Is it possible to construct unity in a prefabricated state? What is the best way to bring together people of different cultures under one flag? In 2010, Kenya decided to take a 180-degree turn in its path to achieve unity. Until then, it had focused on a centralized state with all the powers, aiming to eliminate differences and forge unity from the capital, Nairobi. But the 2007 post-electoral violence showed the reality of a washed-up state incapable of bringing together its differences.

An Experiment in Devolution: National Unity and the Deconstruction of the Kenyan State is a review of the new path Kenya has taken for the last ten years. Back then, Kenya decided to adopt a new Constitution that involved, for the first time, decentralization of powers. In 2013, the 47 new county governments were effectively set in place after the first local elections. The book reviews Kenya’s progress on the nine objectives of devolution set in Article 174 of the Constitution.