CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES THE ELECTORAL MANAGEMENT BODY IN KENYA FACES IN MANAGING ELECTIONS TO ACHIEVE ELECTORAL PEACE IN KENYA
Abstract
Background: The goal of democratic processes is for voters to elect leaders of their choosing. An electoral system is designed to guarantee that the results reflect wishes of the majority population, giving elected leaders’ credibility, and that the election results are not challenged in anyway.
Objective of the study: The purpose of this research was to assess the challenges and possibilities that Kenya’s electoral management body (IEBC) faces in organizing and managing elections.
Methodology: This study was guided by Consociationalism theory, voting theory and rational choice theory. The researcher adopted a descriptive research design with qualitative and quantitative methods. The study was conducted between July 2022 and December 2022. The target population for this study was political parties, political analysts, members of the IEBC, and legislatures, and voters. The method of stratified random sampling was used by the researcher. The strata were determined by target population, and a random sample was drawn from each stratum. To gather data, the researcher utilized interview guide methods, which included items derived from the study objectives and research questions. The two primary methods that were used for data collection are: questionnaires and interviews. Voters were given questionnaires, while political experts, electoral experts, and IEBC officials were given interview guides. Descriptive statistics were applied for the data that was collected using the questionnaires.
Results and Findings: Results indicate that the IEBC faces a host of challenges in relation to organizing, conducting and managing elections to achieve electoral peace in Kenya. These can be categorized into operational, administrative and legal. Opportunities for IEBC include extant judicial decisions; benchmarking; experiential learning; and voter education.
Conclusion and Recommendations: Among other recommendations, the study suggests that the cure to the current divisive plurality electoral system is to explore other options such as proportional representation and mixed member representation models as they are more inclusive and result in fair representation.
Keywords: Electoral System, First Past the Post principle, Plurality System
References
Adhiambo, M. (2017). People who defined 2017 elections in Kenya. Retrieved from: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001258722/people-Who-defined-2017-elections-in-kenya. The Standard. Page 3.
Ashindorbe, K. (2018). Electoral Violence and the Challenge of Democratic Consolidation in Nigeria. India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, 74(1), 92-105. Doi: 10.1177/0974928417749639
Barkan, J. D. (2008). Kenya's Great Rift. Foreign Affairs, 87(1), 88-100.
Birch, Sarah & David Muchlinski (2017) Electoral Violence Prevention: Patterns
Bogaards, M. (2000). The uneasy relationship between Empirical and Normative types in consociational theory. Journal of Theoretical Politics, 12(4), 395-423 Doi:10.101177/1465116502003003004http://doi.org/10.1177%2F13533310420002373000.
Bogaards, M. (2014). Democracy and social peace in divided societies: Exploring consociational parties. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137433176
Bratton. Michael/ Van de Walle, Nicholas (1997): Democratic Experiments in Africa, Regime Transitions in Comparative Perspective. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press.
Caramani, D. (2017). Elections in Western Europe 1815-1996. Springer.
Chege, M. (2008). Kenya: back from the brink? Journal of Democracy, 19(4), 125-139. https://doi.org/10.1353/jod.0.0026
Cohen Frank (1997). Proportional versus majoritarian ethnic conflict management in Democracies Cooperative political studies 30 (5):607-30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0010414097030005004
De Smedt, J. (2009). ‘No Raila, No Peace! Big man politics and election violence at the Kibera grassroots. African Affairs, 108(433), 581-598.
Drummond, P. (2015). Promoting Democracy in Preventing Electoral Violence: The Women’s Situation Room. Sustainable Development Solutions Network. 87(1), 88-100.
Duncan, M. K. (2017). Democracy Down Under: A Comparative Look at Australian and American Electoral Systems. Ind. Int'l & Comp. L. Rev., 27, 117. Electoral. https://doi.org/10.18060/7909.0048
Gallagher, M., & Mitchell, P. (2018). Dimensions of variation in electoral systems. The Oxford handbook of electoral systems, 23.
