Many parties don’t signal democratisation

As Kenya prepares for the August 2027 General Election, many political parties continue to emerge. Parties serve as vehicles for political leadership, facilitate legislative processes, maintain institutional accountability, and serve as primary instruments for citizen sensitisation and education; they therefore act as a link between the populace and government.

According to the Office of the Registrar of Political Parties, Kenya currently hosts 101 fully registered political parties, while an additional 41 parties have secured provisional registration status. This party boom echoes the spirit of the repeal of Section 2A and aligns with the framework of the 2010 Constitution, which collectively guarantees multiparty democracy.

Historically, a one-party system undermines democratic political competition and fosters power centralisation, inhibiting political accountability and curtailing public spaces. On the other hand, multiparty systems foster robust political competition and pluralism, disperse authority and power across legal institutions, accommodate coalition building, and widen citizens’ opportunities to elect leaders of their choice.

Collectively, these tenets serve as critical institutional safeguards against political dictatorship and promote public accountability. In theory, the proliferation of political parties signals expanded electoral choice, competitive politics, active citizen participation in governance, and open political spaces, which collectively constitute key components of the democratic process.

Political leadership

In practice, the accelerating growth of these parties in Kenya raises governance concerns. Instead of functioning as instruments of political leadership, including grooming leaders and champions of policy reforms, parties have largely degenerated into temporary platforms for elite bargains in political coalitions and vehicles for elites to secure political positions for personal gain.

Most political parties emerge close to electioneering periods to guarantee ethnic-based coalitions and access State power, but wind up or become less assertive after elections. This demonstrates that, although multiparty politics envisions political pluralism to encourage broader participation, prevent power monopolisation, and preserve individual rights, emerging political parties lack institutional and ideological foundations and therefore serve as gatekeepers for self-interest.

In mature democracies, established political parties, such as the Communist Party of China and the Democratic and Republican parties in the USA, among others, are deeply rooted in distinct ideological foundations, which guarantee their political longevity.

The fragmentation of the Linda Mwananchi Movement and the volatility of the Kenya Kwanza Coalition underscore a lack of shared vision and ideological institutionalisation among political parties, as well as deepened mistrust and suspicions among political elites. For instance, instead of consolidating into a single, unified, and cohesive political party, individual members and the opposition faction are tied to several “briefcase parties” as vehicles for political bargains.

Within the Linda Mwananchi Movement, distinct, personality-driven parties have emerged, including Edwin Sifuna’s Equitable Party, Babu Owino’s Mwananchi Party, Caleb Amisi’s People Renaissance Movement, and Ndindi Nyoro’s People’s Party of Kenya, among others.

Transition to government

Since 2002, no incumbent administration has contested a successive regime using the party that initially sponsored its transition to government. For instance, former President Kibaki won the 2022 election under the umbrella of NARC but contested the 2007 election on a PNU ticket. Former President Uhuru Kenyatta resigned from Kanu in 2012 and formed TNA. He later entered a joint venture with Dr William Ruto’s United Republican Party to form the Jubilee Alliance Coalition as an election vehicle. In 2017, Uhuru and Ruto dissolved their constituent parties to form the Jubilee Alliance Party for the General Election.

In 2022, President Ruto relinquished his membership in the Jubilee Alliance Party to form the UDA and joined the Kenya Kwanza Coalition. As the 2027 elections approach, the Kenya Kwanza Coalition and UDA face fundamental institutional volatility, with Rigathi Gachagua and his associates breaking away and forming DCP.

In light of the pre-election agreement between the ODM Party and the Kenya Kwanza regime, there exists fundamental uncertainty on whether President Uhuru will defend his presidency under the Kenya Kwanza coalition or UDA Party or form another election vehicle. This demonstrates that Kenyan political party organisations are deeply transactional and serve as temporary election vehicles.

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The writer is a political scientist and researcher, University of Nairobi; [email protected]