Open letter to CS Mudavadi from the Diaspora

Dear Honourable Musalia Mudavadi,

I write this open letter in strong support of your recent call for a constitutional review and a cost-effective referendum to be held alongside the 2027 polls.

Your intervention comes at a decisive moment in Kenya’s constitutional journey — one marked not by political convenience, but by a looming legal and constitutional crisis that threatens the very legitimacy of the next election.

Now, as the country approaches what you have aptly described as a Referendum Moment, there is a glaring political omission that must be confronted head-on, the continued exclusion of Kenyans in the Diaspora.

With over three million citizens living and working abroad, the Diaspora is not a fringe constituency. It is one of Kenya’s largest economic pillars, remitting hundreds of billions of shillings annually — funds that keep households afloat, stabilise the shilling, and are routinely factored into national budgets. Yet politically, these citizens remain invisible, convenient only when their money is needed.

Today, Kenyans abroad are expected to channel their grievances through civil servants and diplomatic missions. While these officers play an administrative role, they have neither the political mandate nor the authority to challenge policy, confront host governments, or demand accountability on behalf of Kenyans abroad. As a result, Diaspora issues are routinely sanitised, postponed, or buried altogether.

The consequences are tragic and real. Kenyans continue to die abroad under suspicious circumstances with little diplomatic urgency. Rising extremist and fascist movements in parts of the world have exposed Kenyans to racism, exploitation, and insecurity, yet their voices are absent from Parliament. These are political problems requiring political representation—not polite consular notes.

It is therefore legally indefensible and politically dishonest for the Kenyan state to continue legislating, budgeting, and making foreign-policy decisions that directly affect the Diaspora without representation. One cannot tax, count, and rely on citizens economically while excluding them politically.

The Constitution should therefore be amended to allow Diaspora representation either through direct election or political party nomination, with direct election being the ideal and ultimate democratic route. However, realism and timing must guide implementation. While secure electronic and remote voting systems—clearly the most suitable mechanism for Diaspora participation—represent the long-term solution, it would be unwise to rush their deployment ahead of the 2027 elections.

Given the time constraints and the risks associated with untested electronic voting at scale, the most prudent transitional arrangement for 2027 would be the nomination of four Diaspora representatives. Under this interim framework, two representatives would sit in the National Assembly and two in the Senate. To ensure political balance and national legitimacy, the ruling party would nominate two representatives, the minority party one representative, and one additional representative would be nominated to ensure inclusivity.

This transitional model would correspond to the proposed four Diaspora constituencies — Africa; Europe; Americas; and Middle East & Asia—while the country prepares for full constituency-based elections in subsequent cycles once electronic voting systems are mature, secure, and trusted.

Kenyans in the Diaspora have not been spectators. Over the last two years, organised political pressure has been applied through the Diaspora Technical Working Advocacy Group and allied formations. Engagements have targeted the President, the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Judicial and Legal Affairs Committees of both Houses, the IEBC, parliamentary leadership teams, and the Principal Secretary in charge of Diaspora Affairs.

Oversight institutions, including both Houses of Parliament, have been lobbied. Media houses have been engaged to force the conversation into the public arena and to hold power to account. Governance and reform actors such as the Centre for Multiparty Democracy, the Law Society of Kenya leadership, and Katiba Institute have also been brought into this struggle.

-The Secretary General Wiper Patriotic Front, Diaspora Affairs