Of Oranges and Bananas: The 2005 Kenya Referendum on the Constitution

On 21 November 2005, a referendum on a proposed new constitution was held in Kenya. As&nbspmembers of a group of international observers recruited by the diplomatic missions in the country,&nbspthe authors observed the voting and counting in Manyatta and South Imenti constituencies in Eastern&nbspProvince. This report summarizes the authors'' key observations in a wider perspective, including the&nbspconstitutional context of the referendum, the immediate pre-referendum period and the&nbspdevelopments in its immediate aftermath.&nbspIn addition to the authors'' own observations, they draw on other available sources of information, including a&nbspseries of interviews in Nairobi in the week prior to the referendum.