The Limits of Multipartyism

Abstract

The most recent political reforms in Kenya and Uganda have addressed previously neglected aspects of participation and contestation. The 1997 constitutional reforms in Kenya created a more level electoral playing field and prepared the ground for an opposition victory in 2002. While multipartyism and electoral contestation are now well established in Kenyan politics, the constitutional reforms have begun to address issues of participation and the constitutional balance between different institutions of the government. In Uganda, the recent political reforms have addressed the issue of contestation and are likely to result in a return to multipartyism by 2006. Transnational activism played again a diminished role in shaping the direction of regime change. After a period of mobilization focused on atrocities committed by rebel groups in northern Uganda, NGOs begun more recently to challenge the authoritarianism of the Museveni government.