ABSTRACT
Kenya’s 2010 Constitution established a system of devolved government, comprising the national government and 47 counties. Devolved powers are, however, limited to legislative and executive powers. The Constitution establishes the judiciary at the national level and vests it with exclusive judicial power. This chapter examines the design and impact of the courts in Kenya’s devolved system of government. It argues that the courts have, on many occasions, safeguarded devolution by affirming county autonomy. The decisions of the courts to pass, in some cases, the mantle of interpreting and determining the extent of national and county power to the executive is problematic. It flies in the face of a conscious decision to vest the judiciary with the duty of safeguarding the Constitution and constitutionalism.
