Ethnicity and Politics in Kenya's Turbulent Path to Democracy and Development (original) (raw)
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Ethnicity and Politics in Kenya
The Palgrave Handbook of Ethnicity, 2019
Instrumentalized ethnic identity has been a key variable in the mobilization and molding of Kenyan politics since Britain's colonial divide and rule policies imposed ethnic and racial dualism that emphasized difference. At independence, the post-colonial elite did not dismantle the structural architecture of ethnic-based politics. Ethnic identity therefore remains the basis for mobilization and structuring of politics in contemporary Kenya. This dominance of ethnic-based politics, though explained variously, is a product of the conflation of political economyinduced interests where elites instrumentalize ethnicity in political mobilization to ensure their own survival and reproduction.
Electoral Competition and Politicised Ethnicity in Kenya
2018
Based on the instrumentalist theory of ethnic conflict, the paper examines into the theoretical understanding of how the electoral competition triggers the politicisation of ethnicity and ethnicised conflict in Kenya. The paper critically interrogates how the Kenyan political elites have used ethnicity as a tool to mobilise their ethnic groups promising to create political and socio-economic opportunities for them at the expense of neglecting the other tribes. Furthermore, the paper scrutinises the trajectory of politics since 1963 up until 2007 postelection crisis and how the politicisation of ethnicity created a sense of mistrust and national division among the diverse ethnic communities in Kenya. Keyword: Electoral Competition, Politicisation of Ethnicity, Kenya
The role of ethnicity in kenyan politics a force of unity or stability
The post-election crisis of January 2008 brought Kenya close to collapse and the status of a failed state. Following the abrupt proclamation of Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent president, as victor in a highly contentious presidential election, peace was disrupted by severe ethnic violence between supporters of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and the Party of National Unity (PNU). This saw up to 2,000 people killed and as many as 300,000 displaced from their homes. This analysis locates the origin of the crisis in, variously, a background of population growth and extensive poverty; and ethnic disputes relating to land going back to colonial times (notably between Kalenjin and Kikuyu in the Rift Valley). More immediately, what stoked the conflict is the construction of political coalitions around Kenya's 42 ethnic groups, although the 2007 election campaign was critically shaped by ODM's rhetoric of ‘41 against one’ (the Kikuyu); and not least, this survey records the diffusion of violence as a result of elite manipulation of armed militias which, since 1992, have steadily eroded the state's monopoly of violence. While summarising how external mediation and the elite interest in political stability prevented the country falling apart, and led to the formation of a power-sharing government, the analysis proposes that a reluctance by the Grand Coalition partners to undertake fundamental reform of the constitution means that Kenya remains a ‘democracy at risk’, and faces a real possibility of slipping into state failure Nothing raises so much fear and apprehension in Kenya as the spectre of fresh `ethnic conflicts', similar to those that rocked the country in the build-up to the 1992 multi-party general elections and after. The wave of inter-ethnic conflicts in the Rift Valley, Nyanza, Western and some parts of the Coastal provinces went down in Kenya's history as the worst since independence. The notion that violence may arise prior to and after the 1997 General elections has made the issue of `ethnic conflicts' a very sensitive, yet important subject for discussion, aimed at formulating policy options for conflict management. Indeed, whenever the issue is raised, there has often been panic, confusion and skepticism, within the government, opposition as well as within the entire public circles. It is in light of the above scenario that the author has come up with a paper structured in six sections, based on both field and library research. As implied in the title, this paper explicates crucial issues related to the 'ethnic conflicts' and their implication to Kenya's stability and development. The first is basically background information. The second section constitutes the historical background (roots) to the conflict(s),with specific highlights on the long term and immediate causes as well as their manifestations. The third section deals with the social, economic and political consequences of the ethnic conflicts. The specific issues highlighted among others include: insecurity and loss of life; displacement, breakdown of marriage and family life,
Navigating ethnicity and electoral politics in northern Kenya: the case of the 2013 election
In the 2013 elections, northern Kenya – previously seen as peripheral to national politics – took on great significance as a potential ‘swing’ region, and became the focus of much campaigning and strategizing by presidential and other candidates. It was also seen as a region especially at risk of violence given its history of ethnic politics and the new context of the devolved county system. This paper explores how the north's ethnic dynamics played out in 2013, looking in particular at case studies of three northern counties: Isiolo, Mandera and Marsabit. It traces the history of ethnic politics in these counties, and the strategies used to secure votes in 2013 through strategic alliance formation, exclusionary politics and the anointing of candidates by ‘councils of elders’. While such strategies were not uniformly successful, they led to a remarkable swing to the Jubilee Alliance of Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto in Mandera. Ruto's United Republican Party did especially well in the north, and he appears to have navigated the ethnic and clan politics of the north expertly, playing up his pastoralist background as he did so. While a success for Jubilee, the ethnic strategizing has had serious ramifications, especially in Mandera and Marsabit where exclusion has led to resentment and conflict.
Kenyatta and Odinga: The Harbingers of Ethnic Nationalism in Kenya
Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research, 2014
The paper traces the political problems that Kenya currently faces particularly the country’s inability to construct a united national consciousness, historical relationships that unfolded between the country’s foremost founders, Jomo Kenyatta and Oginga Odinga and the consequences of their political differences and subsequent-fallout in the 1960s. The fall-out saw Kenyatta increasingly consolidating power around himself and a group of loyalists from the Kikuyu community while Odinga who was conceptualized as the symbolic representative of the Luo community was confined to the wilderness of politics. This paper while applying the primordial and essentialist conceptual framework recognizes the determinant role that the two leaders played in establishing the foundations for post-independent Kenya. This is especially true with respect to the negative consequences that their differing perspectives on Kenyan politics bequeathed the country, especially where the evolution of negative ...
2017
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Boston University or the African Studies Center.
The Causes of Politicization of Ethnicity: A Comparative Case Study of Kenya and Tanzania
SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000
Recent literature establishes that ethnicity needs to be politically relevant to have a negative effect on a country's development process. Yet, an understanding of the factors that cause ethnicity to be a political salient factor is still limited. This paper compares the development of the high politicization of ethnicity in Kenya to the low politicization in Tanzania by tracing the impact of ethnic structures, colonial administration, land distribution, and nation building policies on the politicization of ethnicity. Evidence from extensive archival material, historical secondary sources and expert interviews rejects the ethnic structure argument but supports the negative impact of colonial rule and land distribution, and the positive impact of nation building policies on the politicization of ethnicity. Indeed, fully implemented nation building policies, such as the promotion of Swahili and the intermingling of secondary school students, have the potential to lastingly mitigate the political salience of ethnicity.
Ethnicity’ and disparate group-based socio-economic development make governance in Africa problematic. This paper explores them through a lens – objectively, subjectively or a combination thereof – to understand governance patterns in Africa, with special reference to Kenya and its Luo community. Whilst demonstrating the argument that negative ‘ethnicity’ owes its existence largely to colonialism, we contend that the phenomenon particularly thrives under capitalist dispensations. We employ a historical narrative to explain the marginalization of the Luo of Kenya. We argue that politically constructed stereotypes and prejudices, associated with the Luo, can be traced to the colonial era. We find that a new form of authoritarianism is emerging in Kenya under the Jubilee Administration that negates the new constitution and threatens the fragile peace in the country. Accordingly, the paper concludes that with the view to combat ethnic strife and violence, purposeful, meaningful efforts should be made, to acknowledge the democratic rights of the Luo, and other politically marginalized communities, in all sectors of the Kenyan society.