In 2001, the Yash Ghai and Ooki Ombaka led the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC) went round the country collecting views on the Kenya people wanted reflected in the proposed new constitution. After visiting every corner of the country, they came back dejected. They published their interim report in which they identified four issues that characterised Kenya’s complaints about the state of the nation.
Kenyans from every corner of the country, from Gatundu to Kabarnet felt excluded, distant from their government, disempowered and the victims of inequity. These four issues were to define the drafts of the Constitution that followed; the “people’s choice” CKRC draft in 2002, the Bomas draft in 2004, the 2005 Wako draft, the various harmonized drafts in 2008/09 and the final Constitution that was adopted in 2010.