Post by rwath on Sept 17, 2005 6:50:55 GMT 3
reports reuters in Gulf Press editorial.
Gulf Press
Kenyan politicians going bananas over constitution
Published: Thursday, 15 September, 2005, 10:43 AM Doha Time
By Andrew Cawthorne
NAIROBI: Have Kenya’s excitable politicians finally gone bananas?
It certainly looks that way as the besuited “Big Men” of Kenyan public life brandish oranges and bananas at rallies, crack fruit jokes, exchange punches at a funeral, and make tasteless threats of an imminent “political Hurricane Katrina.”
So why all the hullabaloo? A fight for votes of course.
In the east African nation’s biggest political moment since the 2002 ending of President Daniel arap Moi’s 24-year rule, Kenyans will hold a referendum on November 21 over a new constitution, the first since independence from Britain.
The issues in the proposed 197-page text are weighty: presidential powers, Muslim courts, women’s rights, graft.
But for many, the campaign is shaping into a simple political showdown and precursor of the next election in 2007.
The government is leading the “Yes” campaign under the symbol of a banana. The opposition – and a party in the ruling coalition – are championing the “No” cause with an orange.
In a common practice by electoral authorities across Africa, where literacy levels are sometimes low, the fruits were chosen as supposedly neutral symbols to help voters know how to vote.
But they have taken on a life of their own, as each camp stockpiles their favoured fruit, hands it out at rallies, and debates the relative nutritional value of oranges and bananas.
Media are full of references to “Banana Republics” and “Orange Revolutions”; farmers are cashing in on the craze; and traditional sayings about each fruit are being trotted out.
“Never has so much ridden on the back of a fruit,” wrote Daily Nation newspaper columnist Mutuma Mathiu on Tuesday.
Jokes apart, the campaign is a defining moment for President Mwai Kibaki’s ruling National Rainbow Coalition (NARC).
NARC won in 2002 on a wave of popular euphoria after the Moi years. But now it faces growing public disillusionment and a split in the coalition, two years before the next election.
Kibaki’s coalition partner, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has joined Moi’s old party, the opposition Kenya African National Union (KANU), in campaigning for a “No”.
That has crystallised disunity at the heart of government. Five of Kibaki’s cabinet ministers are defying him to go on the “No” campaign trail. One was even overheard daring the president to sack him “if they are man enough.”
Finance Minister David Mwiraria, backing his boss Kibaki on the “Yes” side, said foes were looking to short-term political gain rather than the long-term interests of 32mn Kenyans living under a constitution dating from independence in 1963.
“Their only agenda is to discredit the government and scuttle President Kibaki’s re-election bid in 2007,” he said.
Opponents insist their grievances are genuine.
Their main beef is with the huge powers of the presidency retained in the so-called Wako Draft – named for author Attorney General Amos Wako – which Kenyans will vote on.
Kibaki had promised a powerful new position of prime minister, to be given to LDP leader Raila Odinga, but that was belatedly shelved, leaving a watered-down PM’s post firmly under the president’s authority.
Opponents say Kibaki has reneged on promises in opposition and is starting to resemble the authoritarian Moi himself.
“Kenyans agitated for a new constitution with an aim of removing power from one centre. Things have taken a sudden change, and the frustration could be politically dangerous,” University of Nairobi professor Peter Wanyande said.
Already, there have been three days of violent street protests in July that left one person dead and scores injured. On Monday, rival “Orange” and “Banana” legislators and their entourages scuffled and exchanged blows at a graveside.
Kibaki has kept a relatively low profile, urging people not to “squander the moment” but to study with serenity the text, distributed in its millions across the nation.
As well as the presidential powers, other controversial points in the proposed constitution are the establishment of Muslim “Kadhi” courts and separate tribunals for other religions; prohibition of abortion and same-sex marriage; and equal inheritance rights for men and women.
Many, however, believe the politicians have hijacked sober debate over crucial issues for Kenyans.
