Scribe Kenyan

Some matters do not require a learned, scholarly treatise to be analyzed or criticized. They are self-explanatory. Reading an article about them feels like watching a YouTube video on how to drink water or how to turn on a switch . Those are basic things that almost everyone is well aware of and do not need any sophisticated or philosophical essays or videos to make him or her understand. The irony of life, however, is that such videos get millions of views, which is the same reason that makes the discourse in this essay relevant today: freedom of expression and its limitations. In a very basic sense, the freedom of expression is innate. Whether or not one has read Article 33 of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 ,  Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 1948 or Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966 , it is always in the hearts of human beings to want to express themselves. This inborn need is sati...

  ABSTRACT Public participation is an essential element of democracy. In a republic such as Kenya where the people are the real custodians of the sovereign power, it becomes necessary for them to be given a chance to directly exercise this power. Even though the Constitution recognizes the direct exercise of sovereign power, it is silent on how this is to be achieved. This article takes the opinion that sovereign power is exercised directly through public participation and takes note of the fact that the mechanism through which public participation can be achieved is not outlined in the Constitution. For this reason, the article examines various constitutional provisions that lay the foundation through which public participation can footed. Further, the essay looks into the attempted creation of legislation and policy on public participation and finally the threshold for sufficient public participation. 1.      Introduction In Kenya, as per Article...