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The new age of Kenyan by-elections
Edgar Odima
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An election is a formal group of the decision-making process by which a population of a particular country chooses an individual to hold public office while a by-election is usually a special election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. In Kenya, general elections and by-elections have many times been blemished by violence and claims of election misconducts which have threatened to weaken rule of law and leave electoral democracy a fantasy.
In Summary
Political violence has played out in different manners in Kenya’s history dating back to 1888 when the British East Africa Company (BEAC) obtained concessionary.
The upsetting trend
After weeks of aggressive campaigns, unpleasant incidents dominated the by-elections foreshowing the nasty scenes that could likely be seen in the general elections Kenya is set to hold in 2022.
Allies of the newly formed United Democratic Alliance (UDA) party allied to Deputy President Dr. William Ruto claimed law enforcement officers were not impartial. Politicians from other camps on their part counter-accused UDA members of bribery and intimidation in most polling stations.
2007
2017
2022
In Kabuchai parliamentary by-election in Bungoma county police ended up arresting four Members of Parliament while in Matungu constituency, a Senator and former a Cabinet Secretary were also arrested for causing chaos. The former Cabinet Secretary in particular was captured on camera assaulting an official of the electoral commission.
The Chairman of Kenya’s Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Governor of Machakos county are among the top leaders who came out to condemn the violence. The Governor in his statement warned the by-elections foreboded political disorder that might become evident in the 2022 general elections urging the state to save the country from the potential political violence.
One year to the 2022 general elections
Acts of violence are always fueled by politicians willing to go to extreme ends to bribe voters or get involved in other malpractices to secure a win.
Candidates and parties that fan violence during an election must be severely sanctioned and punished as the country is getting increasingly polarized with every by-election. Electoral violence and political fanaticism risk tearing Kenya apart like it was the case in 2007, with intolerance building up in recent months.
Important figures in the 2022 elections.
Uhuru Kenyatta
William Ruto
Kalonzo Musyoka
Gideon Moi
The son of Kenya’s second president, Daniel Moi. Gideon is in One Kenya Alliance and a political rival of the deputy president.
Political Impunity
Conducting seamless and democratic elections in Kenya has not been a guaranteed eventuality if past elections are to be considered. Agents responsible for large-scale violence have seldom been thoroughly investigated, arrested or prosecuted.
The rule of law in most cases has been put aside in the context of political competition which has led to the presumption of innocence for political violence perpetrators. It is a shortcoming that has also been pointed out by representatives of Kenyan Civil society.
The government has to accept that use of election technology does not guarantee credibility of elections. Technology has become a ‘tool’ that competing parties exploit to either play victims of election contraventions or illegally declare themselves election winners. This was manifestly evident in the 2017 general elections that precipitated a petition which produced a historic overturning of election outcomes and a court order for repeat polls.
Election technology in Kenya is the new frontier for claims of fraud in the manner of its procurement, deployment and use, which, depending on a candidate’s political side, is either purely technical and dependable or purely political and worth trashing. Addressing this issue will be imperative to avoiding violence around elections and by-elections as the country heads to critical succession polls in 2022.
References:
Barkan, J (2013) Kenya’s 2013 elections: Technology is not democracy. Journal of Democracy 24(3).
Cheeseman, N (2008)Â The Kenyan elections of 2007: An introduction. Journal of Eastern African Studies 2(2).
Dafoe, A (2015)Â On technological determinism: A typology, scope, conditions, and a mechanism. Science, Technology & Human Values 40(6).
IEBC press Conference: Poll-Related Violence in the March 4th 2021 By-Elections.
The Writer:
Edgar Musiri Odima is a data analyst at The Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB) in Kenya. He is a graduate of economics and statistics, with experience in writing and research.
The article is clearly talking about the Kenyan elections and how Technology is the major cause of election fraund in Kenya, therefore the article should suggest solutions that can be put in place to end technological challenges during the election process,