Powerful churches target Kenya's Constitution over abortion
| Johannesburg, South Africa
A letter by three US congressmen aims to stop Kenya from ratifying a newly passed Constitution because they feel it encourages Kenyan women to have abortions.
In their May 6 letter to the US State Department鈥檚 acting Inspector General, a copy of which has been obtained by the Monitor, Rep. Chris Smith (R) of New Jersey, Rep. Darrell Issa (R) of California, and Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R) of Florida requested an audit of US government funds on the basis of a US law that states that 鈥渘one of the funds made available under this Act may be used to lobby for or against abortion.鈥�
The lawmakers' efforts come amid an initiative by powerful Kenyan churches to battle what religious leaders see as an opening to abortion.
Kenya鈥檚 draft Constitution actually forbids abortion, 鈥渦nless in the opinion of a trained health professional, there is need for emergency treatment, or the life or health of the mother is in danger....鈥� US Amb. Michael Rannenberger allegedly urged Kenyans to vote for this new Constitution on numerous occasions, which these congressmen argue is in breach of US law.
Two years after mob violence killed nearly 1,300 Kenyans and forced 300,000 others from their homes 鈥� in the wake of an election that appeared to be deeply flawed and manipulated by Kenyan politicians who had extraordinary powers over the judiciary and the supposedly independent electoral commission 鈥� many Kenyans say that passing a new constitution is necessary for the country鈥檚 very survival.
A recent survey found that an overwhelming majority of Kenyans, more than 60 percent, approve of the new Constitution, which many Kenyans have read because of freely available printed copies paid for by funds given by the US Agency for International Development.
Powerful churches step in
Yet Kenya鈥檚 powerful churches are putting on the brakes. And the draft Constitution鈥檚 provision for abortion is just one of many of their concerns.
鈥淭丑别 Constitution is an important document for Kenya, but there is no reason why Kenyans should adopt a bad constitution,鈥� says Henry Njagi, spokesman for the National Council of Churches of Kenya in Nairobi. 鈥淔or 海角大神s don鈥檛 see why they should be asked to endure a constitution that is so directly against 海角大神ity.鈥�
Mr. Njagi says that church leaders had engaged Kenya鈥檚 politicians about revising the Constitution since the 1980s, but 鈥渁t every stage, they did not address our issues. So now, we have no choice but to say 鈥榥o.鈥� 鈥�
By threatening to scuttle the constitution process, Kenya鈥檚 churches 鈥� particularly its Roman Catholic and Pentecostal denominations 鈥� are moving into dangerous territory, Kenyan political observers say.
鈥淭丑别se people are playing with fire,鈥� says Mwalimu Mati, director of the Mars Group Kenya, an anticorruption watchdog that has pushed for the new constitution. 鈥淭丑别y鈥檙e forgetting the benefits of the whole bill of rights, just because of one clause in the bill of rights. We Kenyans have short memories, we don鈥檛 remember that people were killed because of the terrible effects of the stalemate of the last election, and if there is another stalemate in a future election under this current Constitution, there will be bloodshed again.鈥�
Mr. Mati rejects the idea that church leaders were ignored during the drafting of the Constitution. 鈥淐ertain interest groups are trying to renegotiate ideas that they have already agreed to, but where maybe they didn鈥檛 get things the way they wanted them,鈥� he says.
US government says goal is to prevent future violence
The US government has not specifically endorsed any particular section of the Kenyan draft Constitution, but it has vigorously argued that Kenyans must adopt a constitution that would prevent a return of the political violence that followed the Dec. 27, 2007, elections.
鈥淭丑别 Government of the United States welcomes Parliament鈥檚 overwhelming approval of Kenya鈥檚 harmonized draft Constitution,鈥� Michael Ranneberger, the US ambassador to Kenya, said last month, after Kenya鈥檚 parliament passed the draft. 鈥淭丑别 leaders of the coalition government have sent a clear and positive message to the Kenyan people that the implementation of a new constitution is critical to achieving political reform.鈥�
The US government has spent nearly $1 million in helping Kenyans register to vote in the upcoming referendum on the Constitution, now scheduled for Aug. 5, 2010. It has also spent $500,000 printing copies of the draft Constitution to be handed out on street corners, for Kenyans to familiarize themselves with the document.
Abortion issue rallies local 海角大神s
Yet local 海角大神s say the provision for abortion, even in emergency circumstances, is antithetical to their beliefs. And they have received a kind of hallelujah chorus from likeminded conservative 海角大神 groups in the US, including Rev. Pat Robertson鈥檚 group, the American Center for Law and Justice.
"It opens the door to abortion on demand, which is why 海角大神 organizations who are pro-life are so opposed to that provision," Jordan Sekulow, international director for ACLJ, told the Associated Press in an interview earlier this year.
In Nairobi, and throughout the country, religious activists have started a leaflet campaign to winnow away support for the draft constitution. One letter, signed by senior Pentacostalist church leaders, says, 鈥渨e shall not endorse a constitution that has grossly overlooked justice and concerns persistently raised but ignored by the review organs for the warning in the Bible is very clearly recorded in Exodus 21:2 鈥� 'Do not follow the crowd in wrong doing. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.' 鈥�
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