Down to referendum

By Standard Team

The troubled Church-State negotiations collapsed, setting the stage for a final duel for the two groups on the referendum platform.

Unlike in 2005 referendum when the rivalry was patterned around political groupings, the coming referendum inevitably will be a battle for supremacy between the Church, which says it is driven by its dogma, and politicians who say the disputed clauses can be amended after the plebiscite.

Only one minister so far — Mr William Ruto — is campaigning for ‘No’.

After weeks of pulling apart, with the Government seemingly buying time so as not to appear to have played deaf to the Church, last evening the talks seemingly hit a brick wall.

All that was left for the Church was the Cabinet’s promise their contentions on abortion, Kadhis’ courts and Bills of Rights clauses will be addressed after the referendum.

Curiously, still optimistic there could still be an opening for amendments, the two groups meeting at Harambee House, which is the seat of the Presidency, referred their disagreements to President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

However, Kibaki and Raila are part of the collective decision of the Cabinet on Tuesday that it was ‘practically impossible’ to amend either the draft or the Constitution of Kenya Review Act 2008 before the referendum, as demanded by the 32 mainstream churches, evangelicals and fellowships.

The first jolt to the talks came early in the day when the umbrella union for protestant churches — National Council of Churches of Kenya — which includes the vast Anglican Church pulled out and declared it was on the ‘No’ campaign trail.

Though officially the Church’s delegation to the talks that includes the Attorney General and Justice Minister still appeared optimistic, there was little to show they could have their way. All indicators pointed to the referendum as the finish line.

This is because Cabinet under the stewardship of Kibaki and Raila not only resolved to unite behind ‘Yes’, but its members opposed to the draft were asked to respect the principle of collective responsibility.

The Church led by Catholic Bishop Philip Sulumeti (left) and Gerry Kibarabara (centre) of Kenya Christian Leaders Forum and the Government led by Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo (right) after a meeting in Nairobi on Wednesday failed to resolve their differences over the draft law. Photo: Moses Omusula/Standard

Secondly, the State ignored the Church’s ultimatum to stop campaigning for ‘Yes’ until the talks were concluded, with Kibaki and Raila sticking to the ‘Yes’ and ‘now-or-never’ mode.

Draft rejected

After talks that broke off in the morning and resumed in the afternoon, representatives of the State and Church announced nothing short of a miracle could save the negotiations.

Constitutional Affairs Minister Mutula Kilonzo, however, said the ball was now in Kibaki and Raila’s court.

"We have agreed there would be a meeting between the Church, the Prime Minister and President when he returns (from China)," Mutula said, adding he will continue facilitating meetings between the two parties to try to come to an understanding.

But Bishop Sulumeti of the Kenya Episcopal Conference, who spoke on behalf of the Church leaders, however, said the Government has been unable to give any satisfactory response, adding they would not compromise on the right to life and the inclusion of Kadhis’ courts in the Proposed Constitution.

"We urge our people to reject the Proposed Constitution," Sulumeti told the media.

Mutula reiterated the Cabinet decision it would be impossible to amend the document before referendum, as the Church has been insisting Section 47 A of the Constitution and the Review Act 2008 prohibit it. In the morning, the talks floundered after the clerics withdrew.

Church leaders said the Government was not sincere in finding a solution to address the contested issues and vowed to mobilise their followers to reject the new law.

Christian clerics who spoke on the impasse said the Government lacked the will to negotiate a solution on the issues of abortion and Kadhis’ courts that the Church wants removed from the draft.

They also said that they do not have faith in the Interim Constitutional Dispute Resolution Court created last year to arbitrate conflicts arising from constitutional review.

Reverend Jackson Kosgey of the Gospel Church said: "Having participated in three meetings with the Government, we note with sadness that the greatest hindrance to a resolution of the contentious issues is not legal technicalities, but rather the lack of political will."

NCCK said the decision by the Cabinet to rule out changes to the draft, has forced them to start mobilising their members to vote ‘No’.

The priests have published a list of eight "cardinal issues" they allege compel them to reject the Proposed Constitution. Majority of the issues are what they view as "religious gains for Muslims" in the new law.

The list was contained in a statement read in turns by the Reverend Willy Mutiso of the Evangelical Alliance of Kenya, Stephen Kanyaru of the Methodist Church, and Kosgey.

The same list was read out by NCCK Nairobi region Chairman, Bishop Joseph Moffat, at the NCCK headquarters in Limuru.

NCCK said it was sad to hear "that people paid to make laws" cannot perform this task to accommodate the dissenting voices.

"I think they are telling us they are impotent to make laws," said NCCK deputy general secretary Oliver Kisaka.

Skewed review

NCCK’s General Secretary Peter Karanja claimed the entire constitutional review had been skewed to favour Muslims and added only ‘Christian journalists’ can understand that.

"The Committee of Experts, politicians, some who are Christians and the two principals, became advocates of positions that favour one side," he claimed.

Karanja also alleged one side was being ‘marginalised’ by "the political class and other vested interests".

The cleric claimed Muslims did not lobby for their gains in the review and claimed the CoE and the political class introduced them.

But pressed to elaborate on the alleged conspiracy against his faith, Karanja refused to be specific but declared that "the people charged with championing the constitutional review chose not to consider our views".

He added his Kenya Christian Church Leaders forum will "not endorse a draft that marginalises Christianity".

The statement alleges further that the Bill of Rights in the proposed charter is "adulterated to exempt persons professing another faith".

It also alleges the "right to life of the unborn is not protected" in the new law, and claims the charter forces the people of Kenya to domesticate international convention without approval of Parliament.

"I challenge Christian journalists to wear the shoes of the Christian," Karanja declared, and denounced the Press for its coverage of his group.

"We are not interested in sermons from the media. The Church cannot endorse a draft that discriminates against us," he vowed.

He also declared, "the Church has no confidence in the Judiciary, and nor does the disputes resolution court have capacity to adjudicate this matter."

Kisaka denied any divisions in the Church leadership, and instead accused the media of according acres of space to "two people saying ‘Yes’ to the document".