By Kipchumba Some

When the harmonised draft constitution is unveiled on Tuesday, Kenyans hope it will mark the end to one of the most expensive undertakings that has balkanised the country.

It is more than two decades since we began the quest. It is a journey that has been characterised by political intrigues and broken promises.

Observers trace the quest for a new constitution to the early 1990s, with the clamour for reintroduction of political pluralism.

In the face of mounting pressure from the international community and politicians who had coalesced under the Forum for Restoration of Democracy, the Government in 1991 repealed Section 2(A) restoring multipartism.

But this was not enough to ensure an opposition victory at the polls. Realising the concessions they won were minimal, opposition leaders agitated for an overhaul of the constitution.

Ahead of the second multi-party General Elections in 1997, calls intensified for a new constitution.

In 1997, legislative reforms were passed following talks between opposition and the Government under the Inter-Parties Parliamentary Group (IPPG) agreement.

This agreement, which was never put into law, introduced "minimum reforms" ahead of the elections that year. It enabled opposition to nominate commissioners to the disbanded Electoral Commission of Kenya.

It was the breach of the latter agreement by President Kibaki when appointing commissioners to ECK in 2007, that set the impression that his Government wanted to steal the 2007 elections.