Election-Related Conflicts in Africa: a Comparative Study of Ghana and Kenya

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Election-Related Conflicts in Africa: a Comparative Study of Ghana and Kenya Wright State University CORE Scholar Browse all Theses and Dissertations Theses and Dissertations 2012 'Counting Votes and Bodies,' Election-Related Conflicts in Africa: A Comparative Study of Ghana and Kenya Ibrahim Mahama Nambiema Wright State University Follow this and additional works at: https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all Part of the International Relations Commons Repository Citation Nambiema, Ibrahim Mahama, "'Counting Votes and Bodies,' Election-Related Conflicts in Africa: A Comparative Study of Ghana and Kenya" (2012). Browse all Theses and Dissertations. 1088. https://corescholar.libraries.wright.edu/etd_all/1088 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses and Dissertations at CORE Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Browse all Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of CORE Scholar. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ‘COUNTING VOTES AND BODIES,’ ELECTION-RELATED CONFLICTS IN AFRICA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GHANA AND KENYA. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts By IBRAHIM MAHAMA NAMBIEMA M.A. (Governance and Leadership), Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA, Accra), 2007 2012 Wright State University WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL July 2, 2012 I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY IBRAHIM MAHAMA NAMBIEMA ENTITLED ‘COUNTING VOTES AND BODIES,’ ELECTION-RELATED CONFLICTS IN AFRICA: A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF GHANA AND KENYA BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS. ________________________ December Green, Ph.D. Thesis Director ________________________ Laura M. Luehrmann, Ph.D. Director, Master of Arts Program in International and Comparative Politics Committee on Final Examination: ___________________________________ December Green, Ph.D. Department of Political Science ___________________________________ Liam Anderson, Ph.D. Department of Political Science ___________________________________ Laura M. Luehrmann, Ph.D. Department of Political Science ___________________________________ Andrew T. Hsu, Ph.D. Dean, School of Graduate Studies ABSTRACT Nambiema, Ibrahim Mahama. M.A., Department of Political Science, Wright State University, 2012. ‘Counting Votes and Bodies,’ Election-Related Conflicts in Africa: A Comparative Study of Ghana and Kenya. Since joining the ‘third wave’ of democracy in the 1990s, African countries have focused on elections. Some leaders conduct elections to legitimize their authoritarian rule. Many of Africa’s transitional democracies are associated with flawed elections and violent conflicts. The literature on electoral conflict places little emphasis on election governance. It is my assumption that the high rate of non-credible elections in Africa can be associated with election management that has exacerbated societal cleavages. Is an effective and independent election management body a necessary prerequisite for election results to be credible? Are credible elections correlated with lower levels of conflicts? Kenya and Ghana, with their parallel experience with electoral conflicts, are compared to determine if the level of effectiveness of an electoral commission is strongly correlated with the conduct of credible elections and consequently a reduced propensity for election-related conflicts. Key words: election-related violence, elections, election management bodies, conflict, democracy, Sub-Saharan Africa. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 - INTRODUCTION ……………………………………………………………..1 1.0. INTRODUCTION … ……………………………………………………………………..1 1.1. The Research ……....……………………………………………………………………..4 1.2. Literature Review ……………………………………………………………………..7 1.3. Methodology and Presentation ……………………………………………………………16 CHAPTER 2 - GHANA: POLITICS AND ELECTION MANAGEMENT ……………………23 2.0. GHANA: BACKGROUND AND POLITICAL HISTORY ……………………………23 2.1. Historical Overview ……………………………………………………………………25 2.2. Overview of Ethnicity and Conflicts in Ghana’s Political History ...…………………26 2.3. Challenges of Multiparty Elections and Democracy in Ghana …………………………....30 2.3.1. Socio-Economic Inequalities in Ghana ……………….………………………31 2.3.2. Ethnicity and Voting Patterns in Ghana …………….…………………………32 2.3.3. Managing Diversity for Democratic Consolidation in Ghanaian Politics ...……32 2.4. Political Development and Election Management in Pre-Independent Ghana ...