Thank you very much. Please, let's take our seats. Thank you very much. Distinguished guests, fellow citizens, ladies and gentlemen, on this day, 16 years ago, Kenya did not merely promulgate a new supreme law. We entered a new constitutional order and renewed the covenant upon which our republic is established. Generations of Kenyans had struggled and sacrificed for this moment. They wanted a nation governed not by the whims of the mighty and powerful, but by the sovereign will of the people—a nation in which authority would be restrained by law, public office exercised as a trust, and every institution held accountable to the citizens it serves. With that in mind, Katiba Day, 16 years later, must be more than an annual anniversary. It must be a day of national accounting. We must take a collective pause and reflect on a few critical questions: Have we faithfully implemented the Constitution? Have we exercised the authority it confers upon us responsibly? Have we effectively delivered the rights that the Constitution guarantees? And have our institutions fully honored the purposes for which they were established? These questions apply to the executive, to Parliament, to the judiciary, to the national and county governments, to constitutional commissions and independent offices, and to every state and public officer.
Ladies and gentlemen, our Constitution performs two equally important principles. First, it restrains power. It shares authority, establishes checks and balances, protects fundamental freedoms, and provides remedies against abuse. Second, it manages power. It commands the state to govern, protect, and provide, and progressively realize the social and economic rights of the people. Our responsibility is to uphold both obligations. Power must be managed, and rights must be assured. That is why Article 43 is central to any honest assessment of constitutional implementation. It guarantees every person the right to the highest attainable standards of health, accessible and adequate housing, reasonable standards of sanitation, freedom from hunger and adequate food of acceptable quality, clean and safe water in adequate quantities, social security, and education. It further declares that no person shall be denied emergency medical treatment and requires the state to provide appropriate social security to persons unable to support themselves and their dependents. These are not ornamental provisions placed in our Constitution; they are fundamental rights. Article 21 requires the state to take legislative, policy, and other measures, including the setting of standards, to achieve the progressive realization of what I have stated. But progressive realization does not mean indefinite postponement. It recognizes that resources are finite, but requires every government to take reasonable, deliberate, concrete, and measurable steps towards fulfilling these rights. Progress must therefore be visible in whether a mother can obtain health care, whether an emergency patient is treated before being asked for pay, whether a family has clean water, whether a child can attend school, whether a citizen can afford a decent home, and whether a vulnerable person can live in dignity. To my mind, therefore, the ultimate test of constitutional implementation is not how often we quote the Constitution or invoke constitutionalism; it is how closely the daily experience of the citizens reflects the promise of the Constitution.
Ladies and gentlemen, when this administration sought the mandate of the people in 2022, it was not merely on the basis of campaign rhetoric or political sloganeering. We placed a concrete proposal on the delivery of Article 43 at the center of our national transformation agenda. Universal health, affordable housing, food security, education, and social protection became central pillars of our national transformation plan. The Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda was, from the outset, designed as an instrument for the implementation of the Constitution. That is why over the last four years, we have been translating constitutional obligations into practical benefits across health care, housing, education, agriculture, and devolution. More than 32 million Kenyan citizens are now registered, with 8 million being treated by the Social Health Authority. Over 100,000 community health promoters are servicing households, and the 922 lifeline is strengthening access to emergency care. More than 274,000 affordable homes are under construction, creating 1.1 million jobs. We have also recruited more than 100,000 teachers and constructed 23,000 classrooms to boost education outcomes, and rolled out a new funding model for our university education. At the same time, agricultural reforms are increasing food production, reducing agricultural inputs, putting more income into farmers' pockets, and strengthening service delivery through county governments. By no means is this work complete; significant steps remain. Nevertheless, these interventions demonstrate that the promise of our new Constitution is steadily becoming the lived experience of more Kenyans today than was the case before.
This same constitutional obligation must now guide the national conversation on Kenya beyond 2030. As we consider the country we want to build beyond the present development horizon, we must not begin—and we will not be beginning—from a barren place. The Constitution has already defined our destination, and that is a democratic, prosperous, equitable, and inclusive republic founded on human dignity, social justice, sustainable development, and the sovereignty of the people. The task before us is to translate that constitutional destination into a coherent national development charter. We must determine how the next generation of growth will deliver the rights guaranteed in the Constitution, how devolution will unlock the potential of every part of Kenya, how innovation, technology, and enterprise will expand opportunity, how economic progress will be reconciled with environmental stewardship, and how Kenya's choices will protect rather than mortgage the future of generations yet to come. Kenya beyond 2030 must therefore be more than a new economic blueprint or a catalog of projects. It must be a compact between the state and the citizen, between the present and the future, and between our national ambition and our collective responsibility. Let me repeat that: Kenya beyond 2030 must therefore be more than a new economic blueprint or a catalog of projects. It must be a compact between the state and the citizens, between the present and the future, and between our national ambition and our collective responsibility. Its success will not only be measured by the size of our economy, the height of our buildings, or the reach of our infrastructure; it will be measured by the dignity, opportunity, security, and quality of life enjoyed by every citizen.
