CORD underestimated resistance to referendum

I do not like making excuses so off the bat, as one of those involved in the Okoa Kenya initiative to amend the Constitution, I must apologise. We dropped the ball. When we set out on this very noble journey to strengthen devolution, re-jig our electoral law and entrench inclusivity in public appointments, we were well aware of the pitfalls that waited. Surprise surprise, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) on Tuesday declared the initiative dead on arrival for failing to meet the required threshold of a million signatures.

The disappointing thing is that this was the first threat on the list of threats the initiative faced, and we somehow were unable to surmount it. It was an extremely onerous task to lay strategies to circumvent guaranteed state interference and sabotage in the process. We were incessantly goaded with the question, how we would trust the IEBC with the signatures when the CORD leadership publicly derided the Commission, in an obvious and sinister invitation to attempt constitutional amendment outside the Constitution. In fact many in the media were “disappointed” following the Saba Saba rally that announced the Okoa Kenya Movement. It is easy to see why choosing the path of constitutionalism and rule of law to achieve your ends in an era of wanton theft of public resources and impunity, was an anti- climax for some.