Electoral Competition and Politicised Ethnicity in Kenya (original) (raw)

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