The CIHA blog will provide updates on the ongoing controversy surrounding the Kenya elections.
(image above from theelephant.com)
Saturnin Modeste Agramako, CIHA Luce Fellow at the Hekima Institute in Nairobi, provides a preliminary report on the Kenyan general elections.
By Saturnin Modeste Agramako, Luce Graduate Fellow from Hekima Institute of Peace Studies and International Relations (HIPSIR)
General elections in Kenya are held every five years. This year’s ballot represents the third general election and the fourth presidential election since the 2005 referendum and the promulgation of the 2010 Constitution that brought to birth a devolved governance structure. Out of an initial list of 17 candidates, four candidates were cleared by the country’s elections agency to run for President, the smallest number since the reintroduction of multiparty democracy in the early 1990s. In terms of mandate, according to the law of the country, incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta is not eligible to run for a third term. The same applies to a number of County Governors who have served their two-term limit of five years each.
Out of a population of around 50 million people, about 22.1 million eligible Kenyans including about 10,000 residing in the diaspora registered as voters in the 2022 general elections and are expected to take part in the polls to choose President Uhuru Kenyatta’s successor, members of the National Assembly and the Senate, the Women Members of National Assembly, the County Governors and their members of assemblies for the 47 Counties Governments.
The BBC report on the general election shows that voting in general has been proceeding peacefully and smoothly. The Nation TV interview also showed that the coordination of the election was good, and the process was free and fair. In terms of international observation, the African Union, the European Union and the Commonwealth were among those who sent observers to monitor the elections. In terms of security, about 150,000 officers have been deployed to ensure the security of polling stations, police chief Hilary Mutyambai said.
(image below from Nation Africa)
In addition, voters in Rongai and Nakuru counties protested after the election agency suspended parliamentary elections in the constituency over the lack of ballot papers and ballot boxes. As a result, riot police were deployed to disperse them (Mwale 2022).
Along the same lines, some people were not able to be identified and were not able to vote as large numbers of people were relocated from their main registered areas during the COVID-19 crisis. The relocation caused inconvenience as new polling stations gazettement by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) was communicated late.
Many young people say they are frustrated by growing inequality and an entrenched political system overseen by the same old elite. As a result, figures from the electoral commission show that many young people did not register to vote. This shows a sign that young people have lost faith in the electoral system (Walker, 2022).
On the other hand, polling stations were closed in many places at the official time -1700 hours local time, but the IEBC reported that voting hours had been extended in some areas that had experienced delays. Anyone still in the queue at closing time was to be allowed to vote.
