The Free Kenya Movement is advocating for a people-led dialogue as an alternative to a state-driven constitutional referendum, saying the approach would better address key national concerns such as taxation, governance, and the rising cost of living.
According to the movement’s chairman, Bob Njagi, the proposal has been necessitated by what he describes as sustained attempts to roll back gains achieved under the 2010 Constitution, coupled with an emerging trend where State institutions increasingly ignore court orders.
Speaking to Radio Generation on Monday, Njagi accused the current administration of acting in ways that undermine the Constitution it is mandated to protect.
“We have seen the current regime going against court orders and actually going against the Constitution that they sought to protect, but by and large, we have also witnessed good rulings coming out of our judiciary,” Njagi said.
He acknowledged that the Judiciary has continued to issue strong rulings despite operating under difficult conditions.
“They seem to also be trying, but they are working in a very difficult environment,” he added.
Njagi, however, praised the Constitution for providing legal pathways for citizens to amend laws through popular participation, particularly under Article 257, which outlines the popular initiative process.
“As a movement, we believe that one of the ways of implementing this Constitution is by relooking at it, which is already provided for under Article 257,” he said.
He argued that protests, often led by young people, have not achieved lasting systemic reforms.
“We have been very strong on Article 37 on peaceful protest, but we have seen the results of these protests. A lot of mayhem, death and chaos, and while we advance our interests through protest, we do not fundamentally change the systems and structures of governance,” Njagi said.
As a result, he said the movement is pushing for structured civic engagement through dialogue rather than confrontation.
Njagi also distanced the movement from proposals for a state-backed referendum, including one recently floated by Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi.
In December 2025, Mudavadi suggested the possibility of holding a constitutional referendum alongside the 2027 General Election, arguing that unresolved constitutional issues could be framed into referendum questions and subjected to a public vote.
Mudavadi said that if well structured under the current Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, the process would be manageable and progressive.
“We can use the 2027 election as the first example to have those issues that have never been resolved crafted well into sensible referendum questions that will help amend our 2010 Constitution,” Mudavadi said.
Njagi, however, insisted that meaningful reform must be driven by citizens rather than the State.
He revealed that the Free Kenya Movement is pursuing what he termed a “people’s referendum” through a popular initiative and is currently collecting one million signatures to push issues they believe are central to the concerns of ordinary Kenyans.
“We are talking about the high cost of living. How can we address that through a referendum? We are also looking at restructuring the State and the system of governance to ensure more effective and efficient use of national resources,” Njagi said.
