Africa and the Disruptions of the Twenty-First Century by Zeleza Paul;

Author:Zeleza, Paul;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CODESRIA (Conseil pour le Developpement de la Recherche Economique et Sociale en Afrique)
Published: 2021-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

14

Kenya’s Election Watershed and the Promise of African Democracy

On 1 September 2017, the Supreme Court of Kenya issued its much-anticipated decision on the presidential election held on 8 August. By a majority 4–2 decision, the court annulled the re-election of incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta. The court declared that the presidential election ‘was not conducted in accordance with the Constitution and the applicable laws’. Specifically, the Supreme Court cited irregularities and illegalities committed by the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) in the transmission of the results and stated that this had affected the integrity of the election. It ordered a fresh presidential poll within sixty days.

As was to be expected, the court judgment was greeted by celebration and condemnation in the opposition and ruling party strongholds, respectively. Early indications were that there was some disquiet in business circles as the stock market and Kenyan shilling tumbled immediately following the announcement of the court decision. Crucially, the political leaders and media pundits respected and accepted the court ruling, notwithstanding their predictable disagreements and differences.

This was a watershed development in Kenyan and African political history. It was the first time that a presidential election in an African country had been revoked by the judiciary (and the fourth time in the world).1

This development compared in its significance, since the dawn of Kenya’s ‘second independence’, to the elections of 2002 that had marked a milestone in Kenya’s protracted and bumpy road to democracy. It effectively represented a landmark consummation of the new democratic Constitution of 2010, which had emerged out of the unprecedented 2007–2008 post-election violence that had rocked this lovely and proud nation.

Thus, the decision by the Supreme Court demonstrated the maturing of Kenyan democracy, the consolidation of a functioning democracy. It underscored the independence of the judiciary, the growing strength of public institutions and deepening national commitment to transparency, accountability and the rule of law. It gave Kenya a priceless opportunity to restore public faith and trust in the judiciary, one of the three critical organs of government and good governance. Trust in public institutions is indispensable for national cohesion and imperative for sustainable development.

The next sixty days promised to provide a supreme test for the Kenyan political class and civil society, of whether the country and its demos would move forward or stall in its complex and exacting journey of constructing an integrated, inclusive, innovative and sustainable democratic developmental state and society. There was little doubt that passions would run high in the next two months of new presidential campaigns. The danger lay in allowing heated party competition to degenerate into violent political polarisation. The two main contestants, President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga, understood the high stakes for the future of their beloved country. In their initial remarks after the court issued its judgment, they rightly stressed the need for peace.

On the day the judgment was made many issues remained unclear. Would the election be conducted by the same IEBC as currently constituted? The court had twenty-one days to give its detailed judgment, while the new elections had to be held in sixty days.

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