Mombasa Governor Hassan Joho has requested politicians pushing for constitutional amendments to factor in citizen participation.
Speaking on Tuesday in Mombasa, Joho warned politicians against misusing the opportunity they have to address multitudes as opposed to the common Kenyan without an avenue to air his/her views.
"I will be on the forefront pushing for the involvement of the common citizens because they know what they want. Do not misuse the opportunities you have on the podium and assume that you are in a better position to suggest amendments than those listening to you. They know what needs to be done to better their lives."
(I will be on the forefront kwamba watu waseme. Watu wanajua. Usione kwamba wewe uko kwa jukwaa ukaona unajua zaidi kuliko wale wamekaa pale. Wale wanajua wanataka nini wale. Hawana nafasi tu ya kupanda jukwaa na kusema but if you gave them the opportunity watakueleza mambo ambayo yanataka kufanywa yabadilishe maisha yao)," Joho said.
Besides citizen participation, Joho is rooting for the involvement of lawyers who he believes their expertise should be prioritised over political suggestions.
"There are issues of entrenching deeper in the constitutional matters that affect devolution so that we do not have to argue all the times. There are lessons that we have learnt from when we promulgated this constitution to this point. In my opinion, there are no better citizens to handle this than the lawyers," Joho said during the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) annual law conference in Mombasa on Thursday last week.