Voting ends in referendum on draft constitution

Kenyan voters turned up in large numbers on Monday to cast their ballots in a national referendum that will either approve or reject a proposed new constitution. The document, if ratified, would replace the country's basic law, which came into force when the East African nation gained independence from Great Britain in 1963. "The process was good. We have not received reports of any major incidents that could have affected the polling process," said Mani Lemaiyan, spokesman for the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), told IRIN. "So far I am happy [with the conduct of the poll]," one of the electoral commissioners, Jack Tumwa, said as pollings stations closed at 5.00 p.m. (1400 GMT). The local media, however, reported that there had been at least two minor incidents of violence in Nairobi. Results from the referendum vote are expected on Tuesday, but ballots were being counted at polling stations and the results transmitted to the ECK headquarters in Nairobi for the official announcement. Government spokesman Alfred Mutua told reporters earlier in the day that that the atmosphere at the polls was calm. "The reports we are getting are that people have turned out in large numbers. So far the elections [referendum] have been very peaceful," he said. Lemaiyan noted, however, that there had been isolated cases of some people not finding their names on the voters' register, a problem he said might have been caused by individuals registering to vote in more than one constituency or turning up to cast their ballots in the wrong polling stations. Long queues formed at polling stations in Nairobi soon after they opened, and voters waited patiently to cast their ballots. Most of the queue's had, however, turned into a trickle of people in many polling polling centres in Nairobi by 2.00 p.m. (1100 GMT). Acrimony and violence had marred the campaign leading up to the vote. A total of eight people died in two incidents when police opened fire after campaign rallies turned violent. The debate on Kenya's draft constitution has split President Mwai Kibaki's administration. The president and his camp favour the new constitution, but five cabinet ministers have spearheaded a campaign to reject the document in the referendum. They have argued that the draft maintains a presidency with overriding powers. Supporters of the draft constitution have maintained that presidential powers have been significantly curtailed in the proposed basic law. They point out, for example, that under the new document all presidential appointments must be vetted by parliament and the president must share executive power with a prime minister, various constitutional commissions and proposed district governments. Both sides have also differed on the details of the proposed devolution of powers from the national government to the district governments.