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Reform and Political Impunity in Kenya: Transparency without Accountability

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 October 2013

Mwangi wa Gīthīnji  and
Frank Holmquist
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Abstract:

Kenya has been going through a period of political reform since 1991, when section 2A of the constitution, which had made Kenya a de jure one-party state, was repealed. This reform followed a prolonged struggle on the part of citizens both inside and outside the country, and their call for democracy was one that, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, was embraced by Western countries. Via diplomatic pressure and conditionality on aid, Western donors played an important role in the repeal of section 2A, the return of multiparty elections, and the creation and reform of a number of political institutions and offices via a separation of powers. But although these changes were supported by the political opposition and much of civil society in Kenya, they did not rise organically from the national struggle over political power. Nor did these reforms lead to a determination in the country to hold the political elite accountable for their transgressions. This article argues that modern Kenya's history of economic and political inequality has resulted in a population whose very divisions make it difficult for politicians to be disciplined. Accountability has two dimensions: the horizontal accountability among branches of government that is assured by checks and balances, and the vertical accountability of the state to its citizens. Vertical accountability depends on a constituency of like-minded citizens defending broad national interests, or an electorate with a collective identity or set of identities attached to the Kenyan nation. But in the absence of such shared goals and demands, narrow personal and local interests prevail, and politicians remain unaccountable to the nation as a whole.

Résumé:

Résumé:

Le Kenya traverse une période de réformes politiques depuis 1991, lorsque la section 2A de la constitution, qui avait jusque-là fait du Kenya un état à parti unique de droit, a été révoquée. Cette réforme est arrivée à la suite d'un long combat impliquant les citoyens à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur du pays, leur appel à la démocratic ayant été soutenu par les pays occidentaux après la chute du mur de Berlin. Avec l'appui d'une pression diplomatique et de conditions placées sur l'aide humanitaire, les donateurs de fonds occidentaux ont joué un rôle important dans le rejet de la section 2A, le retour aux élections multipartites, à la création et aux réformes d'un certain nombre d'institutions politiques via le principe de séparation des pouvoirs. Mais bien que ces changements aient été soutenus par l'opposition et la plupart de la société civile du Kenya, ils n'ont pas été l'aboutissement naturel d'un combat national pour la prise de pouvoir politique. Ces réformes n'ont pas mené non plus à un engagement déterminé dans le pays d'exiger que l'élite politique rende des comptes sur ses transgressions et abus de pouvoir. Cet article postule que la présence d'inégalités économiques et politiques dans l'histoire moderne du Kenya a engendré des divisions au sein de la population kenyane qui n'aident pas les pouvoirs politiques à faire preuve de discipline. La notion de responsabilité se présente sur deux dimensions : la responsabilité horizontale à l'intérieur des branches du gouvernement qui est assurée par un système de vérifications et de comptes-rendus, et la responsabilité verticale de l'état envers ses constituants. La responsabilité verticale dépend d'un ensemble de citoyens unis par des intérêts larges qu'ils défendent, ou sur un électorat avec soit une identité collective, soit un ensemble d'identités attachées à la nation kenyane. Or, en léabsence d'une vision unifiée et d'attentes communes, les intérêts locaux et personnels prennent le pas sur l'intérêt commun, et les pouvoirs politiques ne sont pas tenus de rendre des comptes à la nation dans son ensemble.

Type
ASR Focus: The Political Economy of Democratic Reform in Kenya
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 55 , Issue 1 , April 2012 , pp. 53 - 74
Copyright
Copyright © African Studies Association 2012

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