TAs Kenya marks 16 years of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010, we celebrate one of the most important achievements of our constitutional democracy: the recognition and protection of the fundamental freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion.
For Atheists In Kenya Society, this anniversary is also an opportunity to remind Kenyans that constitutional freedoms belong to everyone — believers, atheists, agnostics, humanists, Muslims, Christians, Hindus, traditional believers and people who hold no religious beliefs at all.
Article 8: Kenya Has No State Religion
The constitutional foundation of Kenya’s secular character is clear.
Article 8 of the Constitution provides: “There shall be no State religion.”
This provision is not merely symbolic. It means that the Kenyan State does not belong to Christianity, Islam, Hinduism or any other religion. Government institutions and public officials have a constitutional duty to serve all Kenyans equally, regardless of their religious or non-religious beliefs.
Kenya’s secularism does not mean that religion is prohibited or that religious people cannot freely practise their faith. Quite the opposite: secularism protects religious freedom by ensuring that the State does not elevate one religion above others.
The courts have also recognised this constitutional principle. Kenyan jurisprudence has described Kenya as a secular state in which no religion is superior to another in the eyes of the law.
Article 32: Freedom of Belief Includes the Freedom Not to Believe
Article 32 is particularly important to Kenya’s non-religious citizens.
It guarantees freedom of conscience, religion, thought, belief and opinion. It also protects the right to manifest a religion or belief, while prohibiting discrimination in access to institutions, employment and facilities because of a person’s belief or religion. It further protects people from being compelled to act contrary to their belief or religion.
This protection must be understood broadly. If a Kenyan has the constitutional freedom to believe in God, another Kenyan has the same constitutional freedom to reject belief in God.
If one citizen has the freedom to worship, another citizen has the freedom not to worship. If one person can organise around their religious beliefs, another person can organise around humanism, atheism, agnosticism or other non-religious convictions.
Freedom of religion is incomplete if it protects only the freedom to believe. It must equally protect the freedom to question, change, reject or have no religious belief.
Religious Freedom Must Not Become Religious Privilege
Sixteen years after the promulgation of the Constitution, Kenya must continue confronting a difficult question:
Are we genuinely protecting freedom of religion and belief, or are we allowing religious majorities to exercise privileges over minorities and non-believers?
The State must remain neutral. Public institutions should not be treated as extensions of religious organisations. Government policy should be based on the Constitution, evidence, reason and the public interest — not on the doctrines of a particular religion.
Religious leaders have every right to express their views. Religious communities have every right to practise their faith. But religious beliefs should not automatically become government policy simply because they are widely held.
A constitutional democracy must protect the believer and the non-believer.
Stop Discriminating Against Non-Religious Kenyans
Atheists and other non-religious Kenyans continue to face social prejudice, discrimination and misunderstanding.
Too often, atheism is portrayed as immorality, rebellion or a threat to society. This is incompatible with the spirit of a Constitution that expressly protects freedom of conscience, thought, belief and opinion.
Being an atheist does not make a Kenyan less deserving of citizenship, dignity, employment, public services or constitutional protection.
The State has an obligation to protect citizens from discrimination — including discrimination based on religion, conscience or belief. Article 27 expressly prohibits discrimination on grounds including religion, conscience and belief.
Secularism Protects Everyone
Some people misunderstand secularism as hostility towards religion. It is not.
Secularism is about State neutrality.
A secular Kenya allows Christians to be Christians, Muslims to be Muslims, Hindus to be Hindus, traditional believers to practise their beliefs, and atheists and agnostics to live without religious belief — without the State imposing one worldview upon everyone else.
This is precisely why Article 8 matters.
A State that favours one religion inevitably risks disadvantaging everyone who does not subscribe to that religion. A neutral State, by contrast, creates space for everyone.
Sixteen Years Later, Let Us Defend the Constitution
The Constitution is not merely a document to be celebrated every five years or during national holidays.
- It is a promise to every Kenyan.
- It promises equality.
- It promises dignity.
- It promises freedom of conscience.
- It promises freedom of belief.
And importantly, it establishes that there shall be no State religion.
As Kenya celebrates Katiba@16, the Atheists In Kenya Society calls upon the Government, Parliament, Judiciary, religious institutions and all Kenyans to defend these constitutional principles.
We must reject discrimination against people because they are religious — and equally reject discrimination against people because they are not religious.
Kenya belongs to all of us.
Belief is a personal choice. The Constitution belongs to everyone.
Happy Katiba@16.