Christians in Kenya seek redress for errors in Constitution

“Now is the time for making amendments to the new Constitution.” That is the message being sent out various Christian denominations following the approval by popular referendum of the new Constitution Draft in Kenya,

“Most Kenyans indeed recognized that the proposed constitution we voted for or against on August 4 had errors that needed to be corrected, our main difference was whether we believed the reform should take place before or after the vote,” says a statement of the Bishops of Kenya, signed by Cardinal Njue, Archbishop of Nairobi and Chairman of the Kenyan Bishops' Conference, issued the day after the referendum that approved the new Constitution in the country. The main amendment regards Article 26 which effectively paves the way for the legalization of abortion.

Those who were lobbying for “No” on the referendum, led by Minister of Higher Education, William Ruto, expressed a desire to address the issue as soon as possible. "As democrats we accept the verdict of Kenyans. Since the country has decided that changes to the Constitution will take place soon, we as those lobbying "No" ask that consultations on both sides take place immediately," said Ruto on August 5, in the discourse with which he granted victory to those who had lobbied for the "Yes" vote.

The National Council of Churches of Kenya (an organization of Protestant Churches in Kenya) has threatened to resort to the rules laid down by the new Constitution to amend it, if President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga betray the pre-referendum promises made regarding the immediate opening of the debate on the amendments.

Prime Minister Odinga has issued a statement which expresses the will of the state to unite those for and against the new constitution. The Prime Minister has urged Kenyans to support the new Constitution, regardless of how they voted, and urged the international community to help the country to implement the Constitution.

"The work of reconstruction of the country must begin now and will require a bipartisan approach," Odinga said in his statement, in which, however, there is no mention of opening the debate to amend the Constitution.

The Christian Churches have noted that there were 2,700,000 Kenyans who voted against the approval of the new Constitution ("too many to be ignored") and other voters who voted in favor of it, trusting in the promises of the President and Prime Minister to amend it in the case of a “yes” victory.

Source: FIDES