ESARP

State of democracy

The December 2007 elections

The year 2007 stood politically in the light of preparations for the presidential and parliamentary elections of 27 December. There was a record voter turnout of 70%, with credible outcomes of the parliamentary elections. However, the Electoral Commission’s tallying of the presidential election votes was severely flawed, which sparked political violence in Kenya.

NIMD’s local partner organization, the Centre for Multiparty Democracy Kenya (CMD-K), played a crucial role in facilitating talks with high-level representatives of all political parties and civil society organizations to keep Kenya together. Solutions were formulated, proposed and discussed with a mediation team led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. In the aftermath of the elections CMD-K joined a coalition of 65 organizations, which called for peaceful resolution of the crisis, and helped draft a 13-point reform agenda.

Failed promises

The post-election crisis runs deeper than the failure of the Electoral Commission to live up to its mandate. The Kibaki government, and the political elite in general, have failed to deliver on promised constitutional and electoral system reforms. In addition, they have failed to address historical injustices on sensitive social and political issues such as land reforms and devolution of power, amongst others. Throughout the year CMD-K played a leading role in aligning politicians, leaders of civil society organizations and churches to press for political reforms.

Ethnicization

Many unstable political parties and coalitions emerged and dissolved during the year, including the ruling party under the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC). Some of the parties and coalitions earned a reputation for pragmatism but most were vehicles for personal interests, entrenching a trend of ethnicization and regionalization in Kenyan politics.

In the run-up to the elections, two main coalitions dominated the scene: the Party of National Unity (PNU) of incumbent President Kibaki and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) of his main contender, Raila Odinga. The alliances were largely formed on ethnic lines, with the opposition accusing the government of privileging the dominant Kikuyu population over other ethnic groups.

NIMD Programme

Improving the political system

Due to a lack of political will, no compromise was reached on revising Kenya’s constitution. An eleven-point ‘essential reforms package’ had been devised by political parties and civil society, backed by certain ministers as well as religious leaders. CMD-K had been granted a key role in facilitating these constitutional talks, providing strategic and technical input and aligning stakeholders. The parliamentary and presidential approval for the long-awaited Political Parties Act (PPA) was a major achievement. CMD-K played a key role in this process.

Strengthening the political parties

An important aim of NIMD’s 2007 programme was the strengthening of political parties’ identities, improvement of internal democracy, and institutional development of the parties. Although different success rates were achieved, parties were able to improve on these issues.

In the run-up to the elections, CMD-K focused on programmatic debates between the various parties, as well as a special programme aimed at preparing women candidates to stand in the elections and increase their numbers in representative bodies. An innovative development, and in hindsight a very important one, was the organization of peace concerts throughout Kenya to educate and motivate the young generation not to engage in violence over the electoral competition.
 

Relations between political parties and civil society

Efforts of CMD-K to forge links with civil society resulted in several meetings and workshops with various underrepresented groups including women, youth and unrecognized ethnic minorities. The meetings helped them organize, articulate their demands and prepare petitions for the constitutional reform committee.
 

Young NIMD in Kenya

On the initiative of CMD-K, twelve youth wings of political parties joined a designated Youth Development Programme. In June, three Young NIMD representatives and three Kenyan youth wing members participated in a youth conference in Ghana. These contacts were extended at the NIMD Partnership Days in September, which a two-person Kenyan delegation attended.

Multiparty cooperation

CMD-K was instituted in 2004 by Kenyan political parties and forms a unique interparty dialogue platform. Funded by NIMD and with additional financial support from UNIFEM, Heinrich Böhl and UNDP, CMD-K is broadening its programme. This support, as well as partnerships with universities and civil society organizations (CAPF), has contributed to the growth of CMD-K’s reputation and visibility in Kenya.
 

The year 2007 stood politically in the light of preparations for the presidential and parliamentary elections of 27 December. There was a record voter turnout of 70%, with credible outcomes of the parliamentary elections. However, the Electoral Commission’s tallying of the presidential election votes was severely flawed, which sparked political violence in Kenya.

NIMD’s local partner organization, the Centre for Multiparty Democracy Kenya (CMD-K), played a crucial role in facilitating talks with high-level representatives of all political parties and civil society organizations to keep Kenya together. Solutions were formulated, proposed and discussed with a mediation team led by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. In the aftermath of the elections CMD-K joined a coalition of 65 organizations, which called for peaceful resolution of the crisis, and helped draft a 13-point reform agenda.