Kenya's past as prologue : : voters, violence, and the 2013 general election / / edited by Christian Thibon [and three others].

• Superior document: Africae Studies
• Author: Institut français de recherche en Afrique.
• TeilnehmendeR: Thibon, Christian,; Institut français de recherche en Afrique.
• Place / Publishing House: Nairobi, Kenya : : Twaweza Communications,, 2014.; ©2014
• Year of Publication: 2014
• Language: English
• Series: Africae Studies
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (267 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

During the run-up to Kenya’s 2013 general elections, crucial political and civic questions were raised. Could past mistakes, especially political and ethnic-related violence, be avoided this time round? Would the spectre of the 2007 post-electoral violence positively or negatively affect debates and voting? How would politicians, electoral bodies such as the IEBC, the Kenyan civil society, and the international community weigh in on the elections? More generally, would the 2013 elections bear witness to the building up of an electoral culture in Kenya, characterized by free and fair elections, or would it show that voting is still weakened by political malpractices, partisan opinions and emotional reactions? Would Kenya’s past be inescapable or would it prepare the scene for a new political order? Kenya’s Past as Prologue adopts a multidisciplinary perspective - mainly built upon field-based ethnography and a selection of case studies - to answer these questions. Under the leadership of the French Institute for Research in Africa (Institut français de recherche en Afrique, IFRA), political scientists, historians and anthropologists explore various aspects of the electoral process to contribute in-depth analyses of the last elections. They highlight the structural factors underlying election and voting in Kenya including the political system, culture and political transition. They also interrogate the short-term trends and issues that influence the new political order. The book provides insight into specific case studies, situations and contexts, thus bringing nuances and diversity into focus to better assess Kenya’s evolving electoral democracy.

Table of Contents

Contents -- Foreword -- Acknowledgment -- Introduction. Kenya's 2013 General Election: A National Event Set Between "The Inescapable" and "The Unforeseeable" -- Against electoral doom-mongering -- Navigating the inescapable and the unforeseeable -- Exploring the particular to reach the general -- The scope and limits of democratisation -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Kenyan Elections: When Does History Repeat Itself and Does Not Repeat Itself? -- History does not repeat itself: Peaceful elections -- In contrast, history stutters -- Unknown post-election issues -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Kenyan Elections: The ICC, God and the 2013 Kenyan General Elections -- Impunity of elites and ethnicisation -- The ICC and the pentecostalisation of the political life -- An impossible transitional justice? -- Towards a postcolonial diplomacy? -- Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- The 4 March 2013 General Elections in Kenya: From Latent Tension to Contained Violence -- Introduction -- The shambolic candidate selection process -- An apparently calm campaign -- Voting outcomes cause localized violence -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Getting it "Wrong" (Again)? Wahojiwa vs. Wapiga Kura in the 2013 Kenyan Election -- Introduction -- 2013 Election background: Competitive uncertainty and the "Certitude of Surveys" -- Crunching " or "massaging" " the numbers?: The Pollsters vs. the IEBC -- The post-election poll debate: Proof or posture? -- Conclusion: Pollsters- past, pollsters- future? -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Political Integration of Minority Communities: The Ogiek of Eastern Mau Forest in the 2013 Elections -- Introduction -- The Ogiek: Apolitically marginalised indigenous community -- A sense of belonging? Following the lead of the wider Kalenjin community -- Political participation in the 2013 general elections -- Beyond ethnic arithmetic: Alternative explanations for electoral choices -- Alternative patterns of explanation -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Bishop Margaret Wanjiru and the 2013 Kenyan Elections: Between Politics of the Spirit and Expanding Entrepreneurship -- Introduction -- Pentecostalism and politics: identifying two strands -- Bishop Wanjiru and the 2013 elections -- Strand A: "When the righteous are in authority" " but who are the righteous? -- Strand B: "BMW": Wanjiru as an entrepreneur -- Conclusion -- Acknowledgements -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Role of Election Observers: Diplomatic Bias and the Findings of The Kenyan 2013 Election -- Introduction -- KHRC: Election monitoring by human rights networks -- AGLI and FCPT: Grassroots election observers -- ELOG, civil society observers: Election watchman or watchman of peace? -- ELOG and other reports: The question of rejected votes.