Kenya’s Post-2010 Constitutional Amendments: Delimiting Parliamentary and Popular Initiative Amendments
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2522-6800/18697Keywords:
constitutional amendments, County Assemblies, IEBC, national referendum, Parliament, parliamentary initiative, popular initiative, PresidentAbstract
The Constitution of Kenya 2010 dedicates Chapter 16 (Articles 255, 256 and 257) to its amendment through parliamentary and popular initiatives. These initiatives are multi-staged with various processes and actors involved including the Kenyan people, the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), County Assemblies, Parliament (National Assembly and the Senate) and the President. The Kenyan experience shows that there have been several proposed amendments to the 2010 Constitution since 2013 that have all been unsuccessful. Questions have been raised including the constitutional remits of both parliamentary and popular initiative amendments. In certain instances, the superior courts have been called upon to determine this question by exercising their role of constitutional interpretation of the amendment provisions and determining the constitutionality of amendment processes and bills. This article critically analyses the composition and quorum of the IEBC in verifying popular initiatives and conducting national referenda, and the remits of both parliamentary and popular initiatives. It adopts a purposive interpretation of the constitutional amendment provisions using emerging jurisprudence from the superior courts, comparative jurisprudence and scholarly literature.
References
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Cases
Kenya
Abe Semi Buere v County Assembly of Tana River & Another; Speaker of the National Assembly & Another (interested parties), H.C Petition No E001 of 2021, [2021] eKLR.
Attorney General & 2 Others v Ndii & 79 Others; Prof Rosalind Dixon & 7 Others (amicus curiae) (Petitions 12, 11 and 13 of 2021, consolidated) [2022] KESC 8 (KLR) (31 March 2022) (with dissent).
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David Ndii & Others v Attorney General & Others [2021] eKLR.
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Isaiah Biwott Kangowny v Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission & Attorney General, Constitutional Petition No 212 of 2018, [2018] eKLR.
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Priscilla Ndululu Kivuitu & Another (suing as the Personal Representatives of Samuel Mutua Kivuitu & Kihara Muttu, deceased) & 22 Others v Attorney General & 2 Others [2015] eKLR.
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Independence Constitution of Kenya 1963 (Repealed).
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (Amendment) Act 2024.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act 2011.
Kilifi Accord of June 2005.
Naivasha Accord of November 2004.
Revised Zero Draft of a Bill to Alter the Constitution 2004.
Statutory Instruments Act 2013.
Wako Draft of 2005.
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Accepted 2026-03-02
Published 2026-03-23
