| dc.description.abstract | n 2017, Kenya held two presidential elections in succession after the
new apex court, the Supreme Court, annulled the August 2017 presidential
results in which the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta was
declared the winner. The main opponent, Raila Odinga, declined to participate
in a fresh poll. Violent protests spread with supporters of Raila
Odinga demanding his inauguration. On January 30, 2018, they swore
him to ‘office’ as a ‘People’s President’. This event deepened the existing
ethno-political divisions and aroused more violence. However, on March
9, 2018, both President Kenyatta and Raila Odinga publicly agreed to
‘build bridges’. The ‘handshake’ aroused new dynamics including weakening
of the their respective political parties. This paper discusses Kenya’s
political economy and its implications for the 2017 electoral competition.
The paper shows the centrality of ethnic based relations and how this
combines with elite bargains to influence major political
processes and governance in general. The discussion
also points out that Kenya’s ‘winner takes all’
politics drives cut-throat competition because
those who lose, and their communities, are
excluded from new power arrangements.
Elites, therefore, enter into new bargains to
address challenges of exclusion. How the
elites shape these bargains has the potential
to limit or exacerbate violence.
Note analyse 9 - Mars 2019 5 | en_US |
