Citizens in a democracy don’t owe loyalty to the President

It's critical for a constitutional commission to distinguish between loyalty to the republic – by which I mean the people of Kenya – and fealty or subservience to the head of state. Citizens in a democracy don't owe loyalty to persons in power. The reverse is true – it's the people in power who owe loyalty to the people. That's because the people in power are servants, not masters, of citizens. The people in power don't have any authority of their own. Their power is donated – delegated to them – by the people. That's why the people have the inherent power to withdraw their delegated authority to the state. Unfortunately, many public officials labour under the delusion of being overlords.

In a democracy, the people are "citizens" but they are "subjects" in a dictatorship or monarchy. In 2010, Kenya transitioned from an imperial executive to a devolved democratic state. Under the pre-2010 constitution, Kenya was a republic only in name. The normative edifice and structures of the state pivoted on a culture of dictatorship and a legacy of an imperial executive. In that constitutional dispensation and political culture, loyalty – not citizenship – were paramount. The 2010 Constitution changed all that – citizens now owe loyalty to the republic through their own conscience. The head of state has been de-centered as the fulcrum of society.