen over the years, culminating in the 2008 bloodbath.

The question we should then ask ourselves is, since January 2008 happened, have we learnt any lessons, and if so which ones? Looking at our conduct as a citizenry over the past few months in the run-up to the referendum, I can almost say without fear of contradiction that we never learnt any lessons from 2005 and 2008 although we keep saying “never again”.

We have conducted civic education which, for all practical purposes, can only be classified as campaigns, and run these campaigns by pitting one community against the other, including zoning off certain areas as either ‘‘Red’’ or ‘‘Green’’ though the two colours are both derived from an important symbol of our nationhood – the national flag.

On the few instances when the debate was on issues, these tended to centre more on parochial rather than national issues. We saw intolerance rear its ugly head when fellow Kenyans were literally run out of towns and areas where they were supposedly not welcome, despite the fact that both the current and proposed constitution guarantee freedom of movement within the country.

This referendum has mistakenly been cast as a contest where one party has to win, and the other must lose. Although, outwardly, all parties have expressed the belief that they will ‘‘win’’, the truth is that some people are going to feel a sense of loss.

Those who expect to ‘‘win’’ can hardly wait to bring out their vuvuzelas without a thought for their ‘‘vanquished’’ brothers and sisters. And those who may fear losing are already developing sore spots. By the end of the week, some vuvuzelas may be blown while others will be put away hurriedly and some ‘‘sores’’ may become really painful while others will disappear – depending on the outcome.

Having decided as Kenyans that this is a contest and having had the opportunity to speak through the ballot, the challenge that should concern all of us after the results is how to reconcile the nation. We must remember that at the end of the day, whatever outcome will be the will of the people. If there is any partying to be done, then we must all party. If there is mourning, we must do this together.

In the exercise of democracy, we safeguard against the minority being oppressed by the majority. To deal with this, we must forget the contest, embrace the outcome and roll up our sleeves to build Kenya. We must remember that regardless of how Kenya votes, there will still be challenges which we will have to face together as a nation.

As the National Cohesion and Integration Commission, we appeal to all Kenyans to reach out to each other after the referendum in the true spirit of brotherliness and reconciliation, to give a new meaning to the saying ‘‘I am proud to be Kenyan’’.

Ms Onyango is the vice-chairperson, National Cohesion and Integration Commission.