Most counties are economically unviable and foster ethnicity

Kenya’s 2010 Constitution is one of the most progressive in the world. It’s citizen-empowering. It devolves and deconcentrates power from traditional foci. It was a deliberative document arrived after a national catharsis. It was participatory. It’s a document born of bitter experiences and disappointments with the state. The basic logic of the 2010 Constitution was to defang the state and subject it to citizen control. But constitutions are not unlike other man-made documents.

They are creatures of political compromise. That’s why they are imperfect and suffer from any number of deficits. Kenya’s 2010 national charter isn’t different. It’s an opportune time to review it after nearly a decade of implementation. The Kenyatta-Odinga handshake is a starting point. I will focus only on one aspect of constitutional reform in this piece. My concern today is exclusively with devolution. Let me make it clear that I am fan of democracy.