Rights
The 2010 constitution: devolution to 47 counties and a justiciable bill of rights
The Constitution of 2010 replaced the independence text, creating 47 devolved counties with their own assemblies and revenue share, a Supreme Court, and a bill of rights that binds all state organs and applies horizontally between private parties. It entrenches judicial review of legislation and requires public participation in law-making.
Key rules
- Jurisdiction — The Supreme Court has exclusive original jurisdiction over presidential election petitions; the High Court has unlimited jurisdiction over constitutional questions and rights enforcement.
- Deadline — Presidential election petition: filed within seven days of declaration; Supreme Court decides within fourteen days
- Deadline — Presidential term: five years, renewable once
- Deadline — Constitutional amendment: referendum required for entrenched provisions under article 255
Governing law
- Constitution of Kenya, 2010 — chapter four (Bill of Rights) and chapter elevenDevolved Government
- County Governments Act, 2012No. 17 of 2012
- Supreme Court Act, 2011No. 7 of 2011
In practice
The 2010 constitution is the most consequential single instrument in this batch. It followed the 2007–08 post-election violence and was drafted to disperse power: revenue is constitutionally guaranteed to the counties, the executive cannot appoint judges without the Judicial Service Commission, and the Bill of Rights applies between private parties as well as against the state. Its authority was demonstrated in 2017 when the Supreme Court annulled a presidential election and ordered a fresh poll, and again in the BBI litigation, where the courts held that the basic structure of the constitution limits even the amendment power.