Pauline Lemarron Political Parties Primaries 2017: Youth in Kenya Win Youth participation in political parties and political processes in Kenya has been limited. The main reason is a governance order within political parties that lacks inclusive democratic structures. Although political parties constitute youth leagues, major policy decisions are made by the party leadership without involvement of the youth wings. The youth perform administrative duties, manage online platforms, conduct campaigns as well as provide militant security or counteract militant attacks. Despite their lack of campaign resources, a number of youth between the ages of 24 and 30 years won the nomination ticket for elective positions. This trend can be partly attributed to the devolution system. Devolution means decentralization of power, resources and representation at the local level. This system has contributed to bridging the gap between citizens and their leaders. Keywords: Kenya - Elections - Party Primaries - Youth - Political Parties - Youth Leagues - Devolution - Change POLITICAL PARTIES PRIMARIES 2017: YOUTH IN KENYA WIN* || Pauline Lemarron “The revolution taking place at the their problems on the ground. The youth global level in elections, for example in were among the big winners of the pri- the United States of America and France maries. whereby citizens are rebelling against the status quo as they want change is A number of young people who were also taking place in Kenya,” said Prof. mostly former University student leaders Herman Manyora, lecturer at the faculty won to vie for the MCA ticket of their of linguistics and languages at the Uni- respective parties.1 Young candidates, versity of Nairobi. between 24 and 30 years old beat their Herman Manyora analysed the recent- opponents despite their lack of cam- ly concluded party primaries in Kenya paign resources. In Starehe constituen- that saw many incumbents losing their cy, two youth candidates namely Steve seats to little known individuals at the Mbogo and Charles Njagua, both in their county level. These included cooks, se- early 30s, won to vie for the seat of curity guards as well as former student Member of Parliament in the August leaders. general elections. In Nandi county, sena- tor Stephen Sang, 31, won the guberna- The party primaries took place be- torial race, a step that will make him the tween 13th April 2017 and 26th April youngest governor in Kenya if he wins 2017. Political parties in government the forthcoming elections. (Jubilee) and opposition (NASA) allianc- es elected their representatives to vie Okoth Opondo, head of governance for elective positions in the upcoming and events at the media company Well August general elections. These posi- Told Story, cited that the youth were the tions are the President and the Deputy, driving force behind the primaries. Senator, Member of National Assembly, “Youth in Kibra constituency were the Women Representative, Governor and major decision makers of who was going the Deputy and the Member of County to win,” said Opondo in a telephone in- Assembly (MCA) as stipulated in the terview. Constitution of Kenya. In his Kibra constituency that consti- In a telephone interview, Herman tutes five wards, the MCA seat was won Manyora indicated that Kenyans are by youth in three wards. He said most frustrated with the establishment thus youth in his constituency decided to vie voting for politicians who understand for the MCA seat due to its importance in ARGUMENTE UND MATERIALIEN D ER ENTWICKLUNGSZUSAMMENARBEIT 21 47 PAULINE LEMARRON proximity to the people. Opondo cited funded by the Hanns Seidel Foundation that due to financial constraints to con- (HSF) Kenya & Ethiopia. Victor Ayugi duct campaigns, the youth employed the lost his bid for the Member of Parlia- door-to-door campaigns to woo voters. ment of Kibra constituency at a very nar- “Many youth with political aspirations row margin. He however vowed to vie will be inspired by these results to vie again in the 2022 general elections. for elective positions in the next general elections in 2022,” he concluded. Political analysts in Kenya have con- cluded that devolution played a major Unlike any other party primaries con- role in influencing voters’ decision dur- ducted in the past, the 2017 nomina- ing the primaries as those aspirants with tions were unique as the unprecedented the knowledge of the people and their results they produced depicted a new needs won. wave of confident electorate that voted In the Daily Nation newspaper, Prof. for leaders that deliver as opposed to Karuti Kanyinga of the Institute for De- the past where the electorate voted for velopment Studies at the University of close allies of the political establish- Nairobi opined that devolution has given ment. voters the confidence to exert them- selves in the electoral process.2 He also For instance, in Nandi County, the in- pointed out that voters have realised cumbent Governor Dr. Cleophas Kiprop that they don’t have to support the gov- Lagat, Woman Representative and 22 ernment or the opposition in order to get MCAs were all trounced. In