Free Republic

As dust settles down over the storm raised by the historic constitutional referendum, the electoral body officials and politicians are raising the red flag over high figures of votes that were rejected. They fear the trend, witnessed on August 4th, could stifle some of the democratic gains that come with the new political dispensation. In instances never witnessed in recent times, cosmopolitan constituencies in Nairobi and Eldoret are among those that recorded high numbers of rejected votes. At 6,251, Prime Minister Raila Odinga’s Langata constituency recorded the highest number of rejected votes in the country, followed by Embakasi at 5,497...

Kenya will transit into a new constitutional dispensation in style - the State plans an elaborate public function for August 20, to be attended by foreign dignitaries. During the occasion, President Kibaki will promulgate the new constitution, radically altering governance and institutional face of the republic. The day will be declared a public holiday to allow Kenyans to witness the historic event, according to impeccable sources. The Standard On Saturday has reliably learnt the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has been instructed to send invitation cards to Heads of State and Government, as guests to witness the big fete at a...

Reporting from Naivasha, Kenya — It may be wishful thinking, but many Kenyans believe a new constitution will cure poverty, slash prices on goods, create jobs, punish corrupt politicians, recover land lost decades ago, bring freedom, investment, tribal peace, higher salaries for common people, lower salaries for politicians — and, according to at least one voter, even make it rain. Kenyans tired of decades of corrupt governance voted Wednesday on a proposed new constitution that generated a load of expectations. Though it might not fix everything that people hope, analysts and politicians who supported the document, which was expected to...

The US government is plotting to reintroduce the Anti-Terrorism Bill into Kenya after it was rejected by Parliament, the ‘No’ camp has claimed. Higher Education Minister Wiliam Ruto, who is leading the ‘No’ campaign in Coast Province, claimed the US was pushing the passage of the new Constitution during the August 4 referendum because it allowed agreements made in foreign countries to be domesticated as Kenyan law without going through Parliament.

President Obama made much of the Executive Order he signed last March. It was supposed to stop federal funding of abortion. It was given as a fig leaf to formerly pro-life Democrats who had voted for ObamaCare and enabled it to pass, narrowly, in the House of Representatives. Most pro-life Americans knew the Obama order was a charade. We have had this administration pushing vigorously for abortion-on-demand from the first day they took office. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had hardly taken her oath of office before she told a House Foreign Affairs committee hearing early in 2009 that “sexual...