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WORLD NEWS Friday 3 November 2017

Elections exhaust Kenya, where democracy is challenged

lar tourist destination and gressive in the world, instill- the failure of the court to
an oasis of stability in the ing some faith among Ke- muster a quorum the next
conflict-prone Horn of Afri- nyans that institutions could day to consider a petition
ca region. Yet, despite the peacefully resolve griev- to postpone the Oct. 26
ethnic allegiances and pa- ances. The Supreme Court, election, suggest possible
tronage systems that hand- the constitution’s guard- efforts to intimidate the ju-
cuff Kenyan democracy, ian, scrapped the August diciary so recently seen as
the country has avoided a presidential election after a willing to assert its indepen-
repeat of the ethnic-fueled petition from Odinga, and dence from political pres-
violence after the 2007 is likely to again consider sure.The nullification of Ke-
election that killed more complaints about alleged nya’s August vote was the
than 1,000 people. irregularities in last week’s first time a court in Africa
That is partly thanks to a election. had overturned a presiden-
2010 constitution whose Yet the Oct. 24 shooting of tial election. The effects are
human rights provisions the police driver of a Su- showing up elsewhere on
In this Monday, Oct. 30, 2017 photo, school students run for safe-
ty between police and protestors during clashes in the Kawang- are among the most pro- preme Court judge, and the continent. q
ware suburb of Nairobi, Kenya. Kenya’s bruising election drama
highlights challenges to a flawed democracy that faces pro-
tracted pressures unless rival camps can accommodate, while
the question of how the democratic institutions and relatively
open society will respond is a bellwether for the continent.
(AP Photo/Will Swanson)
By CHRIS TORCHIA and forget political liberal-
Associated Press ism for now.’”
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Dis- Kenya is in a lull after a bruis-
traught Kenyan schoolgirls ing election cycle in which
huddled against an al- an Aug. 8 vote was nulli-
leyway wall, trapped be- fied by the Supreme Court
tween stone-throwing pro- because of flaws, and an
testers and police wielding Oct. 26 repeat vote was
clubs and firing tear gas in boycotted by opposition
an outbreak of violence leader Raila Odinga. Presi-
following Kenya’s disputed dent Uhuru Kenyatta was
election that left national declared the winner both
divisions more entrenched. times. While most of the
The girls scrambled to safe- country of 45 million was
ty in a scene that captured calm, some areas were hit
the anguish of a flawed de- by ethnic tensions, violent
mocracy facing protract- protests, sporadic arson
ed pressures unless Kenya’s and looting and deadly
rival camps can somehow police gunfire during clash-
accommodate. The ques- es. Police put the death toll
tion of how the democrat- at 19; human rights groups
ic institutions and relatively say it is more than 70.
open society of this lead- “We are tired of suffering
ing East African nation will in Kenya,” a woman nick-
respond is a bellwether for named Mama Wetu (“Our
the continent, where de- Mother” in Swahili) said af-
mocracy evolves in some ter the clash Monday that
places and authoritarian- ensnared the schoolgirls
ism takes root in others. in Kawangware, a Nairo-
“This is not just about Ke- bi slum of shacks and dirt
nya,” said Murithi Mutiga, paths. At one point, pro-
a Nairobi-based senior an- testers positioned them-
alyst for the International selves behind some of the
Crisis Group. “It’s about girls, using them as a shield,
the idea of moving toward witnesses said.
greater and greater politi- Such a scene gives the
cal competition and free- impression that Kenya is
dom and against those turning on itself, undermin-
that say, ‘Let’s privilege ing its status as a regional
economic development economic hub, a popu-