Inclusive law review recipe for needed progress

The third US President Thomas Jefferson once wrote: “I know no safe depository of the ultimate powers of the society but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not 
to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by education. This is the true corrective of abuses of constitutional power.”

Ten years since the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution, it is important to look backward and forward to see where we are holding and what more needs to be done.

The 2010 Constitution was written to meet a need. Drafted and voted on with the scars of the massive violence only a few years prior still showing, it was meant to heal a devastated nation.

However, some might argue that it was more of a plaster or bandage for a seeping wound, and not the medicine needed to truly cure the ills of our society.

While the Constitution received a two-thirds majority, it can be argued that the people were not part of the process and many of us voted along party lines.

Ten years later and there is talk of amending our Constitution once again. 

This is not unusual. Every society which has a Constitution is constantly amending and modifying it. No Constitution was written in stone and is infallible. It is not the word of God and must be constantly changed to meet the needs of the people and society.

Nevertheless, the current process for possible constitutional changes are certainly unprecedented on our continent and possibly anywhere in the world.

The current constitutional process has been almost entirely people led.

From the handshake, through the Building Bridges Initiative, the process has involved a presentation of a unity of purpose by the political echelons to provide the necessary blank slate to the people.

The outline or skeleton was sketched by President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga through the nine points; ethnic antagonism, lack of a national ethos, inclusivity, devolution, divisive 
elections, security, corruption, shared prosperity and responsibility.

Then it was left to the people to add in ‘the meat’ and present their ideas, concepts and recommendations for change and progress.

Through the BBI process and its full transparency at every stage, the people became enlightened and educated that it was them who wielded control over the constitutional process. It is clear from the crowds which greeted the traveling BBI task force that this was a moment the people had hungered for. They grasped this opportunity with open arms and the process was built from the bottom up.

The resulting interim report was a great opportunity to learn, if it needed restating, that Kenyans are a highly sophisticated people who truly grasp the challenges that face them on a daily basis.

They have understood the checks and balances needed for a functioning government, the necessity of a strong and structured opposition, and how a widening of the executive allows more Kenyans to feel represented. 

The Kenyan people have said enough to ethnic antagonism and division. We seek unity. We want to feel change.

On the other side, those who dismiss this process, are dismissing the people. They want the decision-making powers taken from the Kenyan people and returned to a small elite.

This is not the way of President Uhuru. He saw, perhaps before most, that for this constitutional process to succeed it must be done in a more concerted manner. It must listen without talking, and heed without dictating.

The last constitutional process was handed to the people in a simple yes or no vote. There was little input from the people before their chance to vote. It was a fait accompli.

This process will have a longer lasting effect. It meets the needs of the decision-makers’ employers. The people. 

Every society needs to reassess where it is and where it needs to go. Kenya is no different. If we do it correct this time, and we are certainly on the right track, there will be no need to revisit these big questions and challenges for many years to come. 

These constitutional amendments will become the vehicle for a more stable, prosperous and unified Kenya, because we, the people, will have chosen them.

Mr Leo is a public policy analyst. Mylesleo19@gmail.com