“When two elephants fight, it is said, it is the grass that suffers. And the rights and interests of the Kenyan people are being trampled underfoot right now,” said Machario Gaitho, managing editor of the Sunday Nation. – Reuters
Gulf Press
Kenyan politicians going bananas over constitution
Published: Thursday, 15 September, 2005, 10:43 AM Doha Time
By Andrew Cawthorne
NAIROBI: Have Kenya’s excitable politicians finally gone bananas?
It certainly looks that way as the besuited “Big Men” of Kenyan public life brandish oranges and bananas at rallies, crack fruit jokes, exchange punches at a funeral, and make tasteless threats of an imminent “political Hurricane Katrina.”
So why all the hullabaloo? A fight for votes of course.
In the east African nation’s biggest political moment since the 2002 ending of President Daniel arap Moi’s 24-year rule, Kenyans will hold a referendum on November 21 over a new constitution, the first since independence from Britain.
The issues in the proposed 197-page text are weighty: presidential powers, Muslim courts, women’s rights, graft.
But for many, the campaign is shaping into a simple political showdown and precursor of the next election in 2007.
The government is leading the “Yes” campaign under the symbol of a banana. The opposition – and a party in the ruling coalition – are championing the “No” cause with an orange.
In a common practice by electoral authorities across Africa, where literacy levels are sometimes low, the fruits were chosen as supposedly neutral symbols to help voters know how to vote.
But they have taken on a life of their own, as each camp stockpiles their favoured fruit, hands it out at rallies, and debates the relative nutritional value of oranges and bananas.
Media are full of references to “Banana Republics” and “Orange Revolutions”; farmers are cashing in on the craze; and traditional sayings about each fruit are being trotted out.
“Never has so much ridden on the back of a fruit,” wrote Daily Nation newspaper columnist Mutuma Mathiu on Tuesday.
Jokes apart, the campaign is a defining moment for President Mwai Kibaki’s ruling National Rainbow Coalition (NARC).
NARC won in 2002 on a wave of popular euphoria after the Moi years. But now it faces growing public disillusionment and a split in the coalition, two years before the next election.
Kibaki’s coalition partner, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has joined Moi’s old party, the opposition Kenya African National Union (KANU), in campaigning for a “No”.
That has crystallised disunity at the heart of government. Five of Kibaki’s cabinet ministers are defying him to go on the “No” campaign trail. One was even overheard daring the president to sack him “if they are man enough.”
Finance Minister David Mwiraria, backing his boss Kibaki on the “Yes” side, said foes were looking to short-term political gain rather than the long-term interests of 32mn Kenyans living under a constitution dating from independence in 1963.
“Their only agenda is to discredit the government and scuttle President Kibaki’s re-election bid in 2007,” he said.
Opponents insist their grievances are genuine.
Their main beef is with the huge powers of the presidency retained in the so-called Wako Draft – named for author Attorney General Amos Wako – which Kenyans will vote on.
Kibaki had promised a powerful new position of prime minister, to be given to LDP leader Raila Odinga, but that was belatedly shelved, leaving a watered-down PM’s post firmly under the president’s authority.
Opponents say Kibaki has reneged on promises in opposition and is starting to resemble the authoritarian Moi himself.
“Kenyans agitated for a new constitution with an aim of removing power from one centre. Things have taken a sudden change, and the frustration could be politically dangerous,” University of Nairobi professor Peter Wanyande said.
Already, there have been three days of violent street protests in July that left one person dead and scores injured. On Monday, rival “Orange” and “Banana” legislators and their entourages scuffled and exchanged blows at a graveside.
Kibaki has kept a relatively low profile, urging people not to “squander the moment” but to study with serenity the text, distributed in its millions across the nation.
As well as the presidential powers, other controversial points in the proposed constitution are the establishment of Muslim “Kadhi” courts and separate tribunals for other religions; prohibition of abortion and same-sex marriage; and equal inheritance rights for men and women.
Many, however, believe the politicians have hijacked sober debate over crucial issues for Kenyans.
“When two elephants fight, it is said, it is the grass that suffers. And the rights and interests of the Kenyan people are being trampled underfoot right now,” said Machario Gaitho, managing editor of the Sunday Nation. – Reuters