Kenya's new constitution and conflict transformation

This paper also examines how the new constitution provides for reforms on governance, democracy, human rights, ethnicity and resource sharing.

The 2007/8 post-election conflict that engulfed Kenya was not unprecedented. A failure to address the root causes of these violent conflicts has occasioned their reoccurrence and further entrenched their underlying causes. The Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation process considered long-term issues and solutions to address the root causes of the conflict and made proposals for extensive reforms. Within the conceptual framework of conflict transformation, this paper analyses the ways in which sections of Kenya’s new constitution, adopted on 27 August 2010, address the root causes of the conflict. This paper also examines how the new constitution provides for reforms on governance, democracy, human rights, ethnicity and resource sharing.

About the authors

Bobby Mkangi is a Nairobi-based lawyer who works as a consultant on the rights of children and their protection. He was a commissioner of the Committee of Experts for Constitutional Review, which drafted Kenya’s new constitution.

Nyambura Githaiga is a researcher in the Conflict Prevention and Risk Analysis division of the Institute for Security Studies, Nairobi. She holds an MA degree in conflict transformation and peacebuilding and a BA in print media communication.