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Political Power and Tribalism in Kenya pp 81–112Cite as

Palgrave Macmillan

Motion Without Movement: Kenya’s Transition Without Transformation

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Abstract

The chapter argues that Kenya’s founding multiparty elections in 1992 were not a harbinger of the envisaged state restructure. The Kenyan politics did not change substantively beyond the elections and so there was no transformation beyond formation of multiple political parties. Ethnicity, political opportunism, and abuse of the incumbency derailed the quest for transformative politics. In substance, the 1997 elections were similar to the founding ones five years earlier. The 1997 elections did not mark a qualitative leap in comparison to the 1992 ones. State violence, electoral irregularities, and tribal politics marred these elections. The challenge of holding multiparty elections in a political milieu defined by single party mentality, unreformed institutions as a result of a top heavy Constitution, tribal fragmentation, and impunity persisted. It rendered multiparty politics more about style than substance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Westen K. Shilaho

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  1. Westen K. Shilaho
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Correspondence to Westen K. Shilaho .

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Shilaho, W.K. (2018). Motion Without Movement: Kenya’s Transition Without Transformation. In: Political Power and Tribalism in Kenya. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65295-5_4

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