Sixteen years after Kenyans approved a new constitutional order, the document still stands as one of the country’s most important reforms. But recurring gaps in county accountability, service delivery, public participation and institutional...
Sixteen years after Kenyans approved a new constitutional order, the document still stands as one of the country’s most important reforms. But recurring gaps in county accountability, service delivery, public participation and institutional...
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Kenya’s 2010 Constitution remains the defining legal and political reform of the modern era. It reset the balance of power between citizens and the state, created a devolved system of government, strengthened the Bill of Rights and gave courts a more assertive role in checking public power. As the country marks 16 years since promulgation, that legacy is still visible in day-to-day governance: 47 county governments now sit alongside the national government, and questions that once belonged only to Nairobi are increasingly fought out in county assemblies, local courts and public forums.
The scale of the change is hard to overstate. The Constitution was written to answer longstanding frustrations with centralisation, exclusion and weak accountability. It entrenched national values, opened more space for public participation and set out a more ambitious structure for sharing resources and responsibilities. The promise was not simply legal reform, but a more responsive state. That promise is real, but still unevenly delivered. Kenya Law’s official text shows how deeply devolution, rights protection and institutional independence were built into the document itself. ([new.kenyalaw.org](https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/2010/constitution?utm_source=openai))
Devolution is the most visible success story of the 2010 settlement. By moving political and financial authority closer to citizens, county government was meant to improve access to services, reduce inequality and bring decision-making nearer to communities. Analysts and practitioners continue to describe devolution as transformative, but also as unfinished. Chatham House notes that the system has created important gains while also exposing persistent challenges in implementation and local governance. IDLO, which has worked on devolution-related legal and institutional support in Kenya, likewise describes the model as ambitious and complex, requiring strong administrative and legal follow-through to function properly. ([chathamhouse.org](https://www.chathamhouse.org/2020/05/meeting-promise-2010-constitution/challenges-devolution?utm_source=openai))
The problem is not that devolution failed to change Kenya; it clearly did. The harder question is whether the new system has consistently improved accountability and service delivery at the pace many citizens expected. Counties have become major spending centres, but oversight has not always kept up. The Standard reported this week that Sh87 billion is unaccounted for in counties, framing weak controls as a continuing drag on the devolution project. That is not a verdict on all counties, but it is a warning sign: more local power does not automatically produce cleaner or more efficient government. ([standardmedia.co.ke](https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/politics/article/2001556251/katiba-16-sh87b-unaccounted-for-in-counties-as-weak-controls-hurt-devolution?utm_source=openai))
People Daily’s anniversary analysis similarly argues that devolution has created a paradox: more resources and authority at the county level, yet continuing accountability gaps. That tension matters because the constitutional idea was never just to transfer money. It was to deliver services more fairly, improve inclusion and broaden democratic oversight. Where counties struggle with procurement, staffing, audit compliance or project execution, the promise of devolution weakens in the eyes of ordinary residents. ([peopledaily.digital](https://peopledaily.digital/insights/katiba-16-inside-kenyas-devolution-paradox-more-resources-but-persistent-accountability-gaps/amp?utm_source=openai))
One of the clearest ideals in the Constitution is public participation. Article 10 made participation a national value, which means citizens are meant to be involved in decisions that affect them, not just informed after the fact. In practice, however, participation is still too often reduced to a notice, a meeting or a signature sheet. Business Daily’s anniversary commentary argues that reclaiming the promise of participation is central to keeping the Constitution alive, and that observation reflects a wider problem across both national and county government. ([businessdailyafrica.com](https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/opinion-analysis/columnists/katiba-16-reclaiming-promise-of-public-participation-5573310?utm_source=openai))
If participation becomes procedural rather than meaningful, policy loses legitimacy. Communities may be invited to comment on budgets, plans or bills, but if timelines are compressed, documents are inaccessible or feedback is ignored, the constitutional promise is hollow. This is particularly important in counties, where local decisions affect roads, health services, markets, water projects and hiring. In a system designed to decentralise power, participation is the safeguard that should prevent county governments from simply reproducing the top-down habits of the old order.
That is why many of the Constitution’s biggest gains are also the hardest to preserve. Rights language is now familiar, and Kenyans are more willing to demand explanations from officials. But the everyday culture of participation still has to catch up with the law. A constitution can guarantee openness; it cannot, by itself, force administrators to respect it unless institutions, media, civil society and voters keep pressing the point.
A second major achievement of the 2010 Constitution is the greater authority of the judiciary. The post-2010 legal order gave courts a more prominent role in protecting rights, interpreting devolution disputes and reviewing public power. That has mattered in a country where political competition can be intense and where citizens often need an independent forum to contest state action. IDLO’s work in Kenya has highlighted access to justice and legal quality as central to making the constitutional system work in practice. ([idlo.int](https://www.idlo.int/idlo-kenya-implementing-2010-constitution?utm_source=openai))
Yet strong judicial language is only part of the picture. What ultimately determines whether constitutionalism is working is whether court rulings are obeyed, whether public institutions correct unlawful conduct and whether remedies are implemented without delay. Kenya’s constitutional design anticipated this challenge by embedding checks and balances across government, but institutional resistance remains a recurring issue in many democracies. The result is a familiar one: Kenyans often have better legal tools to challenge power than they did before 2010, but winning a case does not always mean the underlying problem disappears quickly.
This gap between law on paper and law in action is one reason anniversary discussions matter. They are not merely ceremonial. They are a reminder that constitutionalism is a practice, not an anniversary slogan. If the courts are to remain credible guardians of the settlement, every branch of government has to respect the system of accountability the Constitution created.
The first priority is tighter fiscal and procurement accountability in counties. Devolution cannot earn public confidence if large sums remain poorly explained or weakly tracked. Better auditing, stronger county assemblies, more transparent contracting and faster consequence management for misuse of funds would help turn the constitutional promise into visible service delivery.
The second is more meaningful public participation. Counties and national agencies should publish documents early, use accessible language, hold consultations before major decisions are locked in, and show citizens how their input changed the final outcome. Participation should be measured by influence, not attendance.
The third is institutional discipline. Courts, oversight bodies and investigative agencies must be allowed to work without political interference, but they also need to move cases and decisions more efficiently. Slow enforcement weakens even the best judgment or report.
The fourth is a clearer match between devolved functions and local capacity. Kenya’s constitutional text anticipated phased transfer and support for county governments, precisely because some functions require stronger systems than others. Where capacity is weak, the answer is not permanent blame-shifting between levels of government; it is targeted technical support, honest intergovernmental coordination and realistic assignment of responsibilities. Kenya Law’s constitutional framework and devolution policy materials underline that the model was meant to be supported, monitored and adjusted, not merely declared complete. ([new.kenyalaw.org](https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/2010/constitution?utm_source=openai))
Sixteen years on, Kenya is no longer debating whether the 2010 Constitution mattered. It did, profoundly. It altered the structure of the state, expanded the language of rights and created new spaces for local governance. The question now is whether the political system can keep closing the gap between constitutional ideals and lived reality.
That is the central lesson of the Katiba @16 conversation. The document is not broken. It is unfinished. Kenya’s challenge is not to replace the Constitution’s core promise, but to execute it with greater discipline, honesty and public accountability. If devolution becomes cleaner, participation becomes meaningful and institutions are made to answer to the law rather than to personalities, then the 2010 settlement will look less like a historical achievement and more like a living democratic order. Until then, the anniversary remains both a celebration and a reminder of how much still needs to be done.
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