Nairobi — The Yes campaign was launched in Kajiado yesterday with a call for dialogue to bridge differences between the opposing sides in the constitution debate.

Supporters of the Yes position carry placards during the campaign launched by Vice-President Moody Awori in Kajiado town yesterday.

Photo by Fredrick Onyango

Vice-President Moody Awori said the two groups agreed that most of the proposals were acceptable and that only a few sections had brought disagreements.

The opposing sides, he argued, should agree to pass the proposed constitution and then later amend contentious sections.

A number of the leaders spoke about Maasai land rights, presidential powers and devolution - issues which a No group had concentrated on during a recent rally at the same venue.

Assistant minister Kivutha Kibwana, introduced to the crowd as a professor of constitutional law, went through the Bill clause by clause to assert that it protected Maasai land rights.

Animal parks

He said wildlife and tourist revenue would now accrue to and benefit the communities around animal parks and other tourist sites.

Prof Kibwana's presentation - which was translated, sentence by sentence, into Maasai - also tackled devolution.

The Maasai, he said, should support the Bill because district governments would now control revenue from the parks and national reserves.

The Bill would ensure that the Maasai are compensated for the exploitation of their culture, dress and foods for commercial purposes, Prof Kibwana said.

The 35 MPs, including seven Cabinet ministers and several assistant ministers, criticised those opposed to the Bill, dismissing them as people engaged in perpetual opposition. Conspicuously absent from the Kajiado Town rally were Ford Kenya MPs, except Industry minister Mukhisa Kituyi.

Mr Awori and Dr Kituyi left early in a military helicopter. The Vice-President was scheduled to preside over the official opening of the Nyeri Agricultural Society of Kenya Show later in the day.

Earlier, the group had anxious moments when the convoy was confronted by No supporters at the Kitengela and Isinya shopping centres.

The "No-ists" carried placards denouncing the proposed law and waved oranges - the No symbol.

At one stage, riot control police were deployed at Isinya but there was no confrontation between the two sides.

Elsewhere leader of the Official Opposition Uhuru Kenyatta and Cabinet minister Ochillo Ayacko accused the Government of using the taxpayer's money to push for the Bill's passage.

They said money was being dished out to the MPs supporting the law for distribution to the public but did not name them.

There was violence at Bungoma when a group beat up No campaigners and damaged a public address system and a generator.

In answer to Electoral Commission chairman Samuel Kivuitu's remarks that the two sides had started campaigns prematurely, Mr Awori claimed the Yes exponents were not campaigning but carrying out civic education.

He said: "We are law-abiding and are not on a campaign. We respect the ECK and we are just educating you on the constitution.

"We want you to understand what is contained in the proposal for you to make good decisions."

Dr Kituyi said the Yes group was composed of "disciplined ministers", unlike the other side where colleagues went around criticising the same Government they serve.

He said that, while he was the US, American ministers had praised Kenya's investment climate and economic growth but wondered at the many insults directed at the Government by members.