For constitutional review commissioners who have been taking submissions from around the country, the responses of many ordinary people have been an eye opener. 

For them, constitutional review is not just some abstract, high-brow exercise, but a project that should address their most basic and pressing needs. 

The Nation poll in fact confirms what the Commission has encountered in the field. While issues such as presidential term limits, separation of powers, devolution, land issues, an independent judiciary, and the political and government systems feature highly as priorities, there are several issues listed as preferences that would not, strictly speaking, be constitutional matters. 

The most important reforms needed, according to the survey, were reduction of presidential powers (43.3 per cent); independence of the Electoral Commission (22.5 per cent) gender equality (16.7 per cent); free and compulsory education (14.3 per cent); enactment of a corruption Bill (12.2 percent) and an independent judiciary (11.1 per cent).

The other issues raised which were in single digits include unemployment, insecurity, children's rights, scrapping of the provincial administration; government funding of political parties and provision of free health services. 

Some critical constitutional issues that featured pretty low on the list include limitation of MPs terms (1.5 per cent); local government reform (3.7 per cent); political neutrality of the civil service (0.9 per cent); press freedom (2.2 per cent) and freedom of speech (1.2 per cent).

Some interesting responses were for the scrapping of the police force (1.8 per cent) and the Chiefs Act (1.3 per cent). Others listed reduction of the presidential term (3.9 per cent) and increase of the term (3.6 per cent).

While a proposal such as the scrapping of the police force may sound ridiculous, it in fact goes to the very core of what ordinary people see as their priorities. If the security apparatus is generally viewed as an inefficient and repressive institution, then surely the Constitution ought to take care of it.

Thus hearings might be dominated by people detailing the woes they have suffered at the hands of officialdom, the poor returns from agriculture and unemployment.