Nairobi, the services as devolution has paved way for current senator Mike Mbuvi Sonko won unconditional resources at the county to clinch Jubilee Party’s gubernatorial level. ticket after beating the 2013 presiden- tial hopeful Peter Kenneth, who reso- Kenya’s primaries could be seen as a nates well with the middle and upper revolt of the ordinary people.3 The voters class electorate. Senator Sonko is an seemed to question the political estab- entrepreneur turned politician who has lishment with the intention of shaking attracted Kenyans across the political up the status quo by punishing the non- and tribal divide. To many Kenyans, es- performing leaders in their respective pecially the lower class, Sonko is their counties. Prof Nyaga Kindiki of Moi Uni- ‘saviour’ or their ‘robin hood’ who un- versity attributed these results to Ken- derstands their problems and always yans becoming more and more aware of rescues them. their rights and power. These latest development has also led “People are tired of rhetoric. They a large number of incumbents and aspir- want fresh and energetic blood that can ants who lost in the primaries to vie dur- deliver and there is a revolution taking ing the August general elections as in- place in Kenya especially through social dependent candidates. Estimates show media,” said Victor Ayugi in a telephone that the Independent Electoral and interview. Victor Ayugi is a young politi- Boundaries Commission (IEBC) has cian who is a beneficiary of training pro- cleared 4,000 aspirants to run as inde- vided to political parties youth leagues pendent candidates. This number is high 48 ARGUMENTE UND MATERIALIEN DER ENTWICKLUNGSZUSAMMENARBEIT 21 POLITICAL PARTIES PR IMARIES 2017: YOUTH IN KENIA WIN compared to only 350 running as inde- Projects of the HSF pendent candidates in the 2013 general elections. The chairman of Centre for The Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) Kenya Multiparty Democracy, Omingo Magara, contributes to the institutional strengthening says that independent candidates who of political parties and their youth wings lost in the primaries are likely to win both in government and opposition. HSF’s during the August elections. This, he partner organization, the Institute of Com- warns, will pose problems to Parliamen- munication and Development International (ICDI) provides capacity building for young tary speakers as these leaders have no politicians. parties to guide them on the positions to take regarding issues in Parliament.4 The capacity building interventions are Such leaders, he argues, are not loyal to aimed at improving knowledge about the any party. Constitution of Kenya, structures and roles of the national and county governments, the rule of law, principles of transparency and In a Standard Newspaper article, ex- accountability, democratic party structures perts cite that in the long run there and public participation. would be need for legislation5 to rede- sign how Parliament and County Assem- In addition, trainings feature practical com- ponents to develop skills in political commu- blies operate should the independent nication, campaign strategies, networking, candidates form the majority in Parlia- digital technology as well as to step-up self ment. confidence among young politicians. “When these independents are the majority in Parliament, the traditional The HSF also conducted a study exchange roles of the majority and minority might trip for six young politicians in December 2016 to Berlin and Munich in Germany. Stud- be redefined,” said Elijah Ongoya, the ies included various aspects of German poli- Dean of Kabarak University Law School. tics. Participants also had the opportunity to He added that in light of such, successful network with like-minded young politicians independent candidates might impact on from Germany. In March 2017, members of prevailing power structures (the two an international umbrella organization con- horse race) and contribute to an unex- ducted a follow-up visit to Kenya as a way of pected election outcome going forward. continuing the exchange. A recent report published by the Ken- For more information visit: ya National Commission on Human https://www.facebook.com/hsfkenya/ Rights (KNCHR) shows that the primaries were marred by bribery, violence, miss- ing names of candidates, harassment, place during the August elections.7 The intimidation as well as manipulation of consolidated opposition will be a promi- the voter register.6 Due to this, many nent opponent and predictions expect a fear that such incidences would be re- narrow victory margin. flected in the general elections. Prof. Nic Cheeseman, faculty of Democracy || Pauline Lemarron and International Development at Bir- mingham University, does not foresee a Programme Assistant, HSF Kenya repetition of chaos and violence to take ARGUMENTE UND MATERIALIEN DER ENTWICKLUNGSZUSAMMENARBEIT 2 1 49 PAULINE LEMARRON REMARKS 1 Cf. Milicent Mwololo (2017): Meet a new breed of youthful politicians, URL http://www.nation.co.ke/ lifestyle/myNetwork/new-breed--youthful-politicians/ 3141096-3913824-6nuek4z/ [04.05.2017].