Hope but no deal in Kenya church law talks A five-hour meeting between government leaders and senior Christian clerics ended with hope, but no agreement on the draft constitution.

President Kibaki, Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka met Christian leaders at Harambee House in Nairobi, but the meeting, called to find a way to get the church to support the draft, ended without resolving the dispute.

Christian leaders have vowed to campaign against the draft at the referendum to protest against clauses on abortion and Kadhi’s courts.

Unlocking stalemate

The two sides agreed to form an eight-member committee, with four representatives from each side, to spearhead dialogue. “We have held wonderful discussions and explored several possibilities of unlocking the stalemate over the new constitution, but we have not agreed on anything concrete,” said Canon Peter Karanja, the National Council of Churches
of Kenya general secretary.

“This is work in progress. We will continue with the dialogue and there is some hope.” The President, the PM and the VP are scheduled to hold further talks next week. During the meeting, the government argued that the church leaders’ concerns should be addressed after the referendum in subsequent legislation and amendments.

But church leaders, according to those who attended the closed-door meeting, were adamant that they would mobilise their followers to reject the draft constitution if it provides loopholes for legalised abortion and retention of Kadhi’s courts.

Church leaders have proposed that the referendum be postponed for three months to build consensus. Kenyans are expected to vote on the draft in July. The church leaders also called for the amendment of the Constitutional Review Act to give time for consensus-building, a position the government is said to have rejected, stressing that it was too late because the draft has already been presented to Attorney-General Amos Wako for publication ahead of the referendum.

In their presentation on Thursday, the church leaders rejected the government proposal that their concerns be addressed after the referendum, claiming that Parliament had a record of ignoring their views. “We are saying that we should not be slaves of the Review Act. It can be amended to give time for more consultations because we are making a constitution for all Kenyans,” said NCCK chairman Charles Kibicho.
Deputy Prime ministers Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi, Attorney-General Amos Wako and Cabinet ministers Mutula Kilonzo, James Orengo and George Saitoti attended the meeting. Agriculture minister William Ruto, who is opposed to the draft, and his Tourism counterpart Najib Balala entered Harambee House while the meeting was on, but it was not clear whether they joined the discussions.

Other church leaders at the talks were Catholic bishops John Cardinal Njue and Philip Sulumeti of Kakamega Diocese, and Dr Jesse Kamau, the former moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa (PCEA). Justice minister Mutula Kilonzo said the talks were aimed at reaching broad agreement over the draft.
“Constitution-making is a sensitive process which requires consensus. We will continue with the conversation in order to bring everybody on board,” Mr Kilonzo said. He called for tolerance as the country debates the draft.

“Those saying ‘‘No’’ are also Kenyan citizens with an interest in the Constitution,” he said. “Being facilitators, the ministry of Justice will hunt with the foxes and run with the hares,” he said. Mr Kilonzo said a similar meeting is planned with leaders of the Islamic faith.

President Kibaki and Mr Odinga are said to have stressed the need to remain united during the entire constitution review period. On Wednesday, the church leaders cautioned that it would be “reckless and irresponsible” for the government to subject the draft to a referendum before it is broadly accepted by Kenyans.

“The goal of the review is to give Kenyans a new constitution, not to hold a referendum,” they announced. The law guiding the review has a self-propelling mechanism; it has specific requirements and time-lines to ensure the writing of the new law moves to the next stage unhindered.