Renowned lawyer Paul Mwangi has decried a new scheme of exploitation happening at the county level, a trend he opines is in stark contravention of the spirit of the promulgated 2010 constitution.

Speaking during a live interview on Tuesday, July 29, 2025, Mwangi termed the devolving of powers and processes to the counties as a means to achieve equality among the communities, including the smaller and minority tribes in Kenya. He has, however, decried cases where the exploitation has also been devolved, with smaller communities being sidelined by dominant ones, a trend he says threatens to reverse the achievement of devolution.

“The problem there is a problem now at counties where initially marginalised communities now went to the counties and marginalized others. The tribalism and clanism have now gone to the counties. The small communities are decrying being intimidated by larger communities,” he said.

His sentiment came after Nyamira Senator Okong’o Omogeni cited the 2010 constitution as key to abolishing the tribalism and marginalisation of smaller communities in the country.

In his assertion, Okong’o Omogeni noted the need to decentralise power and resources was central to addressing the age-old problem of tribalism in the country.

The senator specifically mentioned a trend in Kenya where politicians and people still have to show allegiance to the presidency, despite the country moving to empower the devolved units with the responsibility of development.

“We have a situation where the center cannot hold even after the promulgation of the constitution. The president is coming to your village and tells you that when you’re aligned with certain people, you will not get development. We need to and the Gen Zs are giving us a good chance to move out of that, he said.

Mwangi, however, backed the country’s young generation to mitigate the challenge of tribalism by ushering in a fresh start for the country through a paradigm voting shift in the 2027 elections.

“Today we have hope with the Gen Zs. The political class will fight the Gen Zs for their progressive agenda and the alternative universe they provide for our country. I hope they will transform this country come election day,” he added.

The debate also saw the legal counsellors wade into the former Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua’s ongoing tour of the USA that has sparked more controversy with claims of the politician advancing tribal rhetoric.

Speaking on the controversy, Omogeni hailed Valentine, the Gen Z lady who confronted Gachagua for her bold stance, terming her sentiments as a topic that Kenyan leaders need to heed.

The senator noted that the discussion touched on a wider problem of ethnic mobilization that extends beyond the members of the Kikuyu ethnicity as Kenya looks to move away from ethnic politics to national unity.

Bold

“What I want to applaud the young lady, Valentine, for is that she is bold and could say things as they were. How I wish she could speak to our leaders. Let’s not focus on Gachagua; ethnic mobilisation is happening everywhere. Everyone who forms a party finds roots in his tribe first, then does ethnic mobilisation with other tribes,” he stated.

Omogeni equally backed the young generation to make their mark on the Kenyan political landscape in the 2027 polls.

“We still don’t know what the impact of Gen Zs will be on the ballot; the test will be with us in 2027. We’ll see if the Gen Zs can transform their strength on the ballot and be a factor in our politics,” he added.