Kibwana: We can only help ourselves by renegotiating the 2010 constitution

Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana with Wiper leader Kalonzo Musyoka. [Photo byBeverlyne Musili/Standard]

It took a protracted peoples’ struggle from 1989 to 2010 to retire Kenya’s 1963 independence Constitution which by 1981 had been converted into a one-party Constitution.  The 2010 social contract has been hailed as progressive; it has no doubt expanded Kenya’s democratic space. However, its operationalization has revealed gaps which have undermined the country’s potential for political and socio-economic

After two seasons of electoral contest in 2013 and 2017, the new Constitution has been cited as a major contributor to electoral injustice.  Customarily, new constitutions are usually reviewed after a reasonable lifespan. Kenya’s seven-year-old Constitution is therefore ripe for renegotiation.