Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

Democratic Reform in Kenya

Kenya’s long awaited constitutional and electoral reforms have finally been initiated. It offers hope to Kenya’s democratization process, which has known some hurdles in the past years. It is expected that political parties are going to play a central role - either as catalysts or bottlenecks - in this process. Currently a new phase in the reform process has started with the publication of a new draft constitution. As it is important that the political parties are well informed on possible electoral systems and processes, CMD-Kenya organized this study tour. Gaining information on these issues enables the political representatives to effectively contribute to democratic reform in Kenya.

South African stakeholders share experiences

During the five day working visit, the Kenyan delegation met with a wide range of key stakeholders in South Africa’s electoral and constitutional reform processes. In an opening workshop at EISA, the delegation was introduced to the history of South Africa’s transformation process and received a presentation of the different electoral systems used within the country. The system differs per (sub)region, which offered the visiting delegation a menu of options for Kenya’s electoral reform process.

The Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) shared its experience with it’s work on South Africa’s electoral system. This system consists of proportional representation (PR) at the national and provincial level, combined with a majoritarian, single member constituency system at the local level.

The Kenyan delegation was very impressed with the independent nature of the IEC. The commissioners are openly and competitively appointed to the IEC. Funding arrangements make it possible that the electoral commission does not depend on the government. An eye-opener for the Kenyan visitors were the Multiparty Liaison Committees. These are multi-stakeholder consultative bodies through which the IEC engages with political parties in the promotion of free and fair elections.

A cross section of South African political party representatives also met with their Kenyan colleagues. The South Africans assessed their own system and shared their thoughts with the Kenyans on the lessons that could be drawn from their experiences.

Institutionalisation of political parties

In their meetings with democratization experts and civil society representatives, political parties were challenged to reflect on their own organisations.  The most important considerations here were issues such as the nomination processes, the role of money in politics, rules and procedures that promote internal party democracy and the political culture of the elites. Kenyan political parties were warned not to turn into “electoral vehicles”. If they are to effectively contribute to democratization in their country, political parties were recommended to ensure that they institutionalise and develop a credible democratic profile - also in-between elections.

Well-founded debate

In looking back to the five intense days, all participants deeply appreciated the exposure they received and the richness of the discussions they had with the South African stakeholders. It is expected that the lessons learned during this study visit will feed into the reform process in Kenya as political parties are now in a position to contribute to the debate.