Kenyans began voting Wednesday on a proposed constitution that would make their institutions more democratic amid tight security aimed at preventing a repeat of deadly 2007-2008 post-election chaos. Backed by President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga, the "yes" vote has led opinion polls despite a feisty "no" campaign which has stigmatised the text as allowing abortion and harming certain tribes on land issues. Queues of several hundred people had already formed at several polling stations in Nairobi and elsewhere in the country when voting opened at 6:00 am (0300 GMT).
Some 12.4 million voters were called to the polls after a tense campaign rattled by a grenade attack on a "no" rally that left six dead on June 13 and ratcheted up fears of renewed political unrest. Police said some 70,000 security forces had been deployed across the country to prevent a repeat of the violence that flared up two and half years ago and encourage voters to turn out en masse. Some people fled tribal flashpoints in the northwestern Rift Valley, fearing a repeat of the violence, but voters and observers alike appeared confident Wednesday that the polling process would be smooth. "The constitution proposes to levy tax on land and I am against that. The other issue is abortion. I am against allowing abortion," said 21-year-old Stanley Rotich after casting his "no" ballot in the city of Eldoret.
"I don't think there will be a problem whether yes or no wins. We have to accept the outcome," he added, as truckloads of anti-riot police looked on. Fierce jostling ahead of the 2012 presidential election has led William Ruto, minister of higher education and a top tribal leader in Eldoret, to spearhead the campaign against the new constitution despite being one of its main authors. Supported by dozens of Kenya's influential churches, the "red" camp has made tempers flare by painting the new constitution as legalising abortion, selling off the justice system to Islam or even considering gay marriage. Members of Ruto's Kalenjin tribe also fear that new land policies could see their power curtailed.
"The people who have fueled the question of land are the Kalenjin elite led by the former president (Daniel arap Moi). These are guys who have big farms whose acquisition is still questionable," said Ken Wafula, director of the Edloret-based Centre for Human Rights and Democracy. "These are people who have fear and are playing the ethnic card," he said. However, opinion polls in recent weeks showed that not all voters were convinced by the "no" camp's arguments on abortion and that some of the other provisions in the new constitution would secure the approval of a majority. The amendment does away with the post of prime minister created for Odinga in 2008, creates a senate, devolves a degree of power to counties and slaps a number of checks and balances on the president. It is also designed to curtail patronage and rein in the greed that has characterised Kenyan politics, notably by requiring that the entire cabinet be composed of ministers appointed from outside parliament, and limiting their number to 22, less than half the current level.
William Owuoth, wearing a wool hat as he queued up in the cold in front of Nairobi's Holy Family Basilica, is a part-time pastor but said he would vote in favour of the reform. "As a Christian, you don't have to fear the governement rules," he said. "We need change. For the last 40 years, we have been suffering. I think it will improve our lives and the ones of our children. I'm sure we're going to win," he added. The current constitution dates back to Kenya's independence from Britain in 1963 and reform was a key component of the power-sharing deal that ended the chaos sparked by the December 2007 Kibaki-Odinga election feud. "We cast our votes to determine how we want our country governed," Kibaki said in a televised address Tuesday, describing the referendum as a "defining moment in our nation's history."
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