I have discovered that the ugly spectre of tribalism was a key driver of the vote. Kenyans voted largely along tribal lines. Its fashionable to single out the Kalenjin for whipping because they voted overwhelmingly against the Constitution.
No single Kalenjin-dominated constituency voted for it. The dizzyingly high margins of the vote were simply astounding. Such margins call into question whether the choice of the voters was thoughtful and deliberative.
How could the Kalenjin, as a people, see the Constitution so differently from other groups? But the Kalenjin were hardly alone in voting as a tribal bloc.
In Luo Nyanza, there was not a single constituency that voted against the Constitution.
The Luo simply flipped the Kalenjin script and voted in reverse. The margins of victory in each constituency were simply absurd. In Karachuonyo, for example, the Yes vote was 100 per cent. Such a high degree of unanimity is a manifestation of the lack of dissent, an essential feature of democracy.
Similar votes, though less emphatically unanimous, were recorded among the Kikuyu in Central Province where every constituency went Yes. Somalis voted in lock step too, as did the bulk of the Luhya, Kisii, Meru, and others.
Please continue on this link Daily Nation: - Opinion |Why the tribe could kill the Constitution
No single Kalenjin-dominated constituency voted for it. The dizzyingly high margins of the vote were simply astounding. Such margins call into question whether the choice of the voters was thoughtful and deliberative.
How could the Kalenjin, as a people, see the Constitution so differently from other groups? But the Kalenjin were hardly alone in voting as a tribal bloc.
In Luo Nyanza, there was not a single constituency that voted against the Constitution.
The Luo simply flipped the Kalenjin script and voted in reverse. The margins of victory in each constituency were simply absurd. In Karachuonyo, for example, the Yes vote was 100 per cent. Such a high degree of unanimity is a manifestation of the lack of dissent, an essential feature of democracy.
Similar votes, though less emphatically unanimous, were recorded among the Kikuyu in Central Province where every constituency went Yes. Somalis voted in lock step too, as did the bulk of the Luhya, Kisii, Meru, and others.
Please continue on this link Daily Nation: - Opinion |Why the tribe could kill the Constitution
