Secret power plotting against referendum

There is a secret power working against the referendum. The power is so formidable that even the police are unable to discuss or expose it. This is the power that invaded the Government Printer and altered the Proposed Constitution by inserting the two infamous words “national security”. The power seems to have invaded the Judiciary and made it disregard the law in a ridiculous effort to discredit the part of the current constitution that protects the existence of Kadhi courts.

It is a power that everybody feels but nobody is willing to discuss or expose it in public. This is the power which is openly stopping the funding of the civic education for the CoE. People are only guessing about the secret power; but nobody is pointing a finger at any individual for the fear of retribution by its clandestine way of hitting back at its enemies. All that is known is that the power exists and it must be within the Government but it chooses to operate in a concealed manner because most of its activities are criminal.

It is strange but true that a very serious crime was committed either at the Attorney General Chambers, where the Proposed Constitution was being edited for grammatical errors, or at the Government Printer, where it was printed. The crime was the insertion of the words “national security” at a very crucial part of the Proposed Constitution which changed the Bill of Rights’ guarantees for vital freedoms and human rights.

There can be only two reasons for changing the Proposed Constitution at its embryonic stages. The first is to make the final product defective and meaningless as it would end up leaving the Proposed Constitution so dictatorial as to render it useless. The second reason is to make the alteration the centre of debate just before the referendum so as to make the people of Kenya reject the Proposed Constitution. I am inclined to think that the later motive was the real plan by the secret power which is making everyone to shake in their boots.

It so happens that none of the tricks worked. The so-called “error” was discovered in time, made public by the vigilant media before it was widely circulated, and dismissed by the public as a dirty but cheap mischief that needed not derail the plans for a referendum. It also failed to become the centre of debate between the Reds and the Greens. In other words the “error” never served its purpose.

They mystery however is still puzzling – why is the long arm of the law proving to be totally incapable of catching up with the criminals who tried to change the Proposed Constitution? Could it be that the police investigating the crime are scared stiff of the secret power behind the crime? The deafening silence that is surrounding the whole episode only helps to deepen the mystery.

As the nation tries to cogitate on the obscurity of the planted erratic words the secret power seems to have moved into the Judiciary. Again in a very inscrutable manner a bench of three judges decides to dig up an old case of 2004 in which a group of church leaders were seeking the court’s ruling about a then proposed constitution known as the “Boma Draft” not to include provisions that were similar to the current Section 66 of the Constitution which creates and protects the Kadhi courts.

In their belated judgement of the said case the three judges failed to even indicate that they were making a judgement on a draft that no longer exits. What was shockingly even more puzzling was the fact that the judgement came when the country is debating on another draft constitution in which the Kadhi courts are a bone of contention. The infamous judgement is obviously the work of the mysterious secret power which is still plotting against the Proposed Constitution by trying to stop the referendum.

The judgement has now become the centre of debate instead of the content of the Proposed Constitution. With no funds for civic education even the civil society has now started talking about the Kadhi courts judgement rather than all the other virtues of the Proposed Constitution. A new debate has now emerged from the judgement about the doctrine of separation of State from religion which the Christians seem to be calling for. But as the explanation of the real meaning of the doctrine becomes clear the churches themselves are bound to suffer because in Kenya there are many State functions which bring in religion.

These include the opening of parliament, the swearing in of all holders of important public positions even the National Anthem and curriculum used in schools. In America the Doctrine of Separations of State and Religion has been used and is being used to effectively purge religion from public institutions. According to Christiananswers.net today’s conception of "separation of church and state" has also been used to remove historic crosses from public property, and religious symbols from city seals.

The website says the doctrine has been used to remove the Ten Commandments from courtrooms, even though they are carved in stone within the architecture of the Supreme Court building. The concept has been used to prevent religious expressions on personalized license plates. And these are but a few of the official applications of the concept, or “law” of "separation of church and state."

In a blind attempt to hit at the Proposed Constitution the three judges inadvertently introduced the element of the doctrine of separation of State and religion. In their ruling on May 24th 2010 judges Joseph Nyamu, Mathew Anyara Emukule and Roselyn Wendoh unambiguously said: “We grant the declaration that any form of religious courts should not form part of the Judiciary in the Constitution as it offends the doctrine f Separation of State and Religion”. That part of the judgement offends the Christian Church even more than it does Islam. If it is really followed then all that is done in the name of God will be wiped out from State functions and institutions as it is now controversially happening in America.

The Christians and the “NO” Reds are celebrating the Kadhi courts judgement but when its proper legal interpretation comes to light the Christians are likely to pull out of that celebration because the ruling will mean removing everything Christian from schools which is a heavier blow for them than the existence of the Kadhi courts. Very soon when the true meaning of the Kadhi courts judgement is understood by all, Christians will join Amos Wako in seeking the quashing of that judgement in the Court of Appeal. The secret power seems to have hit harder than the Christians can endure.

What is even more dangerous than succeeding to make Kenyans stop discussing the content of the Proposed Constitution is the fact that secret power does not seem to care even if the country is plunged into a Muslim- Christian confrontation. That secret power seems to stop at nothing, including bloodshed, to stop the referendum. Kenyans should know that the only way to stop being misled into unnecessary sectarian confrontation is to resolutely accept the Proposed Constitution through the “YES” vote.