KENYA CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM SET FOR 21 NOVEMBER

UNCLAS NAIROBI 003643

SIPDIS

LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICA WATCHERS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM KE
SUBJECT: KENYA CONSTITUTIONAL REFERENDUM SET FOR 21 NOVEMBER

REF: A. (A) NAIROBI 3593

B. (B) NAIROBI 3499

C. (C) NAIROBI 3487 (D) NAIOBI 3444


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Kenyan authorities have set 21 November
as the date for the national referendum on the proposed new
constitution. With a date in sight, both sides of the debate
are gearing up their campaigns, even while the election
officials warn both sides about campaigning and conducting
civic education, and admonish the Government for
partisanship. END SUMMARY.

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A Date is Set and the Clock Starts Ticking
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2. (SBU) Samuel Kivuitu, Chairman of the Electoral
Commission of Kenya, announced on September 5 that the
national referendum on the proposed new constitution will be
held on November 21. Results should be announced on November

23. The one question to be put before the people: are they
for or against ratification of the new draft. Following
Kivuitu,s announcement, new voter registration was suspended
and voter registries will be inspected for irregularities
from September 19 to October 18. Kivuitu also designated
October 21 to November 19 as the period for campaigning on
the referendum, although it is evident that both sides of the
debate have been busy rallying supporters to their cause
since the August 24 release of the draft. Kivuitu gave no
indication of what constitutes &campaigning8 nor of
possible sanctions for violating the official campaigning
period.


3. (SBU) Kivuitu stressed that responsibility for
conducting civic education, focusing on educating voters
about the content of the draft constitution, rests primarily
with the (independent) Constitution of Kenya Review
Commission (CKRC). The CKRC is itself divided on the draft
constitution (ref D). Kivuitu warned the Government against
delegating these responsibilities to the (Ministry-directed)
provincial administration. Any attempts to delegate
responsibility for civic education may be perceived as a
method to ensure the content of that education leads voters
to support the Government,s position. Kivuitu even went so
far as to admonish the Government for taking a side in the
debate and warned against making promises in return for
support of the draft as a possible abuse of state resources.


4. (SBU) Kivuitu,s remarks may have been made in response
to the September 4 announcement that a team of 27 MPs had
been formed to spearhead the government,s &Yes8 campaign
in civic education. The &Yes8 camp is gearing up for the
fight ahead, with President Kibaki having already addressed
several public rallies throughout the country. A major
&Yes8 rally is planned for Nairobi,s Uhuru Park in two
weeks time, significantly before the October 21 start of the
official campaigning period.

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COMMENT: The Gloves are Off
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5. (SBU) Funding of the &Yes8 and &No8 campaigns will
play a critical role, especially if one side (the &No8
campaign) is disadvantaged by its limited access to
resources. Opponents of the draft expressed concern over Sh4
billion set aside for civic education. Shadow Finance
Minister Billow Kerrow warned the government against using
those and other public resources to finance the &Yes8
campaign, while the Education Minister George Saitoti raised
questions about the sources of funding for opponents to the
draft. Accusations of misuse and other such attacks by both
sides are likely to increase as both campaigns struggle to
gain supporters in the ten weeks leading up to the
referendum. END COMMENT.
BELLAMY