Kenyan voters appear to have rejected a proposed new Constitution in a landmark referendum after a vitriolic campaign that deeply split the East African country, an election official said on Tuesday.
In a major blow to President Mwai Kibaki, who supported the draft, the official said near-complete results showed the ”no”-vote with an insurmountable lead after the nation’s first-ever plebiscite on Monday.
With 92% of the country’s 210 constituencies reporting, the official with the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) said ”no” had soundly beaten Kibaki’s ”yes” camp.
”According to results we have tallied, the ‘no’ team is apparently unbeatable,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
The official said a formal announcement of the rejection of the first major changes to Kenya’s charter since independence from Britain in 1963 would be made later on Tuesday after the outstanding results were received.
The official declined to give a breakdown of the count, but the panel had earlier released partial results giving 59% of the vote to the ”no” side, against 41% for ”yes”, with a large number of spoiled ballots.
It said opponents of the draft had won 3,3-million votes against 2,3-million for the ”yes” camp, while Kenya’s private Nation Television reported that the ”no” camp held an unassailable lead.
Officials said Kibaki planned to make a televised national address at noon local time. Constitution opponents also planned a news conference.
Foes of the draft document, led by opposition chief Uhuru Kenyatta and Kibaki’s influential Roads Minister Raila Odinga, had urged its rejection as it retained sweeping presidential powers.
They accuse Kibaki, who was elected in 2002 on a reform platform, of reneging on promises to address popular demands to devolve significant executive powers to a new prime ministerial position.
The draft creates such a post but endows it with mainly ceremonial duties, including presiding over Parliament.
Some Christian church leaders also opposed the document because it gave legal status to Muslim courts and carried provisions that they believe could legalise on-demand abortions and gay marriage.
Analysts said the results showed voters had cast ballots along tribal lines, with Kibaki’s Kikuyu community largely supporting the draft, while Odinga’s Luo tribe overwhelmingly opposed. The two tribes are Kenya’s largest.
”The results show that the voting trend was certainly tribal,” said Kamatho Kiganjo, a lawyer and political analyst.
In two apparent anomalies, ”yes” won in Kenyatta’s constituency, while ”no” took the day in the district of Vice-President Moody Awori, a Kibaki ally, according to the ECK.
Rejection of the draft would be an embarrassing setback for Kibaki who had invested heavy political capital in leading the ”yes” campaign ahead of presidential elections due in 2007.
”This is a damaging blow to Kibaki; at least I can see new political alignments after the full results are out,” said Evans Manduku, a political-science lecturer at the University of Nairobi.
Kibaki has hinted at major changes in his Cabinet no matter what the result of the referendum, and observers believe he will likely sack Odinga as well as five other ministers in his ruling coalition who campaigned against the draft.
About 11,6-million Kenyans were eligible to vote in the referendum, held after a bruising campaign marred by violence in which at least eight people were killed and rallies were routinely disrupted.
Polling day, however, was largely calm as long lines of voters queued to cast ballots amid tight security, although at least two people were injured in brief, isolated clashes in two Nairobi slums, election officials said.
”Generally, we’ve had free and fair elections,” ECK spokesperson Mani Lemayain said.
Police said at least seven people had been arrested for poll-related crimes, but fears of widespread violence did not materialise.
The referendum has raised concerns about instability in a country long considered an island of relative stability in volatile East Africa. — Sapa-AFP