The constitutionality of the exercise and regulation of the foreign affairs power by county governments

Abstract

Traditionally, Foreign Affairs Power has exclusively been the domain of the State. In Kenya, however, the introduction of devolution by the 2010 Constitution has led to the formation of county governments mirrored on the structure of the National Government. There have been members of these county governments who have sought to form relations with foreign entities including foreign states, and thus seem to exercise some limited foreign affairs power. The objective of this paper is to research the exercise of this power and determine whether county governments can constitutionally yield such power.Through a purpose approach, it can be concluded that county governments can exercise some form of limited foreign affairs power. This power is not absolute and must be limited. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken some steps to try and regulate this power. This regulation is not enough. There is a need to develop a proper legal framework to check the activities of the county government in the international plane. This research has mainly been a qualitative research. In writing the dissertation, an in-depth analysis of primary resources, such as the Constitution as well as Acts of Parliament, has been carried out. There has also been a review of secondary material as well as an interview at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that has been used as a source of information.