Kenya’s political leaders should stop treating governance as a race to announce projects and instead use the Constitution as the main measure of what government should deliver, Public Policy Analyst Arnold Maliba has said.
Speaking during an interview with Radio Generation on Tuesday, Maliba said the 2010 Constitution already provides a clear picture of the country Kenyans want to build, including the values leaders should uphold and the rights citizens should enjoy.
He said the preamble offers a useful starting point because it brings together the hopes and principles that guided Kenyans when they adopted the Constitution.
Among the commitments contained in the preamble are respect for human rights, equality, freedom, democracy, social justice, the rule of law and national unity. It also commits the country to protecting the environment and the interests of future generations while recognising the people’s sovereign authority to determine how they are governed.
Maliba said leaders should therefore begin by asking whether their policies and decisions are helping the country move towards that constitutional vision.
“The authors and the makers of the Constitution 2010 ensured that you do not need anything out there. There's a summary of the aspirations, the vision, and everything we need for ourselves and our children and the future generations in what you call the preamble. That's a summary, a small poem that actually summarizes our aspirations, our ambitions, how we want to deal with that,” he said.
He criticised the tendency by politicians to present long lists of programmes and development projects without explaining the wider purpose behind them.
For Maliba, there is a difference between defining what Kenya wants to become and deciding the steps needed to get there. He said the Constitution provides both the national direction and the rules that should shape the way public institutions pursue that direction.
Article 10, he noted, is central to this responsibility because its national values and principles apply to State organs, State officers, public officers and all persons when interpreting the Constitution, making or applying laws and implementing public policy.
Article 10(1) of the Constitution states:
“The national values and principles of governance in this Article bind all State organs, State officers, public officers and all persons whenever any of them— (a) applies or interprets this Constitution; (b) enacts, applies or interprets any law; or (c) makes or implements public policy decisions.”
The provision further sets out the principles that should guide governance, including patriotism, national unity, devolution, democracy, public participation, human dignity, equity, social justice, equality and human rights.
It also provides for non-discrimination, protection of marginalised groups, good governance, integrity, transparency, accountability and sustainable development.
Maliba said these provisions should be reflected in the way policies are designed and carried out, rather than being treated as principles that only appear in official documents.
“What William Ruto is doing a lot of times, and he's talking to us about, is the what. William Ruto does not run Kenya as a president; he runs Kenya as a programs officer. So he's going to do a whole list of issues. This is what you can do,” he said.
The analyst also placed Article 43 of the Constitution at the centre of the relationship between the government and citizens, saying it spells out basic economic and social rights that the State is expected to uphold.
The provision gives every person the right to the highest attainable standard of health, including health care and reproductive health services, as well as accessible and adequate housing and reasonable sanitation.
It also provides for freedom from hunger, adequate food of acceptable quality, clean and safe water in sufficient quantities, social security and education.
Article 43(2) states: “A person shall not be denied emergency medical treatment.”
Maliba said these rights form part of the basic expectations citizens have of their government and should not be overshadowed by political campaigns or new promises.
“Eventually, there is a basic social contract that we give ourselves, and it is captured in Article 43 on socio-economic rights. When we talk about education, housing, freedom from hunger and access to food, all these issues fall under Article 43,” he said.
He said the government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda also deals with many of the issues already covered under the constitutional provision.
“All that English you hear about the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda is essentially addressing these issues. Everything else is under Article 43.”
Maliba further urged voters to examine the plans of political candidates more closely, saying promises of roads, hospitals and other projects should be accompanied by clear explanations of how they will be achieved.
He said the public should not only be interested in what a candidate intends to build or introduce but should also ask what systems, institutions and resources will be used to deliver the promised services.
According to Maliba, Kenya already has enough skilled people within the public service to help turn the Constitution’s vision into reality.
He said the bigger requirement is leadership that understands how government institutions operate, how public systems should work and the duties that come with occupying public office.