By Peter Mwibanda – NAIROBI (IP)
Fifteen years after its adoption, the 2010 Constitution that promised devolution, justice and an end to impunity lies eroded under the weight of power politics.
Critics say it has become a political prop invoked when convenient and ignored when inconvenient.
Under the Kenya Kwanza administration, analysts warn, it is being weaponized.
“Governance has become a performance, and the Constitution is a prop,” said a constitutional lawyer. “We are seeing selective compliance and aggressive disregard.”
Despite its promise of inclusive governance, Kenya has not implemented the two-thirds gender rule.
Women hold just 23.7 percent of National Assembly seats and 31.3 percent of Senate seats much far below the constitutional minimum.
Parliament remains in violation despite repeated court orders.
The Constitution’s ideals of accountability and transparency have also been trampled.
Scandals from ghost hospitals to opaque appointments expose how the law is treated as an obstacle rather than a safeguard.
Public debt has soared to KSh 11.5 trillion as of May 2025 , a 10.3 percent increase over the previous year.
The debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 67.4 percent, well above safe levels.
Kenya now spends nearly a third of government revenues on interest payments while growth projections have been cut to 4.5 percent.
Kenya’s score on the 2024 Corruption Perceptions Index is 32 out of 100, ranking 121st out of 180 countries.
Despite repeated promises, progress against graft remains slow.
Institutions meant to check executive power are being undermined through budget cuts, political interference and intimidation.
Whistleblowers face threats. The media, once seen as a pillar of accountability, is increasingly suppressed.
This erosion is not limited to the current administration; successive governments have failed the Constitution’s vision. Kenya Kwanza is intensifying the trend by wielding impunity as state policy.
The betrayal is visible;from unchecked borrowing and extra-judicial killings to stalled county allocations and youth exclusion, the Constitution’s spirit is under siege.
At 15, Kenya’s Constitution is not irrelevant it is betrayed. The law remains intact but its soul is compromised.
If Kenya is to recover its promise, citizens must reclaim the Constitution — in courts, in civic spaces at the ballot and within every institution.
