It’s a new day, the sun is shining, we’ve made it!

This is it! Finally, after protracted struggles dating back at least two decades, if not more, Kenya has a new Constitution.

Kenyans voted in high numbers — with a turnout of just over 70 per cent of all registered voters — to say Yes.

The statutory requirement of 50 per cent plus one and 25 per cent in at least five provinces — was easily surpassed, with just under 70 per cent of Kenyans who voted endorsing and legitimising the new Constitution.

It is a new day for Kenya. A new day. A new day.

Polling, counting and tallying was, by and large, peaceful.

And, this being Kenya, they were not without their funny side as well.

The Interim Independent Electoral Commission signalled its determination to get polling materials out and results in by hook or by crook — or rather, by any and all means, including boats (one of which leaked and capsized and had to be followed by another) and too, Kenya’s long-suffering donkeys!

The Provincial Administration ensured that Kenyans exercised their patriotic duty to vote soberly — literally so in at least two areas by ordering the closure of all bars until well after the 5 pm voting deadline.

Which, however, did not stop one presiding officer from having to be replaced for being drunk.

But such little blips aside, Kenyans showed up early — with most polling station lines being long in the morning and fairly easy to manage by early afternoon.

The electronic transmission of results from individual polling stations went smoothly too.

And tallying went well, with the generally expectantly celebratory mood at the national tallying centre at the Bomas of Kenya being marred by only two things: An early accusation of rigging and a statement to the effect that the National Council of Churches of Kenya rejected the results — a statement quickly, however, refuted by the Archbishop of the Anglican Church.

And tension over the manner in which the polling station results were being released was eventually resolved in a mediation meeting between representatives of the Yes and No campaigns together with the IIEC.

All credit here goes to the IIEC — which handled both potential disruptions with calm and decorum, acutely aware of the possible effects of not doing so on the ground.

Particularly given reports coming in from Kericho of roadblocks being erected and, further north, threats against the Turkana from the Pokot for having voted “wrongly.”