THE ETHNIC DIMENSIONS OF ELECTORAL CONFLICT IN AFRICA: A CASE STUDY OF KENYA (1992 - 2013)
INTRODUCTION
The electoral process in Africa’s democracies has, with few exceptions, been characterized by violence. Though violence has been a long-standing feature of the democratization process in Africa, its recent manifestations have assumed an unprecedented magnitude. This has tended to put the democratization process on the line in many African states, threatening the prospects of democratic stability and consolidation. Most recent examples include disputed and violent elections in Kenya, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, where the ethnicity has played centre stage in the electoral process.
The violence that accompanied elections in Nigeria in 2003, and 2007 , Lesotho, in 1998 and 2007 Kenya in 1992, 1997, 2002 and 2007, and Zimbabwe in 2008 lends credence to the observation that Africa has experienced both physical and structural violence. For example, in 1998, elections in Lesotho led to a post-election conflict that almost brought Lesotho to the brink of a new civil war situation. The situation was only contained through the
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The study therefore seeks to answer the following broad question: What is the role of ethnicity in electoral violence in Kenya?
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
The overall objective of the study is to interrogate the theoretical linkage between ethnicity and electoral violence as experienced in Kenya with reference to 1992, 1997, and 2007 elections. The specific objectives of the study are to:
1. Explore how ethnicization of institutions has contributed to the ethnic based electoral violence.
2. Interrogate how resource distribution in Kenya has contributed to ethnicized electoral conflicts.
3. Analyze how power distribution has led to ethnicized electoral
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