On air: Does a new constitution change anything?
| 10:47 UK time, Friday, 27 August 2010
There's been a lot of in Kenya today as President Kibaki signed the country's new constitution into law.
Approved by a , with 67% voting yes, the document is the product of 20 years of debate in the country.
You can (if you have time on your hands: 181 pages!)
But can a piece (or a stack!) of paper really change the way a country operates?
The key changes the Constitution makes are to reduce the President's powers, devolve power to the country's regions, create a Senate, Judicial Commission and a Citizen's Bill of Rights.
It aims to get away from the political conditions that led to the in Kenya in 2007.
The "yes" campaigners in the referendum didn't hold back when talking about the significance of the decision; Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi, who headed the campaign, said ...
Saying that we have won is truly an understatement. Kenya has been truly reborn. This is the rebirth of a second Republic of Kenya.
Is it? I've already been chatting to some of you on about this; Moses Modi wrote us a message about his scepticism ...
We shud know better than to think that a new set of laws is wat Kenya needs... We need an overhaul of our mindset 2wards social justice, cultural values n our attitude towards human ryts among other things so as to make meaning out of this sheet of paper...Â
It's not only Kenya where this has been a debate. in 2005. Zimbabwe is .
The United States is . The UK is famous for not having one written down ( argues that's because Britain has been "too stable for too long").
Do you think a Constitution makes a big difference to a country? Is it a distraction from actually solving the bigger issues?
