African leaders join ceremony for new constitution
Friday 27 August 2010
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EmailAfrican leaders have joined thousands of Kenyan citizens to mark the signing of the country's new constitution three weeks after voters overwhelming approved it in a referendum.
President Mwai Kibaki signed the new charter into law at a colourful ceremony in Nairobi's Uhuru Park that was accorded full military honours including a 21-gun salute.
The fundamental law decentralises the political system by putting greater checks and balances on the premier's powers, bolstering citizens' rights and tackling the legacy of British imperialism and post-colonial cronyism by paving the way for extensive land reform.
The government and parliament must now implement the ambitious document that requires, among other things, the formation of a supreme court and a senate.
It also demands that the country's judiciary be vetted to rid it of corrupt or incompetent judges.
The Sunday Nation opined in an editorial that the new charter "begins to dismantle the structures of neocolonial privilege."
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