It took Kenyans more than 20 years, scores of lost lives and protests to midwife a new Constitution on August 27, 2010.
An initial attempt five years earlier had aborted after the country resoundingly rejected a document that was seen not to carry the spirit of the fight for a new consitution to guide the country into the future. It left the country divided into oranges and bananas, the symbols for and against the document.
The battle for a new constitution had started quietly in the early 1980s with the clamour for multi-party politics after the only political party in Kenya, Kanu, had closed its doors on politicians by changing the constitution to make Kenya a de jure one party state to bar the formation of other political parties.
This was after it had expelled politicians it felt were rocking the boat from within and clamped on those who wanted to form political parties. They included the doyen of opposition politics in Kenya Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and one time Kitutu Masaba MP George Anyona.
After closing the gates to form political parties, then President Daniel Arap Moi and Kanu moved swiftly to put in place the queue-voting system notoriously known as mlolongo. It was during this system that long queues were declared the longest resulting in the worst election rigging ever experienced in Kenya and perhaps Africa in the 1988 elections.
It heralded the push for multi-party elections and street protests that resulted in Kanu and Moi conceding to remove the contentious section 2(A) in the constitution that barred the formation of any other political party in the country.
The repeal of section 2(A) was a master-stroke for Moi who faced a bleak future with the opposition clamouring for not just for the registration of more political parties but the need for a new constitutional dispensation. By stepping down from his high horse and allowing more parties, he opened the floodgates for politicians to start angling for his office.
In the process, they lost their sight for the push to have a new constitution to guide the country as it embarked on a new path of multi-party politics. It was no surprise that Moi won the 1992 general election with a paper-thin majority against a disjointed opposition. Moi and Kanu had employed a one-party constitution to win multi-party elections.
Realising that they may never remove Kanu from power, opposition parties and civil societies came up with the National Convention Executive Council (NCEC) and Citizens Coalition for Constitutional Change (4Cs) to champion the need for a new constitution. Among the key architects of the two groups include the current Chief Justice Dr Willy Mutunga, Makueni governor Prof Kivutha Kibwana and the UN special rapporteur Maina Kiai.
The political wing included senior counsels Paul Muite and Ugenya senator James Orengo, the late Dr Apollo Njonjo, current UNCTAD boss Dr Mukhisa Kituyi and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga among others.
The two groups merged in 1997 to form the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) to push for minimum reforms to allow the country proceed to general elections after street protests that had claimed several lives including police officers and students. IPPG resulted in a new electoral commission that included appointees of political parties.
With the ruling party reduced to the minority in the 1997 general elections, it came as no surprise when Kanu and its candidate Uhuru Kenyatta were rejected by Kenyans in the 2002 polls.
The election of President Mwai Kibaki and Narc was seen as a major boost to proponents of the new constitution. But there were more turns and twists.
The constitutional conference held at the Bomas of Kenya ran into problems when those around Kibaki resisted the drafting of a document that devolved powers to the people. They wanted powers consolidated in the presidency.
This led to the fall out between Kibaki and Raila who led the rebel wing of the government. It was these two sides that were to face each other in the 2005 referendum that rejected the document described as a “mongrel” by its opponents.
After the post-election violence that almost threw Kenya into chaos, the country agreed on a new document that has been described as the most progressive in the world after that of South Africa.
Now five years down the line, the deadline for the implementation of most of the issues adopted through the constitution is ticking towards August 27, 2015.
