Introduction

This chapter looks at the construction of democracy in Kenya, one of many African countries that, over time, has been subjected to all sorts of external pressures that have served extra-continental interests; pressure that produced their own counter-force which made democracy very contested as concept and practice.

The meaning of the term ‘democracy’ is also contested, partly because ‘democracy’ has become a tool for use in geo-political warfare. It has particular attributes and applications that end up making it relative. Among them is the fact that democracy is only one form of government in a state but it may not be the only one. It is, as Churchill claimed, ‘insurance’ for the people in the concerned state (Langworth 2009). Ideally, it is the involvement of citizens and interests, although not necessarily the people as individuals, in the governance of the state. It can be, as Kidane Mengisteab argues, a reconciliation of the interests of modern and traditional institutions in Africa (2011: 12–14).

In theory, democracy strives to give a stake to, and involves, as many people within the state as possible to ensure they have a direct interest in maintaining the well-being of that state. Those who believe that governments should be expressions of the will of the people emphasize the subordinate role of governors and governments to the collective will of the people, failure in which they can be replaced. These include Chinaman Confucius insisting in the sixth century BCE that rulers had to be virtuous, respectful of and considerate to people, or be overthrown. ‘Without the trust of the people’, he declared, ‘no government can stand’ (McArthur 2010: 24). Much later, this view of having respect for people, of non-subservience to existing government, and ‘revolutions’ found clarity in the arguments presented by American Thomas Jefferson (1968: 83–93), South African Nelson Mandela (1965: 178–9), and Kenya's Mwai Kibaki. The government, Kibaki asserted, ‘is not supposed to be a burden on the people, it is not supposed to intrude on every aspect of life and it is not supposed to mount roadblocks in every direction we turn in life’ (Kibaki 2002).