800 years on, Magna Carta still relevant

NAIROBI: While in London last week, I attended an exhibition on the Magna Carta to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the ancient document. I was able to see at one venue the four surviving manuscripts of the 1215 'Charter of Runnymede' as it was first called, written in Medieval Latin.

The Charter was issued by King John, a notorious tyrant, taking executive and sometimes arbitrary decisions, often justified on the basis that the king was above the law. It was a practical solution to a political crisis.