Citizens have a right to resist tyranny and hold their leaders to account

There is a sub-textual conversation about the role of government in Kenya today. The immediate impetus for this conversation — that isn’t explicit — is the normative identity of the new Constitution. At the heart of the conversation is a simple and historical tension — the relationship between the state and the citizen.

The state, now under the control of Jubilee — seems to think that its writ to rule is larger than its obligations to the citizen. Jubilee isn’t the first party to conflate political power, born of an election, with its right to rule without restraint. This is precisely the malady that the 2010 Constitution sought to cure — state hubris. Methinks that Jubilee’s overarching philosophy is wrong-headed. Let me elaborate.