The Kenya democratic transition and its subsequent electoral reforms since 1990 have granted the country to develop an independent media, Judiciary, check and balances, and a more transparent electoral system. This is a remarkable achievement for Kenya compared to many countries in its region and continent. However, Kenyan elites' lack of consensus, ethnic tension, and instrumentalization continue to undermine its institutions and make the country susceptible to heightened ethnic tensions and post-election violence. The delay of funds to the poll agency, procurement, and management of electoral materials creates doubts about electoral credibility. As the country is going to its presidential elections soon, this policy brief analyzes how these issues will influence the election.

Elections are one of the most essential ingredients of democracy however it's conduct has remained a challenge to democratic governance not only in Kenya but also all over the world with trends of electoral malpractice experienced largely in Africa. It has been a few decades now since many African countries adopted a multi-party democratic systems of governance, some progress has been made while challenges remain, however there is evidence to show that the majority of African's population prefer the democratic system of governance. This paper reviews the features of what is and what is not democratic governance as well as election process. An attempt is also made to describe the dimensions as well as the challenges of electoral malpractice in Kenya's quest for a democratic governance. Electoral malpractice in Kenya has been manifested by strategic manipulation of electoral rules, electoral institution, electoral administration, and manipulation of voters. It is due to such practices that election offences manifest into all forms of malpractices such as misuse of state resources, bribery, undue influence and interference with the Independence of the electoral body. These offences have remained a deterrent in Kenya's electoral journey of one day achieving a good electoral democratic governance that can be emulated not only across the continent but also the world at large. Although the Kenyan Constitution has granted the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, Director of Public Prosecution and law enforcement agencies extensive powers to oversee, investigate and prosecute all election offences in Kenya, generally the role of the court with regard to free and fair elections is to impartially and expeditiously determine electoral disputes. The paper utilizes Kenya's electoral laws, court decisions as well as legislations criminalizing electoral malpractices so as to arrive at a balanced and objective analysis. Electoral malpractices have not abated since the promulgation of the electoral laws and the current Kenyan Constitution in 2010 as till to date electoral malpractices are still reported. The paper also argues triggers of electoral malpractice, violence, legitimacy crisis, corruption and other vices that cannot be unrelated with electoral fraud. Lastly it concludes by setting out strategies and 1 1 Fourth Year students at Egerton University School of law pursuing Bachelors of Laws. The authors would like to thank the entire team of the Third National Legal Aid Service on Access to Justice for the opportunity to write this paper. recommendations that would tackle challenges encountered in electoral process and improve electoral integrity including inter alia the adoption of an efficient technology in the electoral process that is transparent and abiding by the principles of Article 10 of the Constitution of Kenya.

Right to Vote and Free and Fair Elections have been used as metric to gauge a state’s Political Security environment and the general Human Security state of a country. This has been evident in the impact and significance of Political Security on state relations and their standing in the community of nations. Kenya has made significant strides in the Political Security space evident by ratification of various international human rights treaties alongside, recommendations for freer and fair elections and the right to vote from the Kriegler and Waki Reports, calls for an impartial administration and an accountable electoral institution continue to surface in every election. This paper recommends promotion of legislation and policy interventions to increase public trust in the exercise of the right to vote, and free and fair elections. Kenya can draw lessons from countries like Ghana, which has made tremendous strides in enhancing its democracy through addressing the electoral architecture that guarantees Right to Vote and free and fair elections.

The concepts of peace and security in Africa in general, particularly Kenya, are closely linked to electoral processes which are an embodiment of the idea of structural conflict presupposing an un-peaceful situation that exists between the dichotomies of peace and war. Guided by the main objective of the study, the research used secondary data to investigate electoral process before, during and after the 2017 general elections and how the activities involved impacted on human security. Subsequently, the activities, events and reactions investigated in the study have been put into perspective with specific reference to the two theories: institutional theory and the hierarchy of needs which established that the complex multifaceted democratic electoral process shaped by political affiliations, ethnicity and access to resources, institutionalism and stakeholders in the 2017 general elections had a huge impact human security. Categorically, the study developed knowledge on how these predisposition activities pertinently; the political comments and activities during campaigns and elections, forceful calls for electoral reforms by politicians coupled by the evident lack of trust by the stakeholders in the electoral process informed by the expensively procured inefficient electoral system elicited negative reactions led to demonstrations in areas of Kisumu and Nairobi. The use of excessive force by the police in their attempts to contain the protestors lead to massive loss of live and significant registered injuries. Extrajudicial killings, yet to be resolved, violations of human rights, curtailed media freedom and sexual violence left the victims with traumatic distress. Chiefly, the politically unstable environment instilled fear among investors leading to reduced long term investment plans with major projects being put on hold. Generally, the prolonged electioneering period marred with protests resulted to loss of lives, widespread looting, destruction of property and limited productivity in major economic sectors. This study recommends that in order to guarantee the integrity of an electoral process, protection of the results and the process is paramount. The study also recommends professionalism and impartiality among the IEBC commissioners. Their appointments into office should be done 12 months to election for efficient planning and execution of the audit report recommendations. Civic education should be integrated into the curriculum. On issues of promotion of human rights and protection personal/physical security, institutions that facilitate the electoral process should be strengthened to be proactive, rather than reactive, in ensuring peaceful co-existence, prevention of inter-ethnic conflict and intimidation before, during and after elections. There is also need for the protection and expansion civil society space. In order to sustain economic security, the study recommends sustainability of election cost, minimal disruption to businesses and political stability to boost investor confidence. This study recommends further research on food and environmental security subject to electoral processes with aims of finding sustainable solutions during an election cycle.

