LAPA Seminar
Christina Murray, LAPA Fellow & University of Cape Town
Constitution-Making in Kenya: Politicians, Elites, Experts and the People
April 27, 2009, 4:30-6 PM, Kerstetter Room, Marx Hall
We hope you will join us for a LAPA Seminar with Christina Murray, a 2008-2009 LAPA Fellow and Professor of Human Rights and Constitutional Law at the University of Cape Town. The title of her talk is "Constitution-Making in Kenya: Politicians, Elites, Experts and The People." Her commentator will be Jennifer Widner, professor of politics and international affairs and director of the Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace & Justice.
If you are attending the seminar, you may pick up hard copies at the LAPA offices (416A Robertson Hall) – or email jrivkin@princeton.edu for other options. The paper will NOT be posted to the website.
Professor Murray writes: In 2005, after a long and intense period of constitution-making which included an impressive campaign to engage the public, Kenyans rejected a proposed constitution in a referendum. The referendum divided the country deeply. Following that, the announcement of the December 2007 election results led to widespread violence and over 1 000 deaths. The settlement that was reached between the two presidential candidates and their parties in February 2008 included an agreement to restart the constitutional review. To that end the Review of the Constitution of Kenya Act was adopted in December 2008. This Act changes the approach to constitution making considerably. Politicians rather than the people now take central stage. Under the Act, a Committee of Experts is to start the process, focusing on the issues that divided the country in the referendum. The National Assembly must then settle these 'contentious' issues and, finally, the new constitution is put to the people in a referendum. The process got under way in March this year. It is taking place in an extremely unstable political climate with a fragile Grand Coalition in government. The author of the paper is a member of the Committee of Experts. It is, of course, too early to say anything definitive about the process. Instead, the paper sketches the process and tentatively explores some of the issues that currently face the Committee of Experts and that will confront the politicians and public in due course.
Christina Murray is a Fellow in the Program in Law and Public Affairs, and is a member of the Committee of Experts constituted under the Constitution of Kenya Review Act of 2008. She is also Professor of Human Rights and Constitutional Law at the University of Cape Town. Between 1994 and 1996, she served on a panel of seven experts advising the South African Constitutional Assembly in drafting South Africa's 'final' Constitution. Since then, most of her work has focused on constitution-making, constitutional design and the implementation of new constitutions, particularly, South Africa's. In South Africa most of this work has been with the national Treasury (implementing the fiscal elements of the new decentralized system of government), and with the national Parliament and nine provincial legislatures. Work elsewhere includes Kenya, Indonesia, Kyrgyzstan, Southern Sudan, Bolivia and Nepal.
Jennifer Widner is professor of politics and international affairs and director of the Mamdouha S. Bobst Center for Peace & Justice. Professor Widner holds a degree in international management and a Ph.D. in political science from Yale University. Before joining the Princeton faculty in 2004-05, she taught at Harvard and the University of Michigan. Her research focuses on problems of democratization, law and development, with special attention to sub-Saharan Africa. Her most recent book is Building the Rule of Law (W.W. Norton), a study of courts and law in Africa and other developing country contexts. She has published articles on a variety of topics in a number of publications, such as Democratization, Comparative Politics, Comparative Political Studies, Journal of Development Studies, Current History, Daedalus and the American Journal of International Law. She currently is completing a global project on constitution writing and conflict resolution.
