As an observer, I have followed with keen interest the ongoing campaign by the Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) to amend the new Constitution. Although the agitations kicked off almost a year ago, one thing that has remained very clear is that the campaign is yet to gain momentum.
Under the umbrella of Okoa Kenya, the leadership of the coalition has only achieved one thing; the collection of 1.4 million signatures. This is far below the target of 5 million that CORD leader Raila Odinga had declared the coalition would collect.
It is too early to celebrate this as one of the key milestones. Why do I say so? The law is very clear the signatures will only be accepted if they meet the criteria set out in the electoral laws governing the management and conduct of referendums and elections. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) will have to verify if they belong to voters who cast their votes in the 2013 General Election. The minimum threshold is 1 million and so if the coalition fails to raise the numbers it will be forced to go back to the drawing board.
If the coalition manages to overcome that hurdle, it will move to the next step and convince at least 24 county governments to support their bid. This is where another problem lies. It is on record that so far a majority of governors, including those critical of President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto, have distanced themselves from the clamour and instead opted to rally behind their Pesa Mashinani initiative.
As an observer, I can say without fear of contradiction that majority of Kenyans support the calls for the amendment as they believe the supreme law is largely to blame for the myriad of challenges facing the country.
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How do you expect the Jubilee administration to win the war against terrorism when the Constitution provides that terrorists should be released on bail?
Turning to graft, they would argue that President Kenyatta has made great strides in the war against the vice but his efforts are being undermined by other institutions.
I support the concerns raised by Kenyans. If they would have their way, I hope they will not repeat the mistake they made in 2010 when they failed to read and understand the draft constitution and instead they overwhelmingly voted blindly for its adoption.
This time, I hope Kenyans will read the questions put to them properly before they cast their vote so as to make an informed decision.
But how come many Kenyans are yet to approve CORD push for the referendum? What is holding them back? Well, my considered view is that the coalition started on a wrong footing. From the outset, it would emerge that the primary objective of CORD principals and their brigade was not primarily intended to address the contentious issues that Kenyans had identified and raised.
For instance, one of the concerns is that the Constitution created a bloated government. But CORD has turned a deaf ear to calls of either scrapping some of the offices or reducing the work force.
Of great concern to Kenyans would be the huge number of elective positions. For CORD, the eyes of the leaders would be trained on amending parts of the Constitution that would enable them to revitalise their bid to unseat President Kenyatta and his Deputy in the 2017 General Election.
Kenya will only succeed in amending its constitution if we allow neutral and non-partisan players to lead the process.
