Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for a change of the constitution, outlining the benefits it will have for future generations.
'We spend almost two years after every election on conflicts,' he said, 'and that is what we want to change by ensuring inclusivity for all communities.'
Kenyatta said the current Constitution is to blame for lack of inclusivity in the country, citing the perennial violence experienced during and after elections.
He has appealed for a national conversation, to help Kenyans understand and critique the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI) which is set to be released this week.
'What we need is an honest national conversation about the moment for constitutional change,' he said, and dismissed claims by a section of leaders, including his Deputy William Ruto that BBI is all about creating positions for individuals.
According to political analysts in Kenya, the BBI report will be released on Wednesday, paving the way for a national referendum.
'Constitutional change is not all about creating positions for anyone,' he said, 'it is aimed at ensuring we no longer have the winner takes it all and loser goes home with nothing after elections,' President Kenyatta said.
According to Kenyatta, the 2010 Constitution gave Kenyans some remedies but did it resolve or entrench some zero-sum game where the winner takes all and the loser goes home with nothing.
'Our Country is staring at a constitutional moment and the National question goes back to the advent of our Multi-Party System for indeed it was after the re-introduction of political pluralism in 1992 that negative politics began to dominate. Now we need to ask ourselves as a people; how do we change this through a constitutional consensus?,' he said.
Opposition chief Raila Odinga who reignited the BBI conversation, declared 'Reggae is Back'.
Source : https://taarifa.rw/kenya-considers-new-constitution-to-avoid-perennial-violence/