…………32 2.4.1. Political Parties and Their Influence on the Political Process in the Gold Coast…33 iv 2.4.2. Elections and Election Management in Pre-Independent Ghana………………….38 2.5. Political Development and Election Management in the First Republic (1960–1966) …….38 2.5.1. Political Parties and Their Influence on the Political Process in the First Republic . ……………………………………………………………………………………39 2.5.2. Elections and Election Management in the First Republic and After (1960-69) . ……………………………………………………………………………………41 2.6. Political Development and Election Management in the Second Republic (1969–1972) ……………………………………………………………………………………42 2.6.1. Political Parties and Their Influence on the Political Process in the Second Republic ………………………………………………………………………………..44 2.6.2. Elections and Election Management in the Second Republic and After (1969-1979) …………….……………………………………………………………………48 2.7. Political Development and Election Management in the Third Republic (1979–1982) ……………………………………………………………………………………49 2.7.1. Political Parties and Their Influence on the Political Process in the Third Republic ……………………………………………………………………………………50 2.7.2. Election Management and Electoral Reforms in the Third Republic ……….…...51 2.8. Political Development and Electoral Reforms during the PNDC Regime (1982-1992) …..52 2.8.1. Civil Society’s Influence on the Political Process during the PNDC Regime ……54 2.8.2. Election Management and Electoral Reforms during the PNDC Regime ...……55 2.9. Political Development and Electoral Reforms in the Fourth Republic (1993 - June 2012) .…………………………………………………………………………………………………..59 2.9.1. Ghana’s Electoral Commission of 1993 ………………………………………...63 v 2.9.2. Political Parties and Their Influence on the Electoral Process in the Fourth Republic ……………………………………………………………………………..…68 2.9.3. Election Management and Electoral Reforms in the Fourth Republic …….……70 2.10. Consolidating Democracy in Ghana: Lessons and Prospects ……………………………73 2.11. Emerging Patterns of Democratic Development in Ghana ………………………………76 CHAPTER 3 - KENYA: POLITICS AND ELECTION MANAGEMENT ……………………80 3.0. KENYA: BACKGROUND AND POLITICAL HISTORY ……………………………80 3.1. Historical Overview ………….……………………………………………………………81 3.2. Overview of Ethnicity and Conflicts in Kenya’s Political History …..……………………83 3.3. Challenges of Multiparty Elections and Democracy in Kenya ……………………………86 3.3.1. Socio-Economic Inequalities in Kenya ………………………………………….86 3.3.2. Ethnicity and Voting Patterns in Kenya …………………………………………88 3.3.3. Managing Diversity for Democratic Consolidation in Kenyan Politics ………...89 3.4. Political Development and Election Management in Pre-Independent Kenya ……………90 3.4.1. Political Parties and Their Influence on the Political Process in Pre-Independent Kenya …………..………………………………………………………………………93 3.4.2. Elections and Election Management in Pre-Independent Kenya ……..…………96 3.5. Political Development and Election Management in Post- Independent Kenya (1963- 1978) ……………………………………………………………………………………98 3.5.1. Political Parties and Their Influence on the Political Process in Kenya ..…...…100 3.5.2. Elections and Election Management in Post-Independence Kenya ……..……..101 3.6. Political Development and Election Management in Kenya (1978-1991) ...…………….103 3.6.1. Political Parties and Their Influence on the Political Process in Kenya ...……..102 vi 3.6.2. Elections and Election Management in Kenya ……….………………………..108 3.7. Political Development and Electoral Reforms in Kenya (1992-2002) ...………………...109 3.7.1. The 1992 Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) ...…………………………..109 3.7.2. Political Parties and Their Influence on the Political Process in Kenya ….........111 3.7.3. Election Management and Electoral Reforms in the Republic of Kenya …...…113 3.7.4. Election-Related Violence under Arap Moi ……….…………………………..117 3.8. Political Development and Electoral Reforms in Kenya (2003-2012) …………………..118 3.8.1. Political Parties and Their Influence on the Political Process in Kenya ….........120 3.8.2. Elections and Election Management in the Republic of Kenya ….....................122 3.9. Consolidating Democracy in Kenya: Lessons and Prospects ………………………..…..130 3.10. Emerging Patterns of Democratic Development in Kenya ……………………………..130 CHAPTER 4- ANALYSIS: COMPARING GHANA’s AND KENYA’s EMBS …................................................................................................................................................135 4.0. ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS ……………………………………………………………..135 4.1. Comparing the Performance of EMBS in Ghana and Kenya …........................................137 4.2. Effect of EMBS’ Performance on Electoral Outcomes and Election-Related Violence ..…………………………………………………………………………………………………147 4.3. Most Similar System Design for Ghana and Kenya ……………………………………..152 4.4. Accounting for Other Intervening Variables ...…………………………………………..157 4.5. Theoretical Implications of Mansfield and Snyder’s War Theory for Transitional Democracies …………………………………………………………………………………..160 4.6. Conclusions and Recommendations for Further Research ………………………………162 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1:
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