State of Democracy Kenya

The aftermath of the violence that gripped the country after the elections in December 2007 prompted a national discussion on how to restore the former African bastion of stability and democratisation. As a result, the Kofi Annan brokered power-sharing deal between Raila Odinga's ODM and Mwai Kibaki's PNU also contained the pledge for an updated Constitution, which had already been pending for a long time. The subsequent appointed Committee of Experts and Parliamentary Select Committee were specifically tasked to present a new text for the Charter designed to prevent a recurrence of the violence. In August 2010 the new text was accepted by majority in a national referendum, with some 68% of the voting population supporting the new text. The new legal framework presents improved mechanisms for transparency and accountability, creates a better balance between the power of the president and parliament, and is generally seen as a big step forward for Kenya and the state of democracy. Especially noteworthy in this regard are the new requirements and quotas for female representation in elective and other political positions. The new constitution is, however, not a panacea for all democratic challenges in Kenya, and the coming time will show whether the country is able to adopt and integrate the new democratic dispensation in new legislation, and more importantly in new poltical practice.

Constitutional Requirements

The new constitution lays down several significant changes to the political system that will have to be adopted in law by parliament. Moreover, they need to be implemented twelve months before the constitutionally prescribed election day of 14 August 2012. This creates significant pressure on the legislature with several attempts and possibilities to derail this process by vested interests wanting to prevent a change to the status quo. So far the majority of new laws are either with Cabinet or are to be approved by Parliament, however several contentious issues are still not clear, for instance linked to the new boundaries commission tasked with designing the always sensitive new constituencies foreseeen. This means the immediate future will be a significant test on how the new constitution is going to be applied in practice.

Elections 2012

As current President Mwai Kibaki of the Party of National Unity (PNU) will have to stand down by or before 31st December 2012, the battle for his succession will dominate the coming campaign period, also since under the new constitution the post of Prime Minister will no longer be there. Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is still the frontrunner candidate in the polls, but it seems a second round will most likely be needed as he will probably not gather more than 50% in the first round of voting. The question then is whether the rivalling candidates can forge a bond and rally behind one candidate, which in turn could create all kinds of tensions between the differennt ethnic groups they will mobilise. An addtional risk are the pending indictments of the of the six suspects in the 2007/08 violence spree by the International Criminal Court (ICC), especially as two of them are likely to be presidential candidates.

NIMD Kenya programme

The Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD-Kenya) is the independent political parties membership organisation that was set up in partnership with NIMD in 2004. The Centre has 10 founding members, and currently comprises of 27 parties meeting the membership criteria of having either 1 member of parliament or at least 5 councillors elected, and paying the membership contribution. The parties are supported by a technical staff headed by an Executive Director that implements and organises the activities. The Centre functions as interparty platform with the stated mision to facilitate the growth of and perpetuation of multiparty democracy through capacity building of political member parties in Kenya.

Dialogue and Building Capacity

The two approaches of the NIMD programme are: to facilitate an interparty dialogue on issues of national concern, like the new constitution or proposed new laws, and combine this with activities to strengthen party organisations institutionally. As the current Political Parties Act prohibits 'external actors' to directly support parties, the latter approach comprises joint capacity building activities for the member parties focued for instance on developing meaningful manifestos and improving intraparty elections and procedures. Two key areas targeted by the programme in 2011 are: compliance of parties to the regulations prescribed by the new constitution, and assisting parties in the run-up to the elections and campaign period.

Constitutional Compliance

The new constitution prescibes several new requirements for political parties that will be managed and supervised by the Registrar of Politcal Parties. The programme will provide technical assistance for parties to adapt their constitution and internal procedures, for instance guaranteeing that in the National Executive Committee there is no more than two third of one of the sexes represented.

Election Campaign

The first elections under the new constitution and after the violence after the last vote in 2007 will be a lithmus test for the state of democracy in Kenya. The NIMD programme will focus on working with the parties during the election run-up and campaign period by facilitating mediation and dialogue on contentious issues arising out of the contest, preventing escalation, and already in the early stages by assisting parties in developing meaningful manifestos. An important element in this is also the cooperation with the media, and the programme will reinvigorate the parties code of conduct for the election period to avoid incitement and provocation by politician through news outlets.

From Individuals to Policy-based Politics

The wider objective of the programme is aimed to create a less issue and conflict driven dynamic in politics and stimulate policy and argument based interaction between parties. This also relates to the core objective of strengthening party organisations as independent structures with specific principles and outlook on society that inform their policy alternatves. These parties are then also able to outlive political leaders and are not just the vehicles for individuals to get elected into office.

Linking parties and parliament

A third focus of the programme relates to ensuring parties and their elected representatives in parliament forge stronger relations and interactions. The foundation for this link will be the specific policies a party develops and proposes, for instance on the basis of the election manifesto. This means individual MPs can rely on a party structure that provides them with policy alternatives, which also strengthens a more national outlook on how to allocate public goods.

Stakeholders

1. Programme Partner

Centre for Multiparty Democracy Kenya (CMD-Kenya)

2. National Partners

Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution (CIC) – Kenya Law Reform Commission (KLRC) – Registrar of Political Parties – Coalition for Accountable Political Financing (CAPF) – Former Parliamentarians Association of Kenya (FPAK) – National Civil Society Congress – Kenya Broadcasting Corporation

3. International Partners

Royal Netherlands Embassy – International IDEA – European Parliamentarians for Africa (AWEPA) – Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) – Ford Foundation – Heinrich Böhl Foundation (Germany) – National Democratic Institute (NDI) – United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women – U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Contact person for this programme

Wouter Dol, email: wouterdol@nimd.org