NAIROBI, Kenya, Jul 3 – President Mwai Kibaki on Saturday retreated to his Nyeri home backyard to drum up support for the proposed Constitution.
President Kibaki was expected to hold a Yes support rally at the Kamukunji Stadium starting at noon.
Enroute to Nyeri, the President would make stopovers, to greet wananchi at Kenol, Makutano Junction, Sagana and Karatina and campaign for the draft Constitution.
The Head of State would be accompanied by senior government officials with indications that Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi will represent Prime Minister Raila Odinga who remained in hospital.
The rally would act as a test to the Central Kenya legislators who have been accused of remaining ambiguous over the side they support.
The President was in Embu last weekend where he campaigned for the draft.
Internal Security Minister George Saitoti will be in his Kajiado backyard for Yes campaigns. The NO camp is touring the coast region this weekend to win naysayers.
The campaigns continue even as a Bill seeking to postpone the August 4 referendum was published. The Bill by Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau seeks to refer the draft Constitution to the reference group for consensus building on contentious clauses.
The Bill is expected in Parliament next week but could elicit a lot of resistance from a House already sharply divided and MPs ready to settle the ‘contest’ at the ballot.
The law had provided for the reference group as a conflict resolution mechanism but the justification of a conflict remained lean. As defined the group was mandated to come in if Parliament disagreed with the Committee of Experts by raising the requisite 148 MPs support. This they failed as they debated the law in March.
Mr Kamau has expressed fears that unless legislators find a way to resolve the differences the passage or rejection of the draft will leave the country more divided than it is.
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