The Role of Political Parties in Consolidating Kenya’s Democracy, 1992-2012

Political parties play an instrumental role in organizing national and local politics and are pivotal in consolidating democracy. The trademarks of democracy include governments opening up their public affairs to active citizen engagement as well as their level of accountability. Subsequent to the fall of the Berlin wall in November 1989 was a new trajectory in world politics which ushered in multipartism in African states. The political liberalization of Kenya that began in the 1990s particularly in December 1991 where former president Daniel Moi paved way for multi-party democracy, was a major milestone in the enhancement of political parties to consolidate Kenya’s democracy. However, the practice of politics across Kenya over the years and the continued dominance of the executive arm of government over other institutions constrains the efforts to achieve democracy. In some instances, leaders are chosen through voter manipulation and manipulation of the voting process. The main objective of this study was to examine the role of political parties in the consolidation of Kenya’s democracy between the years 1992-2012. The specific objectives were: To assess the practice of internal democracy among political parties in Kenya, to examine the role of political parties in enhancing public participation in Kenya, to examine the challenges facing political parties in Kenya as key institutions that consolidate democracy. In order to realize these objectives, a questionnaire capturing the objectives of this study was drafted, with brief, precise questions. There was also an interview guide that was designed with the research objectives in mind. Snowball sampling was employed to arrive at the sampled population. The methodology used in this study was mixed methodology that incorporates both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. The theory used to explain, analyze and predict this research was the intra-party democracy theory. The results of the research findings revealed that political parties as the key institutions of consolidating democracy in Kenya have done too little to consolidate Kenya’s democracy. Additionally, the research findings revealed that Kenya’s political parties do not practice internal democracy, they do not particularly enhance public participation and they also face a number of challenges that deter them from properly consolidating democracy in Kenya. The study concluded that political parties have a lot to work on before they can fully play their role in the consolidation of Kenya’s democracy.