This book follows up on the publication Tensions & Reversals in Democratic Transitions published by Society for International Development and Institute for Development Studies after Kenya’s 2007 Elections. It is a product of a series of consultative meetings by a group of civil society actors and academics convened by SID and Uraia Trust to capture the lessons learnt from Kenya’s 2013 General Elections and interrogate the actors and factors involved. The book paints a picture of an electoral environment which, buoyed by far- reaching institutional reforms driven by the newly promulgated Constitution of Kenya 2010, raised high expectations among Kenyans that the 2013 elections would not only be peaceful but also a lot more credible than those held in 2007. In the end however, the manner in which the 2013 General Elections were conducted did not show evidence of any remarkable departure from what was experienced previously, despite the raft of legal and institutional reforms carried out. The book attempts to explain why things went the way they did and explores what needs to be done differently in future to ensure more free, fair and credible elections.

The birth of 1992 democracy in Kenya called for a multi-party participation in Kenya's electoral system. This also marked the emergence of the fourth republic, the longest republic after the attainment of independence in 1963. To have a successful administration of elections in Kenya, there are some key processes followed by the Electoral Commission in the administration of the free, fair and transparent elections. This study looked at Kenya General Multi Party Electoral Processes and Electoral Challenges, with regards to past seven general elections. This article asked what Kenya's 2017 general elections tell us about the capacity of a new constitution to reduce the stakes of political competition and prospects of political instability. Three constitutional changes are particularly important: the adoption of a 50% + 1 threshold for the presidential election; the devolution of power to 47 county governments; and the introduction of a Supreme Court with the right to hear presidential electoral petitions. We found that the impact of the 2010 constitution had been mixed. The 50% plus 1 threshold encouraged coalition formation, but this dynamic had long been evident. Devolution had given a wider set of Kenyans a stake in the system, but also created new structures that can be used to channel dissent against the state. The Supreme Court demonstrated its capacity to act as an independent institution, but did little to sustain electoral legitimacy. Indeed, while the 2010 constitution was clearly reshaped the political landscape, it was a personal deal that ended the post-election impasse. The elections therefore demonstrate how formal institutions alone cannot change political logics and revealed the continued significance of individual politicians and informal institutions that may compete with or complement their formal counterparts.

The principal objective of this paper is to examine conduct of the 2022 Kenya's presidential election. More precisely, it attempts to identify the best practices as lessons for democratization of the entire continent of Africa. The study that culminated in the paper was qualitative in nature, being based on the case study of the presidential election conducted in August 2022 in Kenya. For this end, this paper used observation, expert opinions, and documentary review for getting both primary and secondary data. The presidential election in Kenya largely met the threshold of a free, fair and credible election. The transparency was lauded by many and the constitutional provisions on timelines and corresponding activities served to boost predictability of events, which contributed to cooling tension and avert post-election violence like witnessed in 2007/8. The election was challenged in the Supreme Court and the hearing was open to the public until determination, that upheld the result. The role of the media and police was highlighted. However, several issues were observed that needs to be fixed to improve participation, voter turnout, voter education, budgetary constraints, resource allocation and communication of results and clarifying issues. Despite the glitches, the Kenyan electoral experience confirms the theory that repetitive elections breed democratic values, hence it offers good lessons to African countries. This paper recommends improvement in independence of the electoral management bodies and commissioners, solidifying election processes in legislation. Others include transparency of the entire process, adequate preparation including testing technologies involved, adequate resources released timely. It also recommends sufficient voter education, involving stakeholders and better communication. Keywords: Africa, Kenya, Democratisation, Electoral management Bodies, Elections