WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING: WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010
Posted | 2010-07-21
Author/Source | THE CMD MULTI-SECTORAL NATIONAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE

THE CMD MULTI-SECTORAL NATIONAL‘YES’ CAMPAIGN COMMITTEE: WEEKLY PRESS BRIEFING: WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010

Ladies and Gentlemen of the Press,

As you well may have observed, the surge for a new Constitution has recently picked up, and is now an unstoppable wave that will see the Kenyan nation through to the era of greater democratic space, better governance, peaceful co-existence and unrivalled prosperity.

The quest for a new, homegrown Constitution that genuinely encompasses all of the Kenyan people’s aspirations, has been a long, torturous and painful struggle that literally spans the country’s eventful history.

Unlike the Proposed Constitution, the current document on which the country rode for its 47 years of post independence, was a foreign document crafted at Lancaster House, London, a document successive regimes amended and mutilated with impunity for narrow and selfish gains.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Today’s briefing is special, coming as it is, only two weeks to Wednesday, August 4, 2010, the day when Kenyans will massively and resoundingly vote YES! at the Referendum, and usher the country into an era they have valiantly fought for, and solemnly prayed for all these years.

We acknowledge the work that’s so far has been accomplished by the various stakeholders in the constitution-making processes, not forgetting the tough challenges ahead. Already, a number of benchmarks have been made, and include the production and distribution of copies of the Draft Constitution in English, Kiswahili and Braille.

Further, the Committee of Experts has facilitated civic education on the Draft Constitution both through sessions by experts on the topic, media talk-shows, informacials, advertisements and distribution of the curriculum, the handbook and the manual to Kenyans.

The National Multi-Sectoral Campaign Committee has, for its part, conducted civic education through town halls and media programmes and lately hosted Yes Campaign meetings in many corners of the country.

Unlike the No Campaign rallies where copies of the draft are never distributed, let alone referred to, the Yes Campaign exercise, while urging for support, has respected the people’s right to know by distributing the copies of the draft to allow the people read for themselves and make informed choices. That is democracy at its best.

We hope that our efforts have assisted voters decide to vote YES! at the August 4 Constitution Referendum, a belief that’s supported by last week’s opinion poll by Strategic Research that placed the Yes vote at 62 per cent, against the No vote at 20 per cent 18 per cent in the “undecided” category.

You will also have witnessed the growing trend of cross-overs to the Yes Campaign by a number of prominent politicians, not to leave out members of the clergy who have seen the light. It’s undoubtedly a bearing on the way the people these leaders lead, are going to vote.

We now urge the undecided voters, many of whom are victims of the misinformation and misrepresentation of the draft clauses by leaders in the No Campaign, to do the right thing and vote YES! at the Referendum. Unlike before, they now have read the draft for themselves, are now able to distinguish myth from fact, and can make informed choices. It should be crystal clear to them that the Proposed Constitution holds greater promise for them, their children and future generations, compared to the current Constitution.

The media has done a commendable job and should continue doing so to the day of reckoning and beyond. We particularly appreciate media reports that have not only ensured fair play and objectivity, but have also exposed myths, distortions and pure mischief. The draft is good for all of us, the media included. After all, Article 34 of the draft is solely devoted to assurance of the Freedom of the Media that, under the current Constitution, has faced endless threats.

We appeal to the Government as we’ve done before, to deal firmly with perpetrators of hate speech, war mongering and other utterances with a potential for creation of conflict. Former Kibwezi MP Kalembe Ndile recently stated he had evidence the Government planned to rig the Referendum, an allegation that was taken up by Kanu Vice-Chairman Gideon Moi and others of his ilk, who last weekend warned the Government would be treading on dangerous territory if it rigged the Referendum. These are alarmist and inflammatory utterances that should attract sanctions from both the National Cohesion and Integrity Commission and the police.

We are disappointed that only a handful of war mongers and inciters have been arrested and charged as many others continue threatening and scaring Kenyans with impunity. The consequence of the authorities’ lethargy and inaction, can be clearly seen in parts of Rift Valley and Nyanza, where communities are reportedly selling their property and getting out of the regions for fear of violence after the Referendum.

Lastly, we appeal to the IIEC to tighten and fine tune measures to ensure the Referendum, now only two weeks away, will be flawlessly smooth. Not only should the Voter Registers be updated, but the polling agents and other Referendum officers must be well vetted and the tallying system fine-tuned so that the winner of the plebiscite will be known beyond any reasonable doubt. In so doing, all concerned will avoid the mistakes made by the defunct ECK during the December 27, 2007 General Election, and the subsequent post-election mayhem.

We are calling upon all the progressive Kenyans to volunteer and join hands with us so that we can see this thing through. All hands are needed on deck now and on the 4th of July. You can be an agent or can volunteer to serve with us in any other capacity. Resources are also required and we kindly appeal to all those who are able to kindly contribute in any way to sustain this effort. Think also of what you can do for your country.

Tuipigie Katiba Mpya Debe
Kama Sio Sasa
Ni Sasa Hivi!
Prof. Larry Gumbe
Chair
CMD Multisectoral National ‘Yes’ Campaign Committee