Gutierrez –Romero, Roxana (2014). An Inquiry into the Use of Illegal Electoral Malpractice and Effects of Political Violence and Vote Buying. Journal of Conflict Resolution 58(8):1500-1527)
Herron, E. S., Pekkanen, R. J., & Shugart, M. S. (Eds.). (2018). The Oxford handbook of electoral systems. Oxford University Press.
Hoglund, Kristine (2009). Electoral violence: causes, concept and consequences. Terrorism and political violence 21(3):412-427. https://doi.org/10.1080/09546550902950290
International Peace Institute. (2012). ‘Elections and stability in West Africa’: the way forward. IPI Policy Brief. IPI. 87(1), 88-100.
KHRC. (2012) and (2013). Not to be forgotten: the faces of impunity in Kenya. Kenya Human Rights Commission, Nairobi.
Kothari, C.R (2004) research methodology: methods and techniques. New Delhi, New Age international publishers.
Lijphart, A. (1977). A comparative examination of democracy in multiple society Yale University press is based in Connecticut.
Lijphart, Arend 1977 Democracy in Plural Societies: A Comparative Exploration. New Haven: Yale University Press.1985 Power Sharing in South Africa. Policy Papers in International Affairs No.24. Institute of International Studies. University of California. Berkeley.
Lindberg, Staffan (2006). Democracy and Elections in Africa. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. https://doi.org/10.1353/book.3263
Lockwood, S. J., & Krönke, M. (2018). Do Electoral Systems Affect How Citizens Hold their Government Accountable? Evidence from Africa.
Mancebo, A. (2019). Parties' motivations for electoral reform under the democratic transition in South Africa. Revista Española de Ciencia Política, (50), 43-67. https://doi.org/10.21308/recp.50.02
Miller W.L. (1977) Basic Voting Patterns at a Post-War Election: 1966. In: Electoral Dynamics in Britain since 1918. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-15851
Mozaffar, S. Scarrit, J.R., and Galaich, G. (2003) Electoral Institutions, EthnoPolitical Cleavages and Party Systems in Africa’s Nascent Democracies, American Political Science Review, 97(03) 379-390. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055403000753
Mutugi, D. M. (2016). Trends of Internal Displacement in Kenya: The Case of Kuresoi, Nakuru County, 1992-2008 (Doctoral Dissertation, Kenyatta University).
Nagle, J. (2016). Social movements in violently divided societies: Constructing conflict and peacebuilding. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315716770
Norris. P, (2013) the Natural Democratic Institute (NDI).
Nurmi, H. (2010). On the relative unimportance of voting weights: observations on Political Régimes: Actors Strategies and Consequences. New York & London
Nurmi, H. (2018). Voting theory: cui bono. Politeia, 91, 106-121
Reynolds, Andrew 1995 “The Case for Proportionality “. Journal of Democracy 6:117-124.1996
Reynolds, Andrew, and Ben Reilly (1997). The International IDEA Hand Book of Routledge, 100-112.
Saari, D. G. (2003). Unsettling aspects of voting theory. Economic Theory, 22(3), 529-555
Sandy Q. Qu & John Dumay, (2011). "The qualitative research interview," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 8(3), pages 238-264.
Saunders, M., Thornhill, and Lewis, P. (2009): Research Methodologies for Business Student, London: Prentice Hall.
Saurugger, S., & Terpan, F. (2016). Regional Integration in Times of Crisis: Power, Institutional Density and the People–a Conclusion. Crisis and Institutional Change in Regional Integration, 209-223.
Shugart, M. S., Taagepera, R., Herron, E. S., & Pekkanen, R. J. (2018). Electoral system effects on party systems. The Oxford Handbook of Electoral Systems, 41.
Sinnott, R., & Farrell, D. M. (2017). The electoral system. In Politics in the Republic of Ireland (pp. 109-130). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315652313-4
UNDP. (2009). Elections and Conflict Prevention: An Analysis, Planning, And Programming Guide UNDP. COO References.UNEP 2008: Kenya. Security Map of Nairobi
USAID, (2010). Electoral Security Framework Technical Guidance. Handbook for Democracy and Governance Officers, USAID.178.
