Okoa Kenya just a selfish exercise by politicians

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD) has reacted with fury after the Independent Elections and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) rejected its draft Bill for amendment of the Constitution.

This was on the basis that it was not supported by at least one million registered voters as required under Article 257(4) of the Constitution.

Consequently, the coalition has vowed that it will not relent until the current Commissioners of the IEBC are kicked out of office.

But instead of kick starting the process of their removal as per Article 251 of the Constitution, the coalition has embarked on scheduled street demonstrations and its leaders have sworn that they will physically eject the Commissioners out of IEBC offices.

This method is foolhardy. It will not achieve its stated objective. It is also not likely that the demonstrations will help the coalition to recover from the shock of the botched referendum drive which was crucial to their strategy for winning the 2017 elections.

Once the dust has settled, CORD should look elsewhere other than trying to change the Constitution as a roadmap to the next general elections.

Constitutions are not perfect documents. In fact, the draft Bill proposed by the coalition was controversial and that is why some Jubilee coalition supporters embarked on two separate processes in response to Okoa Kenya.

Should we be amending our Constitution so soon after enacting it? I don’t think so.

During the closing day of the convention that ratified the American Constitution in 1787, Benjamin Franklin who was the oldest delegate aged 81 years remarked, “I agree to this Constitution with all its faults…, I doubt too whether any other Convention we can obtain may be able to make a better Constitution."

Franklin was clear in his mind that the Constitution they had just agreed to was not perfect. He was also alive to the difficulties encountered in arriving at a consensus.

In fact, the American Constitution, which has been amended only 27 times since its enactment (over 200 years) did not recognize such basic things like the right of women to vote.

It also saw slavery as a legitimate thing and did not abolish it at the outset. That is how imperfect the American Constitution was in its beginnings.

The failed Okoa Kenya exercise, as well as the Boresha Katiba and Punda Amechoka ones are nothing but selfish political games of the political class.

They are not forward looking and instead are contrived to make cheap political scores by their sponsors.

Kenyans should reject any attempt to amend our nascent Constitution. Any future amendments to the Constitution should only be about fundamental paradigm shifts that carry the widest of consensus among Kenyans, not about simple selfish changes that create more tension than harmony among the people of Kenya.

In the meantime, CORD should get off the streets and spare Kenyans the tantrums. The faster the coalition finds an alternative agenda for its campaigns going forward, the better.