Attack targeting opponents of constitutional reform in Kenya
On June 13, 2010, an attack hit an election rally led by opponents of constitutional reform in Kenya. The latest sources confirm that five people were killed and 130 were injured. This attack occurred less than two months before the upcoming August 4th constitutional referendum. The rally was organized by the Church, which opposes the draft’s support of abortion and the maintenance of Shari’a law in Islamic courts in matters of private law.
However, the constitution also includes new human rights guarantees for minorities and attempts to share power more equally between different branches of government. It addresses the issue of land distribution, which has been a taboo since 1963. These are sensitive issues in a country where 1,500 citizens died after the chaos that followed the presidential election in September 2007. The attack occurred just two days after Joe Biden’s visit, and at a time when polls give reform supporters a slight advantage. The US Vice-President expressed his country’s support of “reform” in Kenya. However, the Senegalese Press Agency reports that opponents of reform see this support as neo-colonial and interventionist. A reconciliation government was formed in Kenya after the disturbances of December 2007, and the executive is currently shared by President Kibaki and his opponent, Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Nonetheless, the two heads of the executive support the constitutional reform. Meanwhile, William Ruto, the Minister of Higher Education, leads the opposition movement, along with the Christian church, in a country that has a significant Muslim minority. “Political unrest and reoccurring ethnic conflicts represent the country’s biggest ills” regrets Koigi Wa Wamwere in The Daily Nation. However, he opposes the proposed constitution because it extends ethnic power distribution. In brief, he rejects the new constitution because it does not go far enough. He concluded by quoting Fidel Castro: "History will absolve me."
Kenya reflects, more than ever, the problems many African countries’ face. The country plays a key role in the stability of an Africa marked by crises (Rwanda and Southern Sudan in 1994; Uganda in June 2010) and by religious extremism (Somalia). According to our sources, security checks have been increased. We suspect that those who committed the attack, and whose Kenyan origins are not proven, will seek to increase animosity between the country’s religious communities. However, it is difficult at this stage of the investigation to confirm the validity of these assumptions.
The four selected articles are:
- « Kenya: 36 reasons why we needed a new constitution » par Cyprian Nyamwamu, www.pambazuka.org, 3 juin 2010
- « Le soutien américain au référendum kenyan fait des vagues à Nairobi » par Serigne Adama Boye, Agence de Presse sénégalaise, 15 juin 2010
- « Why I must oppose the proposed constitution » par Koigi Wa Wamwere, The Daily Nation, 19 mai 2010
- « Why I still hold that our negative ethnicity will be our undoing » par Koigi Wa Wamwere, The Daily Nation, le 15 juin 2010
