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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Re-Forming the State? Kleptocracy and the Political Transition in Kenya
Author:Southall, Roger J.ISNI
Year:1999
Periodical:Review of African Political Economy
Volume:26
Issue:79
Period:March
Pages:93-108
Language:English
Geographic term:Kenya
Subjects:political systems
political change
Politics and Government
External links:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03056249908704362
http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4206A543832C29CB55D3
Abstract:Kenya's general election of December 1997 saw the return of President Moi and the Kenya African National Union (KANU) but has inaugurated a period of intense political fluidity. On the one hand, the ruling party won the election, but its sense of vulnerability has been reinforced by widespread recognition that a less divided opposition could have displaced it. On the other, apparent acceptance by the President of a 1992 constitutional amendment which dictates that his re-election would signal his last term of office has precipitated a struggle around his succession. The uncertainty has been compounded by the fact that, prior to the election, the government was forced to concede a political reform package which not only partially corrected the imbalance in the electoral rules, which systematically favoured the ruling party, but which also conceded that these changes would lead on to an open-ended review of the constitution. Additionally, the political class as a whole has been shaken by a series of financial scandals which threaten its control over an increasingly troubled economy. In short, whilst the new fluidity suggests some opportunity for a genuine democratic opening, the situation is also fraught with the danger of a simultaneous collapse of the State. Bibliogr., sum.
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