New constitution is not feasible before next poll

Commentary
By The public watchdog
The Standard

Kenyans must now face the hard reality that it will not be possible to have a new constitution before the next General Election.

The temperatures in the undulating political sea are rising as all sides in the political divides seek to make capital of every emerging opportunity. From the wisdom of hindsight, we certainly know that one year before an election, the other side views any proposal from any political divide suspiciously.

It is for this reason that as a people, we must not entrust the writing of a new constitution on any of the competing interests or politicians because they cannot serve the interests of the public. They can only serve their own.

While ordinarily vested interests are not strange in a matter such as constitution-making, they must be managed and the challenges are much more in an increasingly polarised political environment like ours. The hard truth that must be said — even at the expense of stepping very sensitive toes — is that a new constitution is no longer feasible before the next General Election by December, next year

The sooner all sides in the political divide admit and internalise this, the more resources are saved and the sooner Kenyans brace themselves for an election without changes to the Constitution. It is also needless to state that any political capital arising from a new constitution appears highly unlikely for any of the competing interests.

Consequently, the Public Watchdog revisits this issue and raises the following issues: Firstly, while politicians are elected to represent the interests of the people in the positions of leadership, most of the time their individual and personal preservation overrides any other interests.

It is predictable, even in the emerging political alignments and realignments, that the individuals’ political survival informs their position on matters that ordinarily should be guided by wider public interests. In this regard, if there is one predictable thing about our politicians, it is their unpredictability in their actions and inactions.

Indeed, it is sad that as a people, we have very few principled politicians on whom the country can rely to provide selfless leadership today or tomorrow. We have, however, created a self-centred breed of politicians which at best is characterised by shortsightedness and egocentrism.

The few principled politicians who emerge have over the years taken to extreme conservativeness and posturing that have led to self-destruction in the hands of electoral capitalism or lack of endurance due to sustained authoritarianism.

Secondly, the conflicting objectives of the handlers of constitution-making are largely to blame for the sustained delay in the completion of the exercise. The desire of those in Government is to produce a constitution that enables them to sustain positions of power, hopefully to the disadvantage of those in the opposition.

In the same spirit, those in the opposition are seeking the creation of a constitution that caters for a suitable power-sharing arrangement to help them wrestle power from those in Government.

But the people’s desire is for a constitution that ensures an accountable system of Government at all times and guarantees national stability, protects human rights and property and security to all. It is obvious that the wider public interests rest with the people and they must, therefore, remain at the centre of any constitutional making process. This position must remain so notwithstanding the fact that the people’s elected representatives are expected to provide leadership.

Thirdly, the inherent conflicting interests of all parties at play in the constitutional making process are to blame for the failure of the country to agree on laws that cater for the interests of all. And for this, the desire for a new constitution has, therefore, remained elusive for the past two decades.

It is instructive that the Narc administration, which was elected on the promise of facilitating a new constitution, among other promises, in the first 100 days of coming to power, is still making an effort one year to the next election. The hard truth about this rests on an indisputable fact: That power corrupts, and absolute power replaces the modest trait of any politician with pomposity.

It is, therefore, needless to state that many of the leading architects in the Kibaki Government were very vocal against the Moi regime while in the opposition for not facilitating a new constitution, among many other things.But today, they are at the forefront of slowing down the progress.

It is also spooky that many of those who served under the previous regime have also changed course and are either the defenders of the regime or its most outspoken critics. As previously stated, this is how unprincipled some of our politicians are when fortunes change.

Fourthly, it is now apparent that for Kenyans to get a new constitution, the process must not only be free of vested interests, but it must also not be linked to the next election or any election for that matter.

Further, it is important that such a process must be led by people who have demonstrated independence and freedom of any vested groups. There shall always be political alignment or realignment before or after an election, but Kenya shall remain.

This, of course, assumes that we can find selfless individuals in an environment that is becoming increasingly volatile or adopt an attitude of trust and wait to verify.

It is needless to state that a legal framework is necessary to guarantee and free the constitutional process from meddling by any quarter. The choice facing the Government — or any Government for that matter — is not to insist on delivering a flawed constitution or just any constitution.

It is the creation of a process that enables the people to agree on a constitutional model that satisfies wider public aspirations, guarantees national stability and has a workable governance structure that continues to thrive on the basis of the will of the people.

Kenyans must also find a lasting solution to this process that has become elusive even after the change of a regime. In this regard, constitution making cannot be pegged on promises politicians made before an election as evidence so far suggests that we are all gullible to changing priorities and fortunes.

Finally, freedom of association must be guaranteed to prevent rising political temperatures that could give justification to unwarranted violence.

This is a matter of great public interests!