During the early years of Kenya's existence, the constitution was abused by the president and the ruling party to gain and consolidate power.
This was achieved through the creation of a single-party state, the abolition of secret ballots, and increasing the power and prestige that comes with the presidential position.
The constitution gave the president wide-ranging powers, provided for no prime minister, and was ill-suited to multiparty politics, despite the 1991 repeal of a 1982 amendment that had formalised the one-party state.
[1] The constitutional reform process that began in 2000 led to the adoption of several competing drafts, and a deadlock between government and opposition, until 2008.
Constitutional drafts and processes leading up to the adoption of the 2010 text Following the post-election violence that broke out after the controversial December 2007 elections in which the renewed mandate of President Mwai Kibaki was alleged to be stolen, a team of mediators led by Kofi Annan, proposed by President Kufuor of Ghana, then chair of the African Union, pushed for a renewed constitutional review process.