KNOW YOUR RIGHTS

1.        What does Article 2(4) of the Constitution provide? Article 2(4) of the Constitution of Kenya provides that, any law, including customary, that is inconsistent with the Constitution of Kenya is void to the extent of the inconsistency, and any act or omission in contravention of the Constitution is invalid. In essence Article 2(4) of the Constitution provides for the supremacy clause initially provided for under Section 3 of the Constitution of Kenya (Repealed) . Consequently the effect of Article 2(4) of the Constitution is that that any act or omission in contravention of the constitution is invalid. Therefore before a court of law applies Customary Law or any other law, in any particular case, the court must be sure that the particular rule of custom is not contrary to any provision of the Constitution. The court must therefore, consider all acts of a customs and ensure that they are not contrary to the provisions of the Constitution. In...

A revolution is a term used to describe the action of a New Order taking over an Order already in existence: it is when something new takes over the old. A country is said to have undergone a successful revolution when a new government takes over an old government. The revolution can either be violent and bloody or it can be peaceful. Kenya for instance underwent a peaceful in the year 2002 when a new regime NARC took over the old regime KANU which regime had been in existence since independence of Kenya from the British colonialists. According to Hans Kelsen, a norm is validated by a higher norm which is in turn validated by another higher norm. This chain of validity stretches back to the grund norm . In law this basic norm is the constitution of the state. In his general theory of the law and the state, Kelsen states that , “it cannot be maintained that legally, men have to behave in conformity with a certain norm, if the total legal order of which that norm is an integr...

 I wrote this essay back in the year 2007. Most of the situations have drastically changed either in the positive or negative. The principles remain the same though. The concept of good governance and development is as old as the human civilization. Governance can be described as the process by which decisions are implemented. It is a process by which decisions are implemented in a way that is consensus oriented, participatory, accountable, transparent, responsive, effective, efficient, equitable and inclusive and follows the rule of law. Development on the other hand may be described as the climbing up of the social ladder either as an individual, community, an organization or a nation. It is brought about by the presence of good economy and good governance. It can be observed through presence of quality infrastructure, health care and educational facilities and quality service to citizens. Without god governance there is seldom peace and without peace there can be no...

The Appellants in this matter were charged with burglary and theft but were charged with the offense of handling stolen property contrary to section 322 (2) of the Penal Code (Cap 63). The charge on that count stated that they had otherwise than in the course of stealing dishonestly received certain property knowingly or having reason to believe it to have been stolen or unlawfully obtained. In convicting the appellants the trial magistrate observed that the appellants had dishonestly undertaken or assisted in the retention of the stolen items despite the knowledge that they had been dishonestly obtained. The Appellants appealed to the high court which appeal was unsuccessful hence the appeal to the Court of Appeal. The Court of Appeal held that; ·          In a charge of handling stolen goods under the Penal Code, the prosecution after having proved that the goods are stolen, it is necessary to prove that the accused handled them eith...