In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • Kenya: the struggle for democracy, and: Ghana: one decade of the liberal state
  • Nic Cheeseman
Godwin R. Murunga and Shadrack W. Nasong' O (eds), Kenya: the struggle for democracy. London: Zed Books (pb £19.99 – 978 1 84277 857 9). 2007, 344 pp.
Kwame Boafo-Arthur (ed.), Ghana: one decade of the liberal state. London: Zed Books (pb £19.99 – 978 1 84277 829 6). 2007, 303 pp.

These two books, both of which appear in CODESRIA's new 'Africa in the New Millennium' series, offer timely studies of the fate of democratic experiments in Kenya and Ghana, respectively. The recent spate of democratic backsliding has led Africanists into what is sure to be a long period of soul searching as to whether the 'third wave' has really taken hold in Africa. The cases of Kenya and Ghana offer two very different perspectives on this question. Kenya, often seen as one of Africa's stronger and more stable states, enjoyed a long period of civilian rule that many assumed would make the process of democratic transition less painful. In contrast, following independence Ghana suffered cycles of coup and counter-coup, spending most of its post-colonial existence under different forms of military rule which, to the outsider at least, did not appear to represent a promising foundation on which to build a peaceful and stable multi-party system. Despite this Ghana is now widely ranked as one of a handful of African countries that are genuinely politically free, while the optimism regarding Kenya's transition disappeared in the ashes of Kibera, Kisumu and Eldoret. Taken together, Kenya: the struggle for democracy and Ghana: one decade of the liberal state offer important insights into the very different trajectories of their case studies. [End Page 318]

Murunga and Nasong'o's collection is an impressively broad review of multi-party Kenya. The chapters, almost all of which are authored by Kenyan academics, cover an impressive depth of material including religious and social movements, youth, women, the police, and economic governance. The collection is excellent in a number of respects. First, it does a very good job of showing the past of the present, tracing the historical roots of Kenya's political institutions and the behavioural patterns of elite actors. Second, the analysis is consistently well informed, clearly written, and thought-provoking. Finally, the collection takes a refreshingly critical look at both Kenyan political leaders and those that have studied Kenya. This protest against the complacency exhibited by much of the literature regarding the prospects for democratic consolidation in Kenya is powerful and necessary, although the impact of Murunga and Nasongo's combative introduction is partially neutralized by their decision not to name directly the main targets of their criticism.

The most striking aspect of their book is the critical nature of the contributions. From Shadrack Nasong'o's review of civil society, to Adams Oloo's discussion of the contemporary Kenyan opposition, through Maurice Amutabi's critique of the role of intellectuals in the democratization process, and on to Stephen Brown's concluding contribution on the role of donors, the faulty foundations of Kenya's democracy are analysed and exposed. Given that these chapters were all written before the Kenya crisis of 2008, Kenya: the struggle for democracy is a remarkably prescient and farsighted body of work. Throughout the book the various authors identify three main themes that can be seen to have served to undermine the process of democratic consolidation. The first is the refusal of Kenya's political elite to abandon older political logics and recognize democracy as the only game in town. As Mshai Mwangola documents in her important chapter on youth and generational conflict in Kenya, the elite has consistently prioritized securing its own position to the detriment of the nation as a whole. The second is the lack of reform of key institutions. This is most apparent in Murunga and Nasongo's work on the failed process of constitutional review, Oloo's thoughtful analysis of the weakness of Kenyan political parties, and Edwin Gimode's dissection of the role of the Kenyan police in underpinning the authoritarian policies of the executive. Finally, there is the...

pdf

Share