Nairobi, Aug. 27 -- The Constitution of Kenya 2010 is celebrated as a transformative charter, and few provisions capture that ambition better than Article 10, which makes public participation a national value. Its promise was simple: state authority would no longer be exercised over citizens, but with them.

Public participation was meant to turn Kenyans from passive observers into active partners in governance.

Sixteen years after promulgation, that promise remains under strain. As we mark Katiba Day, public participation is firmly embedded in law but increasingly absent in practice. What was envisioned as a safeguard against executive and legislative overreach has too often become a procedural ritual rather than meaningful engagement....