Electoral Competition and Politicised Ethnicity in Kenya (original) (raw)
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Ethnicity and Politics in Kenya's Turbulent Path to Democracy and Development
Journal of Social Policy Conferences, 2019
This article examines the manifestation of ethnicity in Kenyan politics and its impact on Kenya's democratic path and development. It questions the salience of ethnicity in politics and traces the origin of ethnic consciousness to the colonial era. Efforts by the successive regimes to advance a national identity have proved futile as all of them have worked to calcify it through its exploitation and politicization. We utilize an intersection of theoretical approaches to zoom in on the overwhelming nature of ethnicity in politics. The crux of our argument is that ethnicity has, over time, been used for by the self-aggrandizing political elite for self-serving interests and it is our opinion that the historic handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and the former Prime Minister Raila Odinga provided another unique opportunity for de-ethicising Kenya's politics and for strengthening the existing institution.
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.
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.
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,
The ethnification of electoral conflicts in Kenya: Options for positive peace
Kenya has since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in 1991 experienced periodic electoral conflicts. In the analysis of these conflicts, however, there is an evolving tendency to perceive their causes as merely, or mainly, manifestations of negative ethnicity. In other words, there is the tendency on the part of the state, and non-state actors, to deliberately 'ethnify' extra-ethnic conflicts in the country in a phenomenon herein conceptualised as ethnification. The ethnification of extra-ethnic conflicts has caused the country to continually drift into an electoral-conflict trap. The failure to address substantive extra-ethnic factors which have historical, structural, institutional, legal, and cultural standpoints has constrained the pursuit of positive peace in the country. This paper, therefore, examines the evolving tendency to treat extra-ethnic electoral conflicts from the ethnic-identity premise. The centrality of underlying causes and rationales of electoral conflict that are extra-ethnic is highlighted, and a way forward for the pursuit of positive peace in the country is recommended.
Breaking narratives of ethnic politics in Kenya: Is Kenya predisposed to election violence?
2022
This research paper aims to critically analyze the historically pre-conceived narratives associated with ethnic-based politics in Kenya and further explore the differences between the perceptions and predictions of political violence versus the occurrence of actual political violence. Since independence, politics in Kenya have been associated with ethnic affiliations that often manifest through varying degrees of competitiveness that could result in violence. The political climate in Kenya presents two types of narratives: one that shows the country’s predisposition to election-related violence (especially in hot spots) and another indicating that Kenya is moving away from violent politics. This paper dives into the debate determining whether Kenya is predisposed to election violence, particularly from an ethnic-based perspective. Findings show that while Kenya’s colonial “divide and rule” history continues to haunt and manifest in present-day politics and ethnicity remains a heavily instrumentalized political tool; there is some positive progress within the socio-political structure that could indicate that the country might be moving away from violent politics.
Democracy unravelled in Kenya: multi-party competition and ethnic targeting
African Identities, 2011
The introduction of competitive multi-party politics in Kenya has led to intense struggles for the ultimate political prize, the ‘imperial presidency’. Given the country's multi-ethnic character which is dominated by five large ethnic communities or tribes, parties tend to be erected on ethnic foundations. Strong political personalities are elevated to represent and advance the interests of their people. Given the power and resources associated with the capture of power, electoral competition becomes a struggle for ethnic dominance. The Kikuyu who were the first community to rise to power after independence see the presidency as belonging to them. The others however seek to marginalize and/or displace the Kikuyu at every opportunity. In 2007, two political titans – Mwai Kibaki of the Kikuyu and Raila Odinga of the Luo – fought a harsh and virulent campaign which ended in a deeply flawed vote count. Kibaki won but Odinga claimed a stolen election. Immediately, severe ethnic violence was wreaked on one community only to be followed by revenge violence on others. The country came perilously close to collapse. The pattern of political violence to wound and destroy ethnic opponents arose in 1992, then in 1997 and finally in 2007. Multi-party electoral competition has brought untold grief to hundreds of thousands of Kenyans. In essence, democracy has become a curse for ordinary Kenyans.
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.