NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 9 – The Committee of Experts on Constitutional Review (CoE) has launched the second phase of civic education targeting to reach the grassroots and prisoners.
The Committee on Friday said it would start in the county\’s correctional facilities to sensitise prisoners and warders over the weekend. On Monday, the experts will embark on a two week aggressive campaign using community radios and other public forums.
On Saturday the committee will be at the Nakuru and the Garissa prisons while on Sunday, they will be at Langata Womens and Kisumu\’s Kodiaga prisons.
CoE Chairman Nzamba Kitonga announced that in a bid to reach as many people as possible, the experts would also hold barazas and visit markets.
"This will enable us to engage the public and also distribute more copies of the draft Constitution," said Mr Kitonga, adding that his team would work hard to counter distortions peddled by politicians and other groups.
"We will give people opportunities to ask us questions and get the right answers."
He said they had distributed over 10 million copies of the draft constitution in English, Swahili, Braille and the simplified version.
The Chairman also dismissed claims that there was international pressure to pass a document that is influenced by western countries.
"This is a people\’s draft. It is not a project of any individual, this government or a foreign one," said Mr Kitonga and added: "We all know the process that has led to the production of this draft. It has been an inclusive process and it has had widespread consultations."
Meanwhile, the committee owes a huge amount of money to creditors since the government is yet to release the Sh700 million allocated to it in this year\’s budget.
"We could not wait for the release of the funds and therefore with the go-ahead from the Treasury we have taken goods and services on credit," said the Chairman.
Besides running TV commercials hosting discussions on vernacular radio stations, the committee has also participated in various agricultural shows.
Last week, the committee was at the Machakos ASK show and is now at the Nakuru show where they have a stand to distribute the proposed constitution and other civic education materials.
Kenyans will vote on the proposed Constitution in a referendum on August 4.
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