And Kenyans generally echo the position of the Parliamentary review committee chaired by Energy Minister Raila Odinga – that a full new Constitution prepared by the Ghai commission should be in place by December and before the next General Election.

Of those interviewed for the Nation poll – which was held on Saturday and Sunday, April 6 and 7 – 56.3 per cent believed Prof Yash Pal Ghai and his team should be given more time, compared with 42.4 per cent who said the commission should not be given extra time.

Of those who wanted the Ghai team to have more time, 26.3 per cent thought they should have until December this year, the deadline recommended by Prof Ghai himself and supported by the Raila committee.

Some thought the commission should be extended until March 31 next year – a date supported by 11.8 per cent – and yet others backed a completion date of June 30, 2003, in line with the wishes of some of the commissioners themselves.

But the majority of those asked, who favoured a December deadline, were in line with the views of Prof Ghai and, in turn, the Raila committee members although, of course, the poll was completed three days before the Raila team met to discuss the issue. The MPs were unaware of the poll findings when they reached their conclusion.

Even if the Ghai commission could not finish its work by December, 69.9 per cent of those interviewed - a statistical cross-section of Kenyans, including all age groups, both sexes and each province - believed that the life of the current Parliament should not be extended until the review was completed.

Only 28.7 per cent wanted the House to remain in session until the work was done.

Another key issue which has led to countrywide debate has been about whether the General Election should be held under a new and comprehensive Constitution initiated by the Ghai commission, under the current Constitution, or whether Kenya could go to the polls after only minimal reforms to the current Constitution had been put in place.

The poll addressed these issues, too, with a clear majority - 66.8 per cent - favouring a new Constitution in place before the Election was held.

A comparatively small number, 23 per cent, wanted the Election held under the current constitution. 

If the Election were to be held with only minimum reforms in place, what should those reforms be? That was one question put to our statistical sample of Kenyans, and the six most important reforms were given as:

• Reduce Presidential powers (43.3 per cent);
• Make the Electoral Commission of Kenya more independent (22.5 per cent);
• Ensure equality between the sexes (16.7 per cent);
• Provide free and compulsory education (14.3 per cent);
• Bring in the Bill to fight corruption (12.2 per cent);
• Make the Judiciary independent (11.1 per cent).

• Reforms to provide jobs (9.2 per cent);
• An end to personal insecurity (7.1 per cent);
• Free health services (4.7 per cent);
• Scrap the Provincial Administration (5.2 per cent);
• Presidential term to be reduced (3.9 per cent);
• Presidential term to be increased (3.6 per cent).

The last question to be asked by the Nation pollsters was 'What sort of Government would you prefer? And here our respondents split almost down the middle with 46.2 per cent saying they wanted to keep the system we have now - one with a powerful executive President - while 41.6 per cent would like to try a new system suggested for Kenya, with a largely ceremonial Head of State and Government by a Cabinet driven by a Prime Minister.

Yet oddly, although a slim majority of those asked wanted to keep a powerful President, the single biggest reform wanted also concerned the Head of State - a reduction of the Presidential powers.