All this talk that voting No means having to live with the old constitution is a fallacy and simply a scare mongering tactic by those who prefer to misrepresent the situation; by those who lack the courage to demand better; or by those who are blindly beholden to some Yes politician . After all a No vote in 2005 was not a vote in favour of the existing constitution nor is it in 2010. A NO vote at the referendum is simply a vote saying the draft is inadequate and should be recalled for necessary amendments so that it attains the desired pass mark. One of the key responsibilities of the grand coalition as set out in the coalition agreement is to provide Kenyans with a new constitution. So if indeed the Principals care at all about their obligations under the coalition pact, there is no reason why shortly after a NO vote the draft should not be amended and the resultant revised draft presented to the Kenyan people for approval well ahead of 2012. Unfortunately, this will mean spending another 10 billion on a second referendum which can be avoided if the principals were to set aside their arrogance and lust to rule with imperial presidential powers and instead do what is right for Kenya and push for slight readjustments to the current calendar so that amendments are done before the referendum. Indeed, should the principals insist in denying Kenyans an opportunity to amend now and following which the NO vote prevails at the referendum, then it the two principals should be called upon to resign for allowing their intransigence and over inflated egos to cause Kenya such massive waste of resources?

Equally, those who say that people who have serious reservations about the draft should still vote yes and amendments done later are dishonest and are trying to lead the NO people up the garden path. It is clear that once the draft is passed, the mantra will be the constitution with all its provisions – abortion, Kadhi courts, poor provisions on land, imperial president etc was approved by Kenyans and therefore any attempts to amend it amounts to subverting the will of Kenyans! The NO campaigners have proposed that a number of questions on specific contentious issues be framed in the referendum so that for example one say Yes to the draft but indicate that he wants or does not want an amendment to the clause(s) on Kadhi Courts, Abortion etc. That way, it will be established clearly what the view of a majority of Kenyans is on any one contentious issue. If for example, most Kenyans don’t express any reservations on Kadhi courts, then it would make sense to ask the Christian church leaders to hold their peace as Kenyans have adjudicated on this specific question. Surprisingly, the YES brigade is again refusing to give Kenyans the opportunity to express their positions on this specific issues and yet want to lie that these is a people driven process. Washindwe!

Kenyans who have concerns about the proposed constitution should vote NO to signal that they are recalling the draft for amendments. If car manufacturers in the interest of safety regularly recall back to the factory for fixing at great expense vehicles discovered to have faulty parts, why can’t we recall a faulty draft for the sake of our nation?

A faulty constitution should NOT be unleashed on Kenyans when it can be easily amended NOW. Refusing to amend a faulty constitution would be an act of extreme malice to Kenyans and a NO vote would be the only sensible response.

Your arguments though having merit, are illegal.

The provisions of the law are very clear. The vote is Yes or No. Not maybe, remove this, add this.

What I find faulty is the present.

Where out of 5 election petitions, the CURRENT situation allows thugs and thieves to negotiate for me and mine. It is obvious that out of the 221 mps, only Raila and Kibaki are legit as they were unopposed.

That is faulty.

What I find faulty is that a policeman can clobber you in the streets and you have no recourse.

What I find faulty is that with the CURRENT constitution, by the time I finish writing this 5 women will have undergone an abortion in the hands of some pliers.

What I find faulty is that this shoe I am wearing, is too tight for me. This shoe I am wearing needs to be removed. (thanks Obi 1)

It is not the imagined future or Kenyans dropping babies in the streets and Harems and suicide bombers popping up in my kalocal.

What we have is FAULTY. It needs to go.

@alma. What the people who have reservations about the draft are asking for is for the law to be amended to allow for a little more time for amendments and a more elaborate referendum where several questions can be posed. Nothing illegal about changing the law!

Happy to let you know that a constitution arising out of the amendments will be an upgrade on the current proposed draft will address all the faults you have outlined and many more.

@Layman. The purpose of a referendum is to ascertain or confirm public sentiment and in the case of a constitution obtain public approval. Else how can it be establish that we all agree without some form of vote?

dio kabitha wendz

I don't know who told people that constitution making is a personal or moral issue.

It is the most political act in the world. If the politicians of the day feel like letting you go, you should go before they dump you.

The next few weeks will not be fair. It will be a dirty campaign. Extremely political and those thinking otherwise are leaving in neverland.

I will not be surprised to see a pastor's wife named as having had an abortion.

It is also about numbers not morality.

This is the voting block

Yes

All muslims (thanks to the ill adviced macho attitude by the clergy)
Cotu (basically half of Nairobi)
Coast province
Nyanza
Western
Eastern (they can see kalonzo penyaring at last)

No

The clergy
The flock that actually listens to them
Moi's and Ruto's constituencies

Maybe

The rest of the country

Those are the numbers.

Stop posting on wazua and go get the No vote. Things are elephant with the statistics I have just given.

Those are the facts. Don't waste time forming another committee with the government which is busy mobilising the provincial admin to hand out leaflets on Yes as they destroy changaa dens.

@Moongazer

Your effort here is akin to romancing a stone!!!

I appreciate that, yours are real issues, In fact personally I am so persuaded.
But looking at your discourse above, especillly with @Alma... ngumu sana.

Politicians are happy that we dont really put them to task to deliver. If we did they would be wary to so casually present us a draft with such loose ends.

Who will call them to account.

No! I will vote no, but I am tired of arguing, this is like arguing against the inclusion of the old section 2a of the constitution where Moi had the whole country under a spell, they voted 99% in parliament and the raia agreed. But out of conviction i will vote No! Even if my vote is the only no!

Some insights on this thread are very brilliant.

I think that i have said on a different thread that i do not understand why the 2 principals make it look like it is now or Never.We know what the contentious issues are,why can't they be agreed upon/ find a way of getting everyone on board? - it is not like people are asking for the whole bl****y draft to be reviewed.

Ladies And Gents

Why are you wasting too much time arguing. Everyone is right, its all to do with your interests. Read On,...if you had'nt

http://www.nation.co.ke/.../-/b5f10ez/-/index.html