Angelina Adhiambo is too busy trying to feed her family on 50 shillings a day to care about Kenya?s rejection of a government-backed constitution. As city pundits settle in their armchairs to analyze the fallout from this week?s vote which handed President Kibaki a defeat, Adhiambo wonders what all the fuss was about. A tomato seller from Kibera, she says the millions of shillings poured into the protracted exercise of drafting and promoting a new charter would have been better used to save her from a life of squalor in east Africa?s biggest slum.

Critics say the government squandered vast amounts of state funds publishing millions of copies of the proposed charter, chartering helicopters to fly ministers to rallies and inviting various sectors of the community at the president?s State House. ?I blame the politicians because here we are sleeping on empty stomachs as they waste money on a constitution the people have rejected,? Adhiambo said, washing clothes at her shack.

Like many barely literate slum voters, the mother of six did not read the 197-page document, but relied on political leaders to explain the draft to her. ?There?s nothing I can tell you about the constitution,»? added fish seller Rosie Amondi Orege, turning over silvery pieces of tilapia in a sizzling pan. ?I was following other people?s direction.?

<B>Waiting for miracles</B>

Up to 800,000 of the capital?s poorest people live in Kibera, a ramshackle settlement of tin-roof shacks, cobbled together with mud, scrap metal and cardboard. Adhiambo?s despair was echoed by many in Kibera, where piped water and flush toilets are fantasy for most, and barefoot children dart along dirt paths nimbly hopping over trenches clogged with steaming sewage. ?We don?t expect the government to feed each and every person, but people need healthcare, education and economic development more than a bad constitution,? said Collins Oloo.

The 26 year-old electrician said he felt especially bitter because his name had disappeared from the local voting register ? leaving him unable to take part in the landmark referendum. Bernard Titus Osawa, 31, also did not vote, saying he preferred to mind his little battery recharging business than shut shop to cast his ballot.?I need to put something on the table at the end of the day for my children. A new constitution is only for rich people in Kenya,? he said. Asked what his priorities were, he said: ?My children?s schooling. When it comes to that, I ask God to give me a miracle.?

<B>Katie NGUYEN</B>

KIBAKI?S PERFORMANCE RATED

<B>Kenyans reject charter</B>

■ President Mwai Kibaki suffered a humiliating referendum defeat on Tuesday at the hands of voters disillusioned by his failure to keep promises to end graft and tribalism. The overwhelming ?No? vote sent jubilant anti-Kibaki crowds dancing into the streets and may bring a major realignment of Kenya?s political forces before a 2007 election. But critics said the new text failed to curb those powers, a touchy issue for Kenya?s 32 million people fractured by years of so-called ?Big Man? rule. A 2004 draft created a powerful new prime minister?s post, but that was watered down in the final version, with the president able to appoint and dismiss a prime minister whose main job would be to lead government matters in parliament. The referendum also became a vote on Kibaki?s performance in office since sweeping to victory in a 2002 election on a wave of resentment at poverty and corruption under the 24-year rule of his predecessor Daniel arap Moi. Many Kenyans say he has failed to create enough jobs or end graft. ?We were voting to show our frustrations, we were rebelling against the government?s empty promises,? Yonah Opiyo, 23, said amid singing ?No? supporters in Nairobi. The ?No? camp won 57 percent of 6 million votes cast, official results showed. Kibaki had staked his political prestige on the new charter, which was to have replaced one dating back to independence from Britain in 1963. On Tuesday he put a brave face on defeat and praised Kenyans for voting peacefully. ?This is a major leap in the consolidation of democratic governance. The people have made a choice, and as I have always said, my government would respect the choice of the people.? In a statement, Kibaki gave no clear signal on the future of the constitutional project but said it was now time for his government to focus on development matters. Professor Idha Salim, the first vice-chairman of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission ? the body tasked with spearheading an overhaul of the charter ? said leaders should go back to the drawing board as soon as possible. ?The way forward is for all parties to appreciate that Kenyans need a new constitution to be completed quickly,? he told Reuters.