Katiba Day: Ekuru Aukot demands accountability over Gen Z protests deaths
By Mustafa Juma, August 27, 2025Thirdway Alliance Party leader Ekuru Aukot has called for accountability from the government over the deaths and injuries witnessed during the recent Gen Z-led demonstrations.
Speaking on Wednesday, August 27, 2025, during an interview with a local TV station, hours after the country commemorated Katiba Day, Aukot said the state cannot celebrate the Constitution while trampling on its guarantees.
Irony
The former presidential aspirant noted the irony of President William Ruto’s administration designating the day to honour the Constitution while citizens were killed for exercising their democratic rights.
“The recent Gen Z demonstrations – they were invoking Article 37 of the Constitution, but it’s the same government that went ahead to give orders to shoot to kill,” Aukot said.
He further noted that Katiba Day should not just be about celebration but also introspection on how faithfully the country has lived by the 2010 Constitution.
“I was hoping that today, being Katiba Day, we would begin to talk about accountability for the events that followed the protests,” he said.
Ruto’s Katiba Day criticised
Former Makueni Governor Prof. Kivutha Kibwana has also challenged the head of state to go beyond symbolism and ensure the full implementation of the 2010 Constitution.
Speaking during the same interview, Kibwana said the decision was both surprising and significant, as it underscored the centrality of the Constitution to Kenya’s democratic journey.
“I was thinking it was a very sudden decision because I did not quite expect it. There is also a positivity about it because it means that the president has given a signal that the constitution is important to the public, and therefore, this is something that, going forward, people can use to build on the momentum of agitating for the implementation of the constitution,” Kibwana said.
The constitutional lawyer and governance expert, however, noted that commemorative declarations must not be an end in themselves.
He argued that Kenyans have waited for over a decade to see the supreme law fully operationalised in spirit and in practice.
“But of course, from a political angle, sometimes things are said so that people can be happy about them, and my expectation and hope is that this is a signal that the president realises and accepts that we must implement the constitution,” he remarked.
Kenya marked 15 years since the 2010 Constitution was promulgated on Wednesday, August 27, with President Ruto leading in the celebration of the milestone at a commemoration event held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC).