Someone once said the Constitution is a “living document”.A “living document” also known as an “evergreen document or dynamic document” is defined as a document that is continually edited and updated, usually to keep up with the times.
The venerable US Constitution once upon time codified the dehumanization of African slaves. When it was being drafted back in 1787, the question regarding who was eligible to be counted as a voter became a point of contention.
James Wilson and Roger Sherman, both delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 proposed what came to be known as the Three-fifths Compromise:All slaves in the various slave-owning states were counted as three-fifths of a white person!Americans who supported slavery wanted them included in the count while those against it did not want them counted.
Long story short, after considering various ratios including ¾, ½, and ¼, the conference attendees settled on the ratio 3/5 and henceforth, African-Americans were considered as three-fifths of white Americans.
It took Americans another 78 years before the Thirteenth Amendment to its constitution was enacted – in 1865 – to obsolete the racist and dehumanizing amendment euphemistically referred to as the “Three-fifths Compromise”.
Similarly, the Civil Rights Act of 1965 ended segregation in public places and banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin – under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of the Constitution.
The point is this: Kenya’s Constitution is not and should not be static.I get and understand that.On the other hand, the country’s Constitution should reflect a minimum threshold of expectations that respects human and civil rights of all – regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion or race.
It should also reflect a minimum threshold of expectations on how leaders, who have sworn to serve and protect the fundamental elements embodied in that document, (should) comport themselves.
Changes to the Constitution should not be enacted willy-nilly i.e. to satisfy the whim or fancy of any one leader nor the maintenance of their hold on to power.The Constitution should not be changed or amended to protect any one individual – from treason, bribery or high crimes and misdemeanors.
And like the US Constitution does, some would argue to a fault, it should protect the “minority” from the tyranny of the majority.Additionally, and this is very germane to a point many have made, Article Four of the US Constitution offers that:“The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
”Changes to the Constitution should not be enacted to protect ANYONE from being held accountable for their actions; including any wrong-doing committed while in office.Which brings me to Kenya and the on-going discussion over an up-coming yet-to-be-fully crystallized “referendum”.
Based on the country’s sordid history; a history whose principal characters have remained unchanged since independence, there is very little evidence that demonstrates that amendments to its Constitution will change the way the country is governed AND has been governed since independence.
As offered this morning, the referendum will not stop the current corps of thieves from raping the national treasury with impunity.Changes to the Constitution will not put food on the table or roofs over the heads of Kenyans.The referendum will not bring back Baby Pendo or the many victims of police brutality.
The billions Waiguru and co. guniad away are gone – forever!Creating a position for Raila or co-opting other members of the opposition into the feeding trough will not prevent the incompetence-exacerbated flooding that has wreaked havoc on the lives of Kenyans since time immemorial!Conversely, competent and accountable leadership will hold rogue police and incompetent and corrupt government employees accountable!
At the core of Kenya’s many problems is the collective failure by the very people Kenyans have continually entrusted to serve, protect and uphold, not only the words of the Constitution, but its very spirit – to do just that.
And just like Americans are still wrestling with the very dehumanization of its Black population the Constitution’s 13th Amendment sought to change, there is very little in Kenya’s history that indicates that changes to the country’s Constitution i.e. the impending referendum will change the behavior of those entrusted to uphold the words and spirit of the document they now seek to change.It is NOT the Constitution Stupid!It is the leadership!