Kenya 'marred by tribalism'

2007-09-28 15:34

Nairobi - Kenyan politics is marred by tribalism, violence and graft and this year's election will be the true test of how far the country has come since single-party rule, its election commission says.

Polls in 2002 that removed longtime ruler Daniel arap Moi were seen as broadly free and fair. But Samuel Kivuitu, the chairperson of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), said there were major challenges before the nation votes again in elections expected in December.

Kivuitu said: "Kenyans are still tribalists. ... They still embrace election violence. Voter bribery is still rampant. Misuse of state resources for electoral victory is still the order of the day.

"All these are grave weaknesses, which have the capacity to derail, to imperil, our progress towards democracy. Until these are solved ... our claim, in my view, that we are a democracy or that the 2002 elections put us there, is fictitious.

"The coming general elections promise to provide a true barometer as to how far we have moved towards democracy."

Political tensions 'climb'

Kivuitu was often a sharp critic of the electoral process, but lacked any real power under a constitution designed and amended to keep nearly all substantive powers in the hands of the president.

He said the ECK was well-prepared to conduct the polls, in which 75-year-old President Mwai Kibaki was seeking a second term at the helm of east Africa's biggest economy.

The latest national opinion poll put him well ahead of his main rival, Raila Odinga, by 42% to 26%.

But political tensions had risen sharply this month. On Friday, youths hurling rocks and firing arrows badly beat three of Odinga's top supporters after they arrived uninvited at a rural fundraiser organised by supporters of the president.

On Wednesday, an umbrella group of political parties - the Centre for Multiparty Democracy Kenya - lamented what it said had been "glaring inaction" against the instigators of violence by the country's internal security minister and police boss.

Speaking at the same function as Mukele, British High Commissioner Adam Wood said Kenya had a good framework in place for holding the forthcoming ballot.

But he said many Kenyans he spoke to wanted to see more debate on topics like politicians' performance, the prosecution of corruption and the distribution of the benefits of economic growth for 2007 estimated at between 6.5 and 7%.

A study showed Kenyans viewed many of their leaders as lazy and greedy, said Wood, and would expect better this time round.

- Reuters