Government's stand on constitution draws criticism

Barely three months into office, President Mwai Kibaki's government has been accused of ignoring the most pressing national issue of putting in place a new constitution. Otieno Ombok, a programme officer at the Chemi Chemi ya Ukweli [Kiswahili for fountain of truth], a Catholic-based human rights pressure group, told IRIN on Thursday that the National Rainbow Coalition (Narc) had failed to adhere to its earlier commitment to pursue the crimes of past regimes and make the changes it had promised Kenyans. Ombok was reacting to this week's announcement by the government that it was planning to set up a special commission to carry out a fresh probe into the mysterious death of an American Catholic priest in August 2000. He said such a commission could not work properly without the overall framework of a new constitution, which would provide the country with a new "political dispensation". A new constitution is one of the pre-election pledges that Narc promised to implement within 100 days in office. After winning the December 2002 elections, the ruling coalition said it could produce a final draft constitution by June. It also promised to set up a truth and justice commission to probe past crimes against humanity committed under the previous Kenya African National Union (KANU) government. The human rights activist has accused the government of instead offering "piecemeal" measures to please the public. "Many people expected a constitution to come first, then a truth and justice commission. But this is a piecemeal approach. We needed a proper framework in order to bring a new political dispensation," he added. "I don't think there is goodwill. There is complacency on their side that makes one feel that they are not serious," Ombok told IRIN. Anthony Kaiser, a priest of the order of the Mill Hill Brothers was found dead in Naivasha, about 75 km northwest of Nairobi, with a gunshot wound to the head. His body was found lying on the roadside next to his vehicle. Investigations by Kenyan police, backed by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation concluded that Kaiser had committed suicide using his own gun, a theory widely denounced by the priest's relatives, the church and human rights groups in Kenya. The Catholic Church, which rejected the verdict on Kaiser's death, said he had been murdered to "silence" the church and stop it from denouncing social injustice. The government's announcement followed several appeals and campaigns by the church and human rights groups, urging it to order the investigation. The Kenyan human rights fraternity believes the priest's death to be one of the many unresolved political murders under the KANU regime that Kibaki's government must address.