Kenya Should Raise Citizens & Not Voters: Why the Constitution Must Be Taught from Class One to University

Kenya’s biggest national crisis is not corruption, unemployment, poor leadership, or runaway public debt. These are only symptoms. The real disease is constitutional illiteracy — a population that does not understand the supreme law governing the country, and therefore cannot defend itself from abuse, manipulation, or bad governance. This is why the Constitution of Kenya must be made a compulsory subject from lower primary all the way to the tertiary level. Anything less is a deliberate strategy to keep citizens confused, compliant, and easy to exploit.

For over sixty years, Kenya has produced academically qualified young people who can solve complex equations, quote Shakespeare, design apps, and pass exams, but cannot identify their fundamental rights, the limits of state power, or the responsibilities of elected leaders. A generation that understands TikTok algorithms but not Article 37 on the freedom to protest is vulnerable — a nation built on talent without grounding in civic responsibility or constitutional awareness.

Making the Constitution a core subject from class one is not just an academic preference — it is a national survival strategy. Children must grow up understanding how government works: what Parliament can and cannot do, how taxes should be used, what public participation actually means, why the police are subject to the law, and how they — as citizens — can challenge injustice. A population that knows its rights is harder to silence, harder to bribe, harder to oppress, and impossible to govern through fear.

Gen Z has already shown what constitutional awareness can do. The youth who stood up in the 2024 and 2025 protests read the Constitution more than Parliament itself. They quoted articles while the very people who swore to uphold those articles violated them. Imagine if every Kenyan — not just a few passionate young people — had the same level of understanding. Imagine elections where people vote based on constitutional principles, not tribe. Imagine counties where budgets are questioned intelligently. Imagine police officers who actually fear breaking the law because citizens can confront them with knowledge, not emotions.

Compulsory constitutional education would transform Kenya’s political culture within a single generation. It would dismantle the culture of “mtu wetu,” end blind loyalty to politicians, reduce manipulation by state propaganda, and ignite a more critical, more empowered, and more principled citizenry. It would strengthen checks and balances because a knowledgeable public is the highest form of oversight. It would make corruption a high-risk, low-reward venture. It would create voters who ask tough questions and citizens who understand that the Constitution does not belong to the government — it belongs to them.

By the ertiary level, every graduate — whether an engineer, teacher, nurse, journalist, farmer, or creative — should emerge as a constitutional defender. No Kenyan should hold a degree while being unable to explain the Bill of Rights. No citizen should enter adulthood without understanding how power works, how laws are made, and how state officers can be held accountable. The Constitution is not a legal document for lawyers; it is a life manual for every Kenyan.

Kenya does not need more slogans. It needs a generation raised on constitutional literacy. A generation that is not surprised when leaders abuse power — because they know how to stop it. A generation that does not beg for rights — because they understand that rights are not favours from the government. A generation that does not worship politicians — because they know sovereignty belongs to the people.

If Kenya is serious about building a nation that works, then the Constitution must become the first textbook every child encounters, the subject every teen masters, and the foundation every graduate carries into adulthood. That is how we break the cycle of ignorance, manipulation, and impunity. That is how we finally build a republic — not just a population.

It is time to stop raising voters who only show up on election day. It is time to raise citizens who understand power, demand accountability, and defend the Constitution every single day.

Read Also: The “Cybercrime” Cover-Up: How the State Is Gaslighting Kenyans While Gagging the Constitution