MP Caroli Omondi: Kenya still operating without a public participation law
Suba South Member of Parliament Caroli Omondi has called on the government to urgently implement legislation on public participation, saying it remains one of the most neglected yet critical provisions of the 2010 Constitution.
According to the Suba South legislator, although the Constitution emphasises the importance of public participation in governance, no specific law exists to guide its execution across all sectors.
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The Suba South Member of Parliament made his remarks on Friday, August 29, 2025, during an interview with a local media house while addressing the challenge faced as Kenya celebrates 15 years of having the current constitution.
“We still don’t have a law on Public Participation, that is one area that we have not implemented the constitution talks on Public participation but there is no law on public participation, so we need that law,” Omondi said.
On his part, the legislator urged the Chairperson of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee (CIOC) to make the formulation and passage of this law a priority moving forward.
“Chair of the Constitutional Implementation Oversight Committee, to prioritise this moving forward,” Omondi said.
Katiba Day critics
Meanwhile, Caroli Omondi’s remarks come just days after Kenya celebrated 15 years of having the 2010 constitution on Wednesday, August 27, 2025.
At the time, rights groups criticised Parliament for failing to play its watchdog role as the country marked its first-ever Katiba Day.
Speaking at the Democracy and Digital Innovation Conference 2025 on Wednesday, August 27, the Executive Director of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Eric Mukoya, said Kenyans must reflect on the promises of the 2010 Constitution and question how far the country has strayed.
“Fifteen years ago, on the 27th of August 2010, our nation stood at the edge of history. In one resounding moment, after decades of struggle, pain, and sacrifice, we proclaimed to ourselves and to the world that Kenya would be governed under a new social contract, a constitution that promised to heal the wounds of our past and chart a path towards a just, equitable, and democratic society,” he said.
Mukoya added that the 2010 Constitution was meant to cure poor leadership and governance, but instead Kenyans ended up with leaders who have ignored integrity and the values of leadership.
“In the promise, we sought to cure poor leadership and governance. But what did we get? Legislators and the Executive, save for a few, who pay no respect to integrity and tenets of leadership. Heads of institutions whose fidelity to Article 10 is unbelievably contemptuous. Services serving tokenism, opportunities driven by patronage and anchored on nepotism. We birthed new marginalisation,” he said.
Mukoya criticised the practice of recycling election losers and political allies into government positions, saying it undermines the will of the people.
“We have recycled election losers and other political nemesis into executive positions of power, undermining critical decisions of the electorate, an expense so annoying and excruciating,” he said.
He argued that the principle of separation of powers, which was meant to guarantee checks and balances, has been deeply undermined. Instead of an independent judiciary, the courts are constantly subjected to threats and undue political pressure.
