To Kenyans,

RE: WHERE WILL THE CONSTITUTION BE AFTER THE 'NO' ON THE REFERENDUM?

When the Orange group and the Banana group went for a referendum a few years ago, where the Orange went for a NO , the Banana went for a YES, the NO for the Orange won. After the NO group won, the then draft constitution was dismissed and everything about it went to square one. It was after intensive pressures, a committee of experts was formed to draft a new constitution.

If the NO vote wins on the 4th of August, the debate on the constitution will go to square one. New pressures will be needed to drive the draft once again. No one knows how long it will take to put the issue in motion again. What is certain is that Kenyans will go into the next elections without a new constitution, if the NO vote wins the day on 4th. Today, most Kenyans think that once the No vote wins, the controversial clauses of the Kadhi Court and Abortion will be amended and the constitution will be adopted.

This is not the case. The referendum is about YES or NO to the Draft Constitution and not about YES or NO to the Kadhi Court or YES or NO to Abortion. A YES will mean the constitution draft has been accepted, whereas a No will mean the draft constitution has been rejected. So, if it will be a YES to the Draft Constitution, then the Constitution will be adopted. If it will be a NO to the Draft Constitution, then the entire Draft Constitution will be considered a waste. It may only be useful if a new group of Committee of experts or a group of people appointed afresh to look into drafting a new constitution will deem it fit to adopt certain clauses in the current draft. The choice is for Kenyans. It is Kenyans to choose their destiny. Nevertheless, please vote wisely.

Isaac Newton Kinity
Former secretary general
Kenya Civil Servants Union and
Chairman
Kikimo Foundation for Corruption and Poverty Eradication