Chief Justice Emeritus David Maraga has claimed that the Constitution of Kenya is under siege, even as the country marks 16 years since its promulgation.
In a statement issued on Thursday, August 27, Maraga noted that the Constitution has been subjected to incessant violations, and opined that every Kenyan must be ready to defend it.
"The lesson from the past 16 years is unambiguous: we must defend it. We must be vigilant because those who want to sabotage it are working overtime," Maraga wrote.
The former CJ noted that the right to public participation, which was to guarantee a limited government and an accountable state, has been undermined the most.
He argued that the protections continue to be eroded through cosmetic implementation and repressive actions.
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"The criminalisation of dissent, the disregard of court orders, the treatment of public participation as a formality to be endured rather than a constitutional obligation to be honoured," the statement continued.
Maraga called out the Parliament over its failure to execute its constitutional mandate to provide checks and balances on the powers of the Executive.
He claimed that instead of keeping tabs on the Executive by questioning, scrutinising and restraining it, the Parliament had regressed to acquiescence.
"The result is a widening space for executive overreach and, more gravely, the entrenchment of what can only be described as state capture, where public institutions serve narrow interests rather than the sovereign people in whose name they exist," the statement read.
The United Green Movement (UGM) party leader noted that Parliament's laxity has systematically handed its oversight role to the citizenry, civil society and the Judiciary because constitutionalism is not self-executing.
He reckoned that the current conditions are why the 2027 General Election is very important to the country.
Maraga stated that it will be a referendum on the kind of country we desire; a choice between those who believe in constitutionalism as the framework for our shared security and relics of a resurgent despotism of the past, dressed as progress.
He reckoned that Kenyans must approach that choice with the same clarity and courage that produced this Constitution in the first place.
Meanwhile, President William Ruto led the Katiba Day Celebrations at the Kenya International Conference Centre (KICC).
He emphasised the importance of adhering to the Constitution and the Rule of Law, and reiterated his commitment to ensuring that his government operates by it.
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