Constitution Referendum Voting Results

The main issues of contention throughout the drafting of the constitution were over how much power should be vested in the Head of State (the President, in this case), with many believing Kibaki was attempting to garner dictatorial powers. In previous drafts, those who feared a concentration of power in the president added provisions for European-style power-sharing between the President and Prime Minister. However, the final draft of the constitution retained sweeping powers for the Head of State.
The issue of land reform has also been prevalent, as disputes over land amongst Kenya's numerous ethnic groups are frequent. The draft constitution sought to deal with this and included measures against the ownership of land by foreigners (white immigrants and their descendants own numerous large tracts of land in Kenya). The constitution would have also permitted women to own land for the first time (only through inheritance) and sought to establish a 'land commission' which would manage and oversee the redistribution of land (the formation of the land commission was included primarily as a means of preventing the 'gifting' of land by government officials for favours). The land commission would also serve as a human rights watchdog over land disputes and would attempt to give back land to ethnic groups and individuals who have unfairly lost land in the past.

The constitution sought also to classify land as either "government, community, or individual" property. Many have been alarmed by a more radical provision which would allow the land commission to redistribute land that is 'idle' or not being used to its fullest potential to the landless and squatters. This met the most resistance amongst absentee land owners, and nomadic groups such as the Maasai, whose land could potentially be repossessed.

'Religious courts' were also an area of concern prior to the voting. Since Islamic religious courts already exist in Kenya, demands for courts specific to other religions (mainly Christian and Hindu) were adhered to and the draft constitution provided legal basis for a number of religious judiciaries.

Because Kibaki so vigorously promoted the new constitution and based his election campaign around it, many voters used the referendum merely as means to voice their approval or disapproval of the Kibaki government. In other words, many paid little attention to the actual text of the constitution and used the 'Yes' or 'No' vote to say 'Yes' or 'No' to the president. This would become the sentiment on which the victorious Orange camp would base their demands for snap-elections, claiming the government had lost its mandate to rule as a result of the 'No' vote by the people.
There was a single opinion poll taken: 42%(No) and 32%(Yes) and Undecided (22%) & Refused to answer (4%).

Thanks