The Second Covenant

KiN Reports - Uhuru Park, Nairobi (Courtesy of The Standard team)

Kenya is set to get new constitution. But before that happens, Chief Justice Evan Gicheru will have to be sworn in before swearing in President Kibaki.

Others to be sworn in at Uhuru Park are Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Vice President Kalonzon Musyoka. Once sworn in the president will sign and seal the document.

Over 8,000 security personnel have been deployed at Uhuru Park to provide security to thousands of people who turned to witness promulgation of the new Constitution. Security is tight at venue and those entering have to undergo security search.

Among those who have turned up are retired President Moi, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, former president Benjamin Mkapa (Tanzania) and John Kufuor (Ghana).

Lancaster veterans Martin Shikuku and Eliud Mwendwa Ngala are also present. The ageing and frail Ngala arrived at the park to the applause of thousands of those present.

Already the park is filled with people from all walks of life. Attorney General Amos Wako, Chief Justice Evan Gicheru, MPs have arrived.

The mood is electrifying, the beckon of a promising tomorrow so strong, the celebratory spirit across the nation palpable, and the moment consuming and enthralling. A chapter is closing and new one opening, and in the words of Goethe, from our hearts rises the silent chant: "From today and from this place there begins a new epoch in the history of the world." For this Friday’s story is simply the world’s story; it is celebration of democracy and the will to change the course of humanity.

As Kenya strides majestically and stoically into a new dawn at this Friday’s historic fete, it is time for reflection even as we move forward as a united and proud people.

On this day, we the people of Kenya stand on the threshold of history and the doorway to a promising tomorrow. This day is a tribute first to we Kenyans of all shades, race, creed and ages, full of hope and promise for a better future. Ringing loud across the land is our resilience and rallying call of our founding fathers — One Nation, One People.

Second covenant
We have given ourselves this Constitution as a Second Covenant in the form of a new tablet of laws, hewn by our own hands in the belief that it shall be exercised by those upon whom we vest power and authority. We remain thankful that notwithstanding challenges we have faced, we have been peaceful.

At Independence 47 years ago, our forefathers won the battle for our land, freedom and self-determination. The governance structures — some of which we inherited and others that we created — have brought us thus far, with many challenges on the way, but still as One People, One Nation.

And so this Frday’s landmark promulgation of the new Constitution is a generational handover of the baton that we received from our forefathers, to build and nurture for the coming generations.

On this day, we stand tall to be counted among the family of nations as a democracy that has peacefully and resolutely replaced its supreme laws in a referendum decades after Independence and embraced a new dawn where the will of the people shall forever prevail in the management of its affairs.

Landmark event
As we celebrate the landmark event, we congratulate and extend to each other best wishes and a hand of brotherhood and sisterhood as we begin a new, exciting yet difficult challenge of implementing this Constitution and planting requisite support pillars.