Background to Kenya Elections 2013

Kenya is having their General Elections on March 4th that is conducted every 5 years; under a new constitutional dispensation that was promulgated on 27 August 2010. This constitution brought about devolution of government such that there will be two levels of government i.e. at national level and county level. The government structure therein consists of the executive, legislature and the judiciary that form the three arms of government. The executive at the top most levels will be constituted of a President, Deputy President and the Cabinet. The legislature constitutes an upper house known as The Senate and each of the 47 counties will have a senator; a lower house known as the National Assembly and each of the 290 constituencies will have a Member of National Assembly as well as a woman representative and the county assemblies and executive that where each county will have a governor and a county assembly elected with representatives from wards within the county. The third arm of government is the judiciary that constituting the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal and the Attorney General.

Whereas in the previous elections citizens voted for three elective positions (President, Member of Parliament and Councillor), the new constitution translates into citizens voting in for 6 elective positions i.e. President, Governor, Senator, County Women’s Representative, County Assembly Representative and Member of Parliament.

Uchaguzi deployment volunteers are activating for Kenyan General Election from March 1-8, 2013. The official Election Day is on March 4th, a National Holiday. Polling stations will be opened at 06:00 EAT and will close at 17:00 EAT. The body charged with managing the elections is the IEBC.

Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC)

The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission was set up after the previous Electoral Commission of Kenya bungled the 2007 elections. With a vision "To be an independent and credible electoral management body committed to strengthening democracy in Kenya" and a mission "To conduct free and fair elections and to institutionalize a sustainable electoral process"; the Commission’s mandate is to conduct or supervise referenda and elections to any elective body or office established by the Constitution, and any other elections as prescribed by an Act of Parliament and, in particular, for---

The continuous registration of voters and revision of the voter’s roll;
The delimitation of constituencies and wards;
The regulation of political parties process;
The settlement of electoral disputes;
The registration of candidates for elections;
Voter education;
The facilitation of the observation, monitoring and evaluation of elections;
The regulation of money spent by a candidate or party in respect of any election;
The development of a code of conduct for candidates and parties;
The monitoring of compliance with legislation on nomination of candidates by parties.

The Commission exercises its powers and performs its functions in accordance with this Constitution and national legislation.

Presidential Candidate and Party Information

Majority of the presidential candidates have formed coalitions with otherparties in order to be able to secure the 50+1 voter percentage needed to be declared the winner of the elections. These presidential candidates are Raila Odinga campaigning on a Coalition for Reforms and Democracy (CORD – that is a formed by Orange Democratic Movement party, Wiper Democratic Movement and other parties) platform; Uhuru Kenyatta campaigning on a Jubilee platform (Jubilee is formed by The National Alliance and United Republican Party); Peter Kenneth campaigning on an Eagle (Kenya National Congress and Party of Action) platform, Musalia Mudavadi of Amani that is a coalition of United Democratic Forum Party, KANU and New Ford Kenya; Martha Karua of Narc Kenya; Mohamed Abduba Dida of the Alliance for Real Change (ARC); James Ole Kiyiapi of Restore and Build Kenya (RBK) and Paul Muite of Safina Party of Kenya.