Maraga warns of constitutional erosion, cites dissent crackdown and executive overreach

Jukwaa

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Maraga, who is eying the presidency under the United Green Movement party, issued the warning on Thursday as President William Ruto led a Katiba Day Symposium at State House, Nairobi, marking the 16th anniversary of the promulgation of the Constitution.

In a Katiba Day statement, Maraga said the Constitution was the product of years of struggle and sacrifice and warned that its protections were being eroded through violations that should concern Kenyans.

He cited the criminalisation of dissent, disregard for court orders and the treatment of public participation as a formality rather than a constitutional obligation as among the threats facing the supreme law.

📌 What You Need to Know

“The lesson from the past 16 years is unambiguous: we must stand defend it. We must be vigilant because those who want to sabotage it are working overtime,” Maraga said.

He singled out the Bill of Rights and public participation provisions as key safeguards against excessive government power, arguing that their erosion undermines the Constitution’s promise of accountable government.

Maraga also criticised Parliament for what he described as a failure to effectively check executive power.

He said an institution constitutionally mandated to scrutinise, question and, where necessary, restrain the Executive had “regressed from oversight to acquiescence”.

The former Chief Justice said the resulting expansion of executive power was contributing to what he described as “state capture”, where public institutions serve narrow interests rather than the sovereign people.

“When the institutions designed to hold those in power accountable, the burden shifts back to citizens, to civil society, to the judiciary, and to every Kenyan because constitutionalism is not self-executing,” he said.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya

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