| dc.description.abstract | Elections remain high-stakes affairs across the world. Studies indicate that often social
cleavages – religious, gender, racial, ethnic and tribal lines among others – are exploited
by politicians as a means to acquire and retain power. The objectives of this study were
to establish how ethno-political identity and political patronage influenced
intercommunal cohesion at the subnational level and explore corrective measures to
address the divisive elements of political culture so as to enhance intercommunal
cohesion in Migori County, Kenya. Cultural Identity Theory was used to explain the
relationship between the variables of the study. Descriptive research design comprising
of qualitative and quantitative methods was used to describe the relationship between
the variables of the study. The target population of this research consisted of elected
politicians and the residents of Migori County who have lived in the county at least in
the last five years and from whom a sample size of 384 was obtained to participate in
the study. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect data while
frequency graphs and charts were used to analyse quantitative data while content
analysis was used to make sense of qualitative data. The study established that ethnopolitical
identity and political patronage had negative effects on intercommunity
cohesion in Migori County. Precisely, the study established that minority communities
felt that their voice did not matter in the county political matrix unless they were allied
to the party supported by the dominant ethnic community. It was further found that
people who disagreed with the dominant political party and the local political kingpins
were branded community traitors and unworthy of seeking political leadership in the
county and this fostered political animosity within and between ethnic communities in
the county. Comparatively, the two dominant communities living in the county were
found to hold diametrically opposed political positions and support for different
political parties and this served to undermine cohesion among them. The practice of
democracy was also found to be subject to manipulation and gerrymandering as the
popular will of the people particularly in political party primaries was disregarded by
party leaders to the chagrin of its members. In terms of corrective measures, majority
of the respondents were of the strong view that the law regulating political parties
needed to be implemented, particularly in light of party financing disclosure so that rich
unpopular people do not undermine democracy using their resources and consequently
weakening cohesion. It also emerged that the state authorities responsible for fostering
unity needed to be more visible and active at the grassroots to help fight stereotypes. In
conclusion, in view of the two facets of the country’s political cultures that were studied
in this research, Kenya’s political culture has negative implications on intercommunal
cohesion. Politicization of ethnicity and political patronage in Kenyan politics weaken
the social bonds among different ethnic communities. The corrective approaches that
have so far been put in place are relatively effective with electoral reforms being more
effective than political party reforms. The following recommendations are made based
on the findings of the study; the government of Kenya should step-up electoral reforms
efforts that will help the country address problems of ethnically inclined political
activities, the NCIC to work together with IEBC to punish those who breach the set
codes of conducts, the NCIC is encouraged to work closely with the citizenry and other
politicians to identify individuals and institutions that encourage the undesirable
political culture practices and punish them appropriately, and the general public is urged
to shun politicians and political institutions that are founded on ethno-political identity
and political patronage and give leadership opportunities to candidates and parties that
promote inclusivity and social cohesion. | en_US |
