Joseph Othieno

30 August 2010

A wind of change and hope has permeated Kenya following the passage of the new Constitution and its promulgation last week.

The endorsement of the new law and its promulgation were historic events, considering that we have been searching for a new law for 20 years. The joy expressed by many Kenyans is akin to a couple that has just got a child after two decades of anxious trials.

The voting process was applauded just as were the results, and of course the peace that accompanied it, considering the imbroglio that befell our country following the 2007 general elections.

Indeed, it will be an opportune time for positive change. But it will also be the most challenging because it goes against the grain for many elites who have made a killing out of the status quo.

This group is certainly girding their waists for a battle to ensure that the "baby" doesn't see the light of day.

It is, however, deceptive to pin all our hopes on the document. The goodness of this Constitution is not innate, hence the emphasis of its drafters on the need for the implementers to see beyond the letter of the law and be selfless enough to perceive the spirit of the law.

Kenya is not the first country to draft her own laws; many have already done so and examples abound of those that have utilised its strengths for the good of their people and those that have exploited the loopholes therein to exploit their subjects.

A constitution by itself has no meaning; it is humankind that bestows meaning to it through their manner of application. These meanings are mostly subjective rather than objective and thus open to abuse.

Thus an otherwise good constitution that lands in bad hands will be christened "bad" because its observable outputs are injurious to the people.

The US is an apt example. Her constitution was drafted in 1787 by Jacob Shallus and it was bad because it allowed slavery and had clauses that allowed the state to punish any escaping slave and barred any law that illegalised slavery.

As if that wasn't enough, it barred women and black Americans from voting. But these were all amended in the 13th, 15th and 19th amendments respectively, because the US had good leaders.

Mortal beings cannot be perfect, so nothing he does can be said to be 100 per cent perfect. Christians have their holy scriptures whose writing is believed to have been inspired by God and which is thus perfect. The Bible is like Christians' constitution, so to say.

But has it produced godly Christians?

What we need is not so much a new constitutional dispensation but a people with changed attitudes, devoid of negative ethnicity, nepotism or love for loot.

If Kenyan can avoid these pitfalls, then even with the worst constitution, we shall scale great heights of prosperity. The drafting of our constitution was largely driven by dissatisfaction with the earlier system of governance.

History has already read its verdict against our past leaders as far as the application of the old constitution was concerned, lessons that the current crop of leaders must read as they implement the new one.

It has been said time and again that the leaders we choose are a true reflection of ourselves. It is our prayer that this time, they will reflect the positive change that the masses are yearning for.

But above all, individuals must be ready to act as the basic unit of change.

Mr Othieno is a veterinary scientist.