Despite challenges, the law has delivered tremendous change

What you need to know:

  • The Constitution has opened up Kenya in many ways and created the perfect space for sharing, growth, cohesion and transformation.

Our Constitution is now half a decade old. A child born at the time of its promulgation is well into her early childhood development part of our education curriculum.

To this child, our new dispensation will remain the only way of life she knows, all her life. To us, it has been an adventurous, often confusing and gruelling, but ultimately immensely rewarding journey.

Without a doubt, the Constitution has opened up our nation in many ways and created the perfect space for sharing, growth, cohesion and national transformation. It has also strengthened economic performance, national security, democracy, fundamental rights and freedoms more than we imagined possible.

In the fifth year, our Constitution has delivered tremendous change, and promises to do more in years to come.

Many of the key achievements of my government that is directly connected with the new constitutional dispensation relate to governance. The structure of government was for long the biggest impediment to the realisation of the dreams of Kenyans.

Centralised government caused socio-economic paralysis to many parts of Kenya. It also denied government the benefits of synergies drawn from robust, independent institutions checking and balancing each other’s powers. My administration is the first of the new constitutional order. I am not an MP. No member of my Cabinet is a Member of Parliament.

The complete separation of the Executive from the Legislature has enabled my government to plan for and serve all Kenyans without the pressure elected politicians face to “bring the bacon home”. As a result, under my government, we are executing development projects throughout the country regardless of perceived political alignments.

Whether we are talking about supporting health facilities, rolling out Huduma Centres, building roads, connecting schools and households to electricity or deploying the young men and women of the National Youth Service to work with communities, we make no distinction between Kenyans on any basis.

In the past, government felt the pressure to take decisions along political lines, with the result that Cabinet ministers achieved more development in their parliamentary constituencies, while opposition leaders took nothing home.

Today, the key benefit of being a supporter of the Jubilee Alliance is the honour of being part of a transformative movement whose ideas, commitment and energy are delivering serious development throughout Kenya.

The other governance-related achievement of my Government that is directly related to the Constitution is our successful and impressive support for devolution. That equality, equity and equal opportunity through the devolution of power and resources implicit in the Constitution. My government committed itself to ensuring that Kenyans do not wait a moment longer for a promise that lies at the heart of Kenya’s freedom struggle.

As a result, we exceeded double the constitutional minimum allocation for counties in Jubilee’s first budgetary more, and have never looked back. Each succeeding budget has taken a step further in this quest to channel national resources to the counties.

The legislative framework and enabling environment were developed and implemented rapidly. No county government is disadvantaged owing to any act or omission of my government. The high level forums between the presidency and county governors are strong and successful.

People are feeling the developmental impact of devolution in every village of this nation.

We must remember the tragedy which triggered Agenda 4, thereby accelerating Kenya’s push for a new dispensation.

Division, hostility, discrimination and marginalisation within and between our communities is a blight on the soul of this nation. The Constitution’s gift to us and future generations is that it fashioned a second chance for us as a society. We must not waste this chance.

My government’s commitment to foster national solidarity is irrevocable. Kenyans are a peace-loving people. Our people are united.

A big challenge to leadership in Kenya is to resist the temptation to see temporal political advantage in animosity and disunity. There are people who still try to cultivate an “us-versus-them” mentality, hyping up imagined differences and the fictional superiority of their ethnic community. Fortunately, the big socio-political shift envisaged by the Constitution is happening now.

Everywhere in this land, Kenyans yearn to be nothing greater than one tribe, one family, one clan united by values, love and dedication to this beautiful country. Therefore, inciters and shameless tribalists are no longer finding receptive ground for their toxic messages.

They are rapidly fading into political extinction. This is the effort that my government, and all Kenyans must continue to make: strengthen our unity and confront divisive elements.

Another challenge requiring our total commitment to our values and principles of governance is corruption. Without a doubt, corruption has inflicted its deadly cost on every level of our society and every inch of this country.

Insecurity, lack of government services, absence of public amenities and infrastructure are all attributable to corruption. Corruption robs us of hundreds of billions of shillings every year. It affects you and me in painful ways.

In order to succeed, we must take corruption very personally, because its impact affects all of us. I am personally committed to leading my government in the crusade to reclaim Kenya from the jaws of corruption.

The journey has begun, and we will not stop until the job is done. It is important to acknowledge that our Constitution provides unequivocal philosophical and legal foundations for the strengthening of integrity and the eradication of corruption. It is our job to take the battle to its logical conclusion.

Various calls have been made to amend the constitution. Many of these demands are aligned with short-term political needs. A Constitution, being the soul of a nation and the heart of our state, is an eternal charter. It should never be subject to political expediency.

At five, our Constitution is still fairly new. Like a new pair of shoes, it may pinch occasionally. That is no reason to throw away the pair, or remake them into open shoes.

Perhaps our feet are the problem; maybe we have not trimmed our nails. There could be a little stone in the shoe. The point is that if the shoe is of the right size, we must do all we can to ensure that short-term discomfort leads to long-term ease.

That is not done by impatiently sawing, drilling, sewing and stretching. On August 27, 2010, we all declared that the shoe was a perfect fit and pledged to wear it for the journey ahead.

We must fully adjust ourselves mentally into the spirit of our new constitutional dispensation. We must internalise the comprehensive value system entrenched in the charter of our Third Republic.

My government has proven, time and again, that commitment and effort all the grievances leading to calls to amend the Constitution can be resolved. Kenyans expect this sort of leadership all the time.

As we look ahead, I reiterate my government’s commitment to strengthen the rule of law, transparency and accountability. As I stated earlier, this dispensation is our second chance; we must make it count.