Kenya Rejects Constitution Democratically

Mobile telephony also seems to be an important part of the landmark vote. The Electoral Commission of Kenya and local media houses are sending short text messages (sms) to subscribers for breaking news about the polling.
Many of the voters spoke to also said that they are in touch with relatives by mobile phone on how the voting process is proceeding in upcountry provinces.

The good news is that in a largely open and fair referendum the voters of Kenya rejected the new constitution proposed by the President elected to reform the nation. Remember before you go streaming off the precipice with the lemmings that democracy is by it's very nature difficult and that decisions in a truly checked and balanced system are hard to come by. That's how democracry is supposed to work. If is was easy, it would be a dictatorship.

Now, the quote above suggests that mobile telephones and text messaging were used by supporters on both sides, interesting development.

Bloggers post their thoughts worldwide, i searched thousands who were following the impact last night, very interesting development.

Reuters very "official" news coverage, frankly is no where near as interesting as the bloggers who are predicting everything from an overthrow of the government to a peaceful 2007 election for a real reformation government.

Globe and Mail Editorial from July 2005, link to today's coverage
In the heady weeks after a new government took power in Kenya in late 2003, a startling thing happened all over the country. Ordinary Kenyans, newly released from the brutal 24-year reign of Daniel arap Moi, began making citizen’s arrests. When police officers stopped them and demanded bribes, standard practice during the Moi years, people turned them in.
They had good reason to think they were living in a new Kenya: The government of Mwai Kibaki moved swiftly in its first weeks in office, promising a new constitution within 100 days. Corrupt judges were suspended. A brand new team of prosecutors was hired to investigate all shady dealings.

Mr. Kibaki said there would be a truth-and-reconciliation commission, to unearth the facts about corruption and abuse of power in the past. He appointed John Githongo the crusading head of the Kenyan branch of the watchdog organization Transparency International, as his personal adviser on corruption, positioning him right in the heart of government. Donor countries, who pour money into this largely peaceful East African country, were delighted, while ordinary Kenyans indulged in great expectations.

Two and a half years on, those expectations have been thoroughly dashed. “We were handed over from the crocodile to the hyena,” Maina Kiai, chairman of the Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights, said with a bleak little laugh.
There is no truth commission. Progress on the constitution led to riots yesterday in Nairobi — Kenyan security forces battled protesters in a second day of unrest touched off by moves to protect the President’s power in an overhaul of the country’s constitution. The Moi millions in European accounts, which the new government once promised to retrieve, are no longer mentioned. The corruption squad has managed to nail only a handful of minor bureaucrats, while cabinet ministers implicated in corrupt deals sail around town in their Mercedes staff cars. And the police still demand bribes; no one dares a citizen’s arrest any more.