Kenyans Against Piece-Meal Alterations of our Katiba by the Executive and Legislatives arms of the Government of Kenya

Petition against the vandalizing of supporting legislation for the Constitution of Kenya by the Executive and Legislatives arms of the Government of Kenya

On this day, Friday 16th September 2011,

We, the people of Kenya—

ACKNOWLEDGING the supremacy of the Almighty God of all creation:

HONOURING those who heroically struggled to bring freedom and justice to our land:

PROUD of our ethnic, cultural and religious diversity, and determined to live in peace and unity as one indivisible sovereign nation:

COMMITTED to nurturing and protecting the well-being of the individual, the family, communities and the nation:

RECOGNISING the aspirations of all Kenyans for a government based on the essential values of human rights, equality, freedom, democracy, social justice and the rule of law:

EXERCISING our sovereign and inalienable right to determine the form of governance of our country and having participated fully in the making of this Constitution:

Feel deeply aggrieved and injured by recent actions by the Executive arm of the Government of the Republic of the Republic of Kenya and the National Assembly of the Republic of Kenya in alteration and mutilation of stakeholder formulated constitutional bills that are fundamental to capturing and exercising the will of the Kenyan people and the spirit and letter of the law under the Constitution.

It is worth noting that the said bills had been formulated and forwarded to the said arms of government after a thorough capturing of the will of the people of Kenya through a lengthy consultative process involving numerous representative state and non-state actors including representatives of the two arms of government.

We submit that among the reasons that informed almost 70% of we the people of Kenya to vote YES in support of the Constitution, indeed the spirit which informed our choice, include though is not limited to;

1. A desire to easily recall non performing elected officials;
2. A need to instill discipline in political parties by curbing perennial whimsical and non-ideologically informed movement between political parties by candidates for elective positions at the last minute just before elections while also ensuring political parties’ democratic capacity building is enhanced and that they are professionally run;
3. That credible constitutional institutions will have the power to vet all senior public officers including, but not limited to those who offer themselves for elective posts;
4. The promise the new constitution offers in combating institutionalized corruption and in establishing due process in creation of credible governance institutions for tackling rampant corruption in government and in the laying out of procedures for appointing and dismissal of officers serving in the said institutions;
5. An assurance that meritocracy shall form the basis of appointment to any office within the boundaries laid down by the Constitution in ensuring equity;
6. That there shall be equitable distribution of resources through devolution to all the 47 counties of Kenya established by the Constitution and that we the people of Kenya will have a greater say through our county governments on how these resources are utilized at the local level;
7. That the Constitution explicitly sets the date on which the general elections shall be held after every 5 years.

Thus,

AWARE of our inalienable rights guaranteed under CHAPTER ONE––SOVEREIGNTY OF THE PEOPLE AND SUPREMACY OF THIS CONSTITUTION

That;

1. (1) All sovereign power belongs to the people of Kenya and shall be exercised only in accordance with this Constitution.
And that;
3. (1) Every person has an obligation to respect, uphold and defend this Constitution.

We do petition
1) The President and Prime Minister of the Republic of Kenya
2) The Cabinet of the Republic of Kenya through the Minister for Constitution Affairs and the Attorney General of The Republic of Kenya
3) The National Assembly of the People of Kenya through its 222 people representatives
4) The Judiciary arm of the Government of the Republic of Kenya

Who having sworn to obey, respect, uphold, preserve, protect and defend this Constitution of the Republic of Kenya are under obligation to reverse the unconstitutional alterations by cabinet and the National Assembly of among others;
1. The Political Parties Bill 2011
2. The Ethics and Anti-corruption Bill 2011
3. The Transitional to Devolved Government Bill 2011
4. The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Bill 2011

Failure to which we the under signed people of Kenya shall use all legal means under Chapter Seventeen of the Constitution of Kenya (General Provisions) which states that

258. (1) Every person has the right to institute court proceedings, claiming that this Constitution has been contravened, or is threatened with contravention,
(2) In addition to a person acting in their own interest, court proceedings under clause (1) may be instituted by—
(a) a person acting on behalf of another person who cannot act in their own name;
(b) a person acting as a member of, or in the interest of, a group or class of persons;
(c) a person acting in the public interest; or
(d) an association acting in the interest of one or more of its members.

and any extra legal means guaranteed to us by Chapter One (Sovereignty of The People and Supremacy of This Constitution) and Chapter Four (The Bill of Rights) of the Constitution of Kenya including but not limited to picketing across the nation beginning on the 6th October, 2011 which is 21 days from publication of this petition.