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In 1992, the International Republican Institute (IRI) launched a new program in Kenya when the organization led the international observation mission for the 1992 presidential elections. Since that time, IRI has developed a number of innovative programs in Kenya, including a poll watcher training program and a public opinion polling program.
IRI is now working to strengthen the role of political parties within Kenya's parliament, with plans to conduct several polls between now and the December 2007 national elections.
Joint Agenda Building for Political Party Officials and Members of Parliament
IRI's program seeks to assist the parties by developing joint-partnerships with their respective members of parliament in order to effectively advance party agendas in parliament. In the first phase of the program, IRI conducted frequent discussions and small workshops with parliamentarians to help them reorient their legislative strategies toward an agenda-based approach, while at the same time designing and articulating clear positions on important issues to the public. IRI continues to assist the parliamentarians with this work. For the purposes of this project, IRI has worked with four of the major political parties: Democratic Party (DP), Forum for the Restoration of Democracy-Kenya (FORD-Kenya), Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and Kenya Africa National Union (KANU). The combined parliamentary groups of these four parties account for more than 85 percent of the elected members of parliament.
Public Opinion Polling
Polls in Kenya have been controversial. All too often, political leaders have rejected results that do not show them in the most favorable light, without examining the methodology behind the polls or understanding their purpose. With some exceptions, the local capacity to implement polls is also weak. IRI's public opinion polling program is aimed at improving both the process and popular perception of public opinion polling in Kenya, and advance it as a tool for political leaders to better understand citizen views.
IRI launched its polling program with two training workshops in November and December of 2000, both of which were led by an American expert in survey research. The first workshops brought together a range of civil society and media representatives to discuss polling methodology, implement a survey, and discuