Kenya's new constitution is promulgated            Photo courtesy

The recent headline articles in the Daily Nation which called attention to parts of the new constitution that decree, require and compel Kenyans to vote for a certain quota of female representatives to Parliament and local assemblies illuminate a fundamental flaw those of us who opposed the constitution were concerned about.

While Kenya’s new constitution has been hyped as the best in the world, it clearly has its shortcomings. Absolute care must be taken so that it does not become an avenue upon which the country self-destructs. No constitution on earth is perfect. However, when a constitution blatantly violates and contradicts itself on fundamental provisions that it purports to protect - that is - self governance through the sovereignty of “we the people,” then we are losing our existential compass as a nation.

We are finally coming to terms with the fact that the new constitution has blunders that can do irreparable harm to Kenya’s democratic advances. It isn’t so much that the document was passed on false promises such as what was told to the Chiefs, District Officers, District Commissioners and Provincial Commissioners that they would keep their jobs in the new Kenya or Members of Parliament who are now disillusioned at the realization that they too, like the rest of us, must pay taxes notwithstanding repeated assurances from the powers that be that they will not pay taxes.

I understand the need and desire to advance and empower women in our society and frankly, I think they make better leaders. After all, they are the majority and male leaders have for the most part let us down. That being said, I don’t think this is the proper way to accomplish that, NO! This provision undercuts the integrity of the constitution and renders the document gratuitously inconsistent and convoluted.

The framers of the constitution made an indelible error in judgment with respect to this provision among others and it will be an even greater tragedy if we don’t fix it now.  Admittedly, during the campaign to pass it, Kenya’s leaders conceded to the fact that the document in its current form, then just a draft, was far from perfect and that Kenyans should pass it first and question or amend it later. The argument made at the time was that there wasn’t enough time to correct inherent mistakes before the scheduled  vote.

The chicken are coming home to roost. I want to see the same leaders who rushed to pass this document also fix it with equal zeal. Who decides which ward/location, county, constituency must vote for a woman and at what election cycle for example? Let the people themselves decide.

These sections, along with others yet to be discussed and the contemplated drafts designed to implement local governments’ formation, elections and functions make a complete mockery of the supremacy of “we the people” prominently promised in the new
document in so far as it subverts the will of the people to elect their representatives. The principle of the people’s sovereignty as unambiguously spelled in the constitution is supposed to be non-negotiable and yet the same document severely compromises that which it purports to promote. 

There cannot be a better election formula to substitute the will of the people or their right to democratically elect their representatives than the ballot box. To pretend otherwise is not only delusional but also grossly ill advised. These attempts to subvert the people’s will as this constitution surreptitiously does must be rejected otherwise this whole constitution risks being rendered hollow. We must respect that which we have promised the nation, observe common sense, preserve our sensibilities as a nation and be consistent in form, substance and purpose.

We need to develop and grow competitive democracy where competent and qualified candidates vie for elective office and win elections on account of their ideas and leadership-not this retrogressive cockamamie notion that a country can only advance by denigrating the people’s sovereignty in the name of a badly crafted constitution. Let’s fix this glaring anomaly in this document now.

By David Ochwangi.