n the run up to the General Election, The National Alliance ( TNA) and the United Republican Party ( URP) engaged in a power-sharing deal in an ideology dubbed ânegotiated democracyâ. 0 inShare Leaders of the political parties pushed to share out political power among various interest groups in their regions, in the national and county governments. The move saw the Jubilee Coalition-that was a result of the power-sharing arrangement, triumph and dominated politics in the Rift Valley. And the idea went down well with National Cohesion and Integration Commission ( NCIC), an agency set up to address inter-ethnic conflict, and a section of Kenyan civil society who encouraged communities in Nakuru County to adopt negotiated democracy as a way to stem ethnic differences. Political power According NCIC chairman Mzalendo Kibunjia, negotiated democracy â a system in which political power is shared evenly among various ethnic and interest groups â has played a major role in uniting communities that have been at loggerheads every election year. âPeace prevailed in most of the hotspots,â Kibunjia says. Nakuru is one such hotspot that gained from the negotiated democracy. The major communities in Nakuru County are the Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luhyia, Luos, Maasai and the Abagusii followed by the Kamba and Meru. The negotiated democracy demanded that all the communities sign a peace accord that would bind them to ensure that they agree on some of the issues that were likely to cause conflict. The communities were represented by elders. But former Assistant Minister Koigi Wamwere says the power-sharing arrangement has further alienated minority ethnic groups in counties that are dominated by one or two ethnic groups. âLook at what has happened in Nakuru County for instance. TNA and URP entered into a pre-election arrangement where they were to share the six parliamentary seats in the county but what happened?â he posed, adding that one community has ended up dominating the leadership in the county. He adds: âThe Governor and the Senator are from TNA, majority of ward representatives in the county assembly are from the same party. TNA has a greater say in the management of the county.â Wamwere told The Standard On Sunday that power sharing among bigger communities is a threat to countryâs multiparty democracy. âIt is nonsense to imagine that Kenyans are not ready to live with democracy. Democracy is not easy to implement, but we should not opt for short cuts, but go by its principles for the good of the country,â he said. Wamwere, who is author of âNegative Ethnicity: From Bias to Genocideâ, which looks at the ways ethnic rivalries in Africa undermine democracy, pours cold water on claims that power-sharing has enhanced inclusion and cohesion among ethnic communities.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 17:49:56 +0000
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