Last time general parliamentary elections were held in Kenya in December 2007, things did not go well. Campaigning was divisive and tribalistic, and the election itself was marred by abuses and fraud, and followed by weeks of violence in which more than 1,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands rendered homeless. The next elections are scheduled for March next year, so the question is whether things will be better next time.
Some significant changes have occurred in the past five years, but other things have not changed. One significant problem is that the perpetrators of the post-election violence from the last elections have not been brought to account. Four prominent Kenyans have been charged by the International Criminal Court over their roles in the violence, but their cases will not be heard until after the elections are over.
On the other hand, the country has a new Constitution which should limit the power and impunity of the country’s political leaders, and there is a new judiciary which seems to be more willing to act independently than did the old. In the past five years, the country’s development has continued and oil has been discovered, leading to hopes that a more business-like approach to politics will emerge.