Ladies and gentlemen, this brings me and us to another consequential question of accountability in our constitutional democracy: What is the place of an electoral mandate within a constitutional order? Political parties present manifestos to the people. Citizens consider competing visions and elect a government. That mandate carries democratic legitimacy and imposes a responsibility on leaders to keep their word and deliver on their promise. The ballot gives the mandate, the Constitution establishes the boundaries, and the public institutions ensure that both are respected. How much constitutional space must an elected government have to implement the program upon which it was elected? When that program is challenged, how should courts distinguish between reviewing constitutionality and making policy choices constitutionally entrusted to elected institutions? When a court finds that a policy violates the Constitution, how should the executive and Parliament respond promptly and constructively? How should courts protect rights while remaining attentive to institutional roles, public resources, and practical consequences of their decisions? How do we preserve constitutional review without unnecessarily paralyzing legitimate government action? How do we ensure that checks and balances remain instruments of accountability and holding government to account, rather than pathways to institutional gridlock? These questions do not constitute any attack or infringement on any institution. Judicial independence is non-negotiable. Courts must remain free to interpret the Constitution, protect rights, and invalidate unlawful action. Equally, executive, legislative, and judicial authority all derive legitimacy from the people and must be exercised in their service. Where a government acts unlawfully, it must obey the courts and correct its course. Where lawful policy choices fall within the constitutional authority of elected institutions, that democratic space must also be respected.
Ladies and gentlemen, accountability also requires us to confront difficult moments in our recent national life. During the protests of 2024 and those that followed, young Kenyans and other citizens exercised their constitutional freedoms to speak, assemble, demonstrate, picket, and petition public authorities. Their message was clear: they wanted to be heard. They demanded greater accountability, better government, and a meaningful place in shaping the future of their nation. Those demands were not an assault on democracy. Peaceful protest, criticism, and dissent are essential to democracy. Yet, those protests also presented our republic with a profound constitutional question: How do we protect the citizen's right to protest while at the same time fulfilling the state's obligation to preserve constitutional order? The Constitution itself provides the starting point. Article 37 protects the right of every person peaceably and unarmed to assemble, demonstrate, picket, and present petitions to public authorities. That protection must be real. No Kenyan should lose their life, liberty, or dignity merely for criticizing government, expressing an unpopular opinion, or participating in peaceful demonstration. I recognize the pain that remains from the events of that period. Some families lost loved ones. Serious allegations were made concerning unlawful arrests, enforced disappearances, and excessive use of lethal force. We cannot honor the Constitution by looking away from such allegations. Every credible allegation of a human rights violation must be investigated independently, thoroughly, and transparently. Where wrongdoing is established, those responsible must be held accountable in accordance with the law. At the same time, defending the rights of peaceful protesters does not require us to excuse crime committed under the cover of protest. The Constitution protects peaceful and unarmed assembly. It does not protect arson, looting, lawlessness, violence, intimidation, attacks on citizens, or the destruction of public and private property.
We must therefore distinguish carefully between a citizen exercising a constitutional right and an individual committing criminal offenses. We must neither criminalize protest because of the actions of a few, nor legitimize criminal conduct merely because it occurs in the course of a protest. Rights and responsibilities are not enemies. Responsibility protects the conditions in which everyone's right can be enjoyed. The right to protest carries a responsibility to remain peaceful and unarmed. The duty to maintain order carries an obligation to respect life, dignity, and the law. The authority to govern carries a responsibility to listen. The authority and the freedom to disagree carries a responsibility to preserve the democratic institutions through which disagreement can be expressed and resolved. Government belongs to the people. Parliament belongs to the people. The courts belong to the people. The institutions of the Republic belong to the people. They may be criticized, challenged, and required to account, but they must not be destroyed because they are the instruments through which the people govern themselves. Our national task, therefore, is not to choose between liberty and order; it is to build an order founded on liberty and to exercise liberty in a manner that preserves the constitutional order. Let me repeat that: our national task, therefore, is not to choose between liberty and order; it is to build an order founded on liberty and to exercise liberty in a manner that preserves the constitutional order.
Ladies and gentlemen, the Constitution belongs to all of us. Its authority binds all of us. Its rights protect all of us. Its responsibilities call on all of us to account. Accountability cannot end with defending institutional territory, observing procedures, or publishing reports. Ultimately, we must account for outcomes—whether we have protected the sovereignty of the people, upheld human dignity, preserved constitutional order, used public resources responsibly, and brought the rights guaranteed by our Constitution within the reach of more citizens. 16 years ago, we gave ourselves a transformative constitution. Our responsibility today is to fulfill its promise and build a democratic, prosperous, and transformed republic. That is the meaning of Katiba at 16, what we now say: "Our Kenya, our responsibility." I know there will be a robust conversation after this. I just thought of provoking us to have a conversation in this context as we celebrate our Constitution. And it is a moment for us to reflect collectively as a nation—not pointing fingers, not avoiding responsibility, not trying to excuse what is not right, but honestly, talk not at, but with each other. Thank you very much and God bless you.
