African Studies
Utafiti: Journal of African Perspectives
Call for Papers: Utafiti is inviting you to submit your manuscript – any topic in the humanities - for consideration in the next issues.
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Dominant issues in 2016 were electoral management, the formation and consolidation of political coalitions, and spiralling corruption. Although not scheduled until 8 August 2017, the forthcoming polls overshadowed political debate and activities during the year. Opposition leaders pushed for electoral reforms and new commissioners for the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission, and mooted a National Super Alliance, and the ruling Jubilee Alliance sought to establish a new Jubilee Party. The forthcoming elections also fuelled corruption, as incumbents and aspirants at all levels – from those running to be members of county assemblies up – sought to fund their campaigns, and devolution continued to provide new opportunities for accumulation. Unprecedented corruption – in the context of high levels of inequality, costs of living and salaries for elected officials – constituted a source of popular frustration and anger, and strained (already tense) relations between the government and prominent civil society organisations and the media. Relations with these key actors were then further undermined by the government’s use of a history of ethnic violence within the country, and of an ongoing external threat from al-Shabaab (the radical Islamist group based in neighbouring Somalia), to insist upon the need for unity and cohesion in the interests of stability and development.