       The leaders say the law is “a lesser evil” and its rejection would be equal to “throwing away a baby with its bath water”, while the current church leaders are warning that it entrenches abortion and Islamic courts as well as limiting religious freedom.
       “The few clergy who are opposing the proposed law should seek expert interpretation of the clauses they are claiming are contentious,” retired Anglican archbishop, David Gitari, said on July 26 from his home in Embu, eastern Kenya. “It’s a pity that some clergy have ganged up to mislead the people about the proposed law. Such priests, I am afraid, may never see the kingdom of God.”
       Kenyans go to the polls tomorrow (Aug. 4) for a referendum on a constitution aimed at replacing the one that has been in place since the East Africa country gained its independence from Britain in 1963.
       Supporters of the new law say it will rein in presidential powers and beef up the liberties of ordinary Kenyans.
       Timothy Njoya, a retired Presbyterian Church of East Africa cleric, and retired Anglican Bishop Peter Njenga have taken the same view as Gitari and see the new law as a reward for law reform campaigns they have led.
       “The position taken by some clergy against the review process is regrettable because it is the citizens who shall suffer if the process does not produce any fruit,” said a July 22 statement, which Njenga signed.
       Opinion polls show the law is likely to gain more than 50 per cent support in the referendum.
       “My own instinct tells me we’d have a 70 per cent vote for the ‘Yes’. If it gets anything less than 70 per cent, it will not be a bouncing baby; it will have many infections,” Njoya was quoted as saying in the Daily Nation newspaper on January 25.
       The retired clerics’ stance goes against the position of leaders of most Kenyan churches who have declared they will mobilize for a “no” vote, unless the contentious issues are resolved before the referendum.
