The embattled Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC) is facing fresh doubts over its capacity to collect and collate public views before the forthcoming elections despite getting the crucial support of the parliamentary constitutional committee late last week.

CKRC chairman, Prof Yash Pal Ghai in an interview last week conceded the commission was
running behind time. "We didn't go out in good time to collect public opinion from the constituencies. My earlier proposal was to start the process on February 4. But for reasons I can't go into now, we lost two precious months," he observed. 

The collection of public views will now kick-off on April 17. 

But Prof Ghai remained upbeat, saying: "My view still stands that it would be good if we finish the process before the elections so that we give Kenyans an electoral system they will consider free and fair". 

Major differences persist over how much extension time the commission, constituted in October 2000, requires
since the announcement by its own task force that it could not meet the October 4 deadline.

Prof Ghai prefers an extension of only two months (till December), while a section of the commission is adamant that the exercise can only be completed by June 2003, with some accusing Prof Ghai of giving "false hope" to Kenyans.

The differences were only sharpened late last week by the decision by Mr Raila Odinga, the chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Constitutional Reform that established the CKRC, to support Prof Ghai's December deadline.

Four commissioners immediately accused Prof Ghai of giving unilateral assurances to the committee and compromising the independence of the commission. The four, who also called for the chairman's resignation, were Prof Hastings Okoth Ogendo, Dr Charles Maranga, Mrs Phoebe Asiyo and Mr Keriako Tobiko, who had earlier made the "false hopes" remark.