KENYA: NO NEED FOR KADHI COURTS IN CONSTITUTION

From: sang kip

The independent Kadhi Courts applied to the ten mile coastal strip and it was about protecting and securing the rights of minority Muslim then.  Why do we have it now when the draft has bills of rights that guarantee protection of all minorities?

Why favor one religion and enshrine its institutions in the constitution? Doesn’t our draft say Kenya shall be secular?

I wonder why matters of religion should be included in a constitution especially during these times when religious radical fundamentalism threatens all major religions.

Catholic and NCCK are justified: The constitution should be secular but guarantee freedom of worship and association.

Let Muslim have their Kadhi Courts but do not enshrine them in a constitution that should be secular.  No matter how their inclusion in the draft is defended they should not be part of the constitution. The issue is not about Islam but rather equality of all religions before the supreme law of the land.

Vilifying Christians on this is not the way forward.

4 thoughts on “KENYA: NO NEED FOR KADHI COURTS IN CONSTITUTION

  1. Pingback: KENYA: NO NEED FOR KADHI COURTS IN CONSTITUTION at Jaluo Africa … | the world cares.com

  2. Odhiambo Anyango

    So the genesis of kadhi courts is an accomodation agreed to at some negotiation. Excluding this in the new constitution will amount to depriving the intended beneficiaries of their negotiated and acquired right. The draft constitution is not completely secular. I have read an inclusion of one nation under god somewhere. I do not believe that retaining the kadhi courts in place is hurtful to the country in anyway. I think my christian colleagues are making a mountain out of a mole hill. The best way is let’s take it to the referendum. If it is that offensive to the interest of the nation then vote no. It comes down to individual conscience.

  3. Arreddo Nyang

    We keep on wasting time over non issues….

    Cant someone post the statement/clause of the Kadhi’s court here at jaluo.com so that we know exactly what we debate about.

    People just argue over non issues based on heresay.

  4. jr alila

    Kenya, you are about to be victim again of ethnic strife unless you wake up! The Quartet of Ethnicity, Religion, Land and Party politics have raised their heads again, just when the sanest among us thought that we were about to take a walk to the New Constituion Referendum, a document many have died dreaming about. A constitutional renewel is a sign of national maturity, but it is also a sign that our independence constitution had leaks, bad leaks, that, if not sealed and the boat rebuilt anew, could sink us as a nation.

    Kenya has many religions and it is not practicable to write a constitution that meets all their individual needs, but it is possible to give Kenyans, of all faiths, a political document that promises freedom of worship, which, to me, means “living one’s faith” without being a detriment to other Kenyans of other faiths! The Draft Document does that.

    It is not possible to legislate on land, so perfectly that mega-land owners (not corporations) and the landless, like me, are agreed. It is okay to legislate how much land an individual (not a corporation) can own anywhere in the nation. A nation can not survive on an agenda that aims to achieve regional ethnic purity. Who can remind us about this fact when leaders have recoiled back to their ethnic cocoons?

    Kenya as a free nation is younger than the two main religions, Islam and Christianity. We have to remember this before we play with religious fire to sort out Land and Reproductive issues. Who can remind us about this when political parties and politicians are betting their odds on a failed constitutional referendum under the imagined safety of their tribal houses?

    Kenyans: Wake up! You are on the chopping block! Fellow Kenyan, your VOTE is your VOICE and SHIELD! No roof is going to fall over your head when the YES VOTE carries the day!

    The wise are a hopeful lot, they walk a step at a time, with one eye to the past and the other eye to the future. Kenyans, move on. we know the current document is a disappointment.

    Those of us who bathe in crocodile-infested rivers know that it is not wise to bask on the rock where you have bathed! Kenya, the demons of Political Party, Tribe, Land and now Religious Faith are conspiring to dispatch you the way of “that nation” as you bask in your not-so-glorious past.

    JR Alila

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