Kenya gets new American-style constitution

[LazyLion]

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iPhX1mecO0eC1pULJkFnsLjHsKkwD9HRMU8G1

NAIROBI, Kenya — African leaders joined tens of thousands of Kenyans on Friday to witness a once-in-a-generation event: the signing into law of Kenya's new constitution.

The East African nation replaced a colonial-era constitution with one that curtails the president's powers with an American-style system of checks and balances.

President Mwai Kibaki's official signing into law of the new constitution has been billed as the single most important political event in Kenya's history since it gained independence from Britain in 1963.

Friday's event comes after an overwhelming majority of Kenyan voters adopted the new constitution in an Aug. 4 referendum. Kibaki's signature formally marks the end of a decades-long struggle to cut down the massive powers of the presidency.

The government and parliament now must implement the ambitious document that requires, among other things, the formation of a Supreme Court and a Senate. It also demands that the country's judiciary be vetted to rid it of corrupt or incompetent judges and that parliament pass 49 new laws.

Both Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga back the new charter, part of a reform package they committed themselves to after signing a power-sharing deal in February 2008. That deal ended violence that killed more than 1,000 people following Kenya's disputed December 2007 presidential vote.

A surprise guest at Friday's ceremony was Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity. This is the second time that al-Bashir has risked arrest by traveling to a member state of the International Criminal Court. In July he traveled to Chad.

Before his visit to Chad, al-Bashir had traveled abroad only to countries that are not ICC members since he was first charged in connection with violence in Sudan's Darfur region in 2009. The ICC has no police force and depends on member states to enforce its orders.

It was not immediately known why Kenyan authorities allowed him to attend.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda also attended the event.

Sounds Great! Let's hope this is time of nice growth for Kenya!

 

[grok]

Good for Kenya. Pity that locally the ANC deem themselves above our constitution.

 

[zippy]

I hope it works out for the Kenyans, but I seriously doubt whether another countries system will work without significant modifications. The American constitution is suited to the US because of its own unique history. You cannot ignore Africa's tribal history and traditions or pretend that it didnt happen or was a bad mistake. Just as Europeans cannot ignore their history and tradition of monarchy, therefore there are many European countries with constitutional monarchs. Tribalism and monarchy are not things you would associate with American democracy. Whatever system the Kenyans adopt, it needs to be significantly tailored to acknowledge their culture and traditions, or else it be alien to them and it will fail.

 

[Palimino]

I hope it works out for the Kenyans, but I seriously doubt whether another countries system will work without significant modifications. The American constitution is suited to the US because of its own unique history. You cannot ignore Africa's tribal history and traditions or pretend that it didnt happen or was a bad mistake. Just as Europeans cannot ignore their history and tradition of monarchy, therefore there are many European countries with constitutional monarchs. Tribalism and monarchy are not things you would associate with American democracy. Whatever system the Kenyans adopt, it needs to be significantly tailored to acknowledge their culture and traditions, or else it be alien to them and it will fail.

Yeah, that. Also (using SA as an example) they will just ignore any inconvenient stuff but point to it as an example of how ‘enlightened’ and ‘liberated’ they are. Nothing changes.

 

[ponder]

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...lLQnyf&sig=AHIEtbRT-LvpyrJOOOhzackOiiri-utjGA Quick web view.
http://www.kenyalaw.org/family/statutes/download.php?file=The_Constitution.pdf PDF file.

For those wanting to read it.

 

[noxibox]

Yeah, that. Also (using SA as an example) they will just ignore any inconvenient stuff but point to it as an example of how ‘enlightened’ and ‘liberated’ they are. Nothing changes.

Which wouldn't make them particularly different to the US.

 

[porchrat]

There are still a few things wrong with this Constitution though.

For example those who follow the religion of Islam are exempt from a lot of the sections within the Constitution. Those on marriage, inheritance etc.

 

[Palimino]

Which wouldn't make them particularly different to the US.

Perhaps (I wouldn’t know). The American’s do tend to wave their constitution around like a flag and brag about it. They probably respect it more if they want to shove it into everyone’s face as an example of “How a constitution should be written”.

 

[ponder]

Perhaps (I wouldn’t know). The American’s do tend to wave their constitution around like a flag and brag about it. They probably respect it more if they want to shove it into everyone’s face as an example of “How a constitution should be written”.

And then you get the judges that interpret it the way they want to. With the US one gets the impression that judges are not impartial and greatly influenced by religion. Look at the way they pick their chief justices, it's based on their personal beliefs, right or left leanings etc. while they should be impartial and apply the law.

 

[noxibox]

Perhaps (I wouldn’t know). The American’s do tend to wave their constitution around like a flag and brag about it. They probably respect it more if they want to shove it into everyone’s face as an example of “How a constitution should be written”.

They respect it when it supports their particular beliefs. Nearly two and a half centuries later and they're still doing things that are unconstitutional, that infringe on people's rights.

The one thing I do like about the US constitution is that it is absolute which I feel makes it better than ours. It gives something to aspire towards.

 

[Fudzy]

It will be interesting to see how this benefits/detriments the country, if it works I hope other nations will have a look at implementing it, they are of course the self-proclaimed rulers of Democracy (the US that is).

 

[Nothxkbi]

Kenya sure has come along way from the violence and anarchy that wracked it a couple of years back.

 

[ponder]

It will be interesting to see how this benefits/detriments the country, if it works I hope other nations will have a look at implementing it, they are of course the self-proclaimed rulers of Democracy (the US that is).

The country that comes closest to a true democracy is Switzerland. The SA constitution (and others) is way better than the US one.