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LAUNCH OF THE TI-KENYA NATIONAL OPINION POLL THE CONTENTIOUS ISSUES IN THE CONSTITUTIONAL DEBATE
Article Summary
Source:TI-Kenya
Date: 5/7/2009
Nairobi, (7th May, 2009) - in order to make informed recommendations to the committee of experts, a survey was carried out in all the 8 provinces by TI-Kenya on the contentious issues surrounding the constitutional debate. Results from the survey show that- - Despite repeated promises by the coalition government that a new constitution will be ready within one year, close to 80% of the Kenyans believe this is not likely.
- Majority of the respondents (62%) perceive political interference on the constitutional review process as the greatest challenge towards attaining a new constitution.
- Despite disaffection with the current performance of the coalition, only 15% of respondents support a government in which the Prime Minister exclusively exercises executive power. Similarly, only 32 support a government in which the President exclusively exercises executive power. The majority of respondents (53%) would like executive powers shared between a President and Prime Minister.
- 60% of the respondents support the devolution of executive power to parliament and regional governments.
- Asked whether they believe a new constitution would resolve the land issues, 44% answered to the negative whereas an equal proportion thinks this will happen.
- Majority of the respondents (46%) perceive grabbing of public land by the powerful individuals as the greatest concern.
- Close to 70% of the respondents are against the provision of religious courts in the new constitution.
The survey was carried out through random sampling across the eight the provinces in Kenya. A total of 1402 respondents were surveyed. 56% of the respondents were from the rural areas and 44% were urban. TI Kenya estimates the margin of error to be 3% given this sample size. The survey findings demystify presumptions that Kenyans will not agree to devolution of power and regional governments.
The survey comes at a time when the coalition government's commitment to legal and policy reform has been put in question following the resignation of Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Martha Karua citing frustration. Similarly, there has been internal grumbling about apparent lack of commitment to reform by sections of the coalition government.
Transparency International Kenya would like to reiterate the need for the coalition government to hasten the pace for governance reforms as spelt out in Agenda four of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act 2008.
If the country is to surmount the social economic challenges facing it, focussed and meaningful steps to strengthen governance institutions and processes must be initiated and sustained, observes Job Ogonda, the Executive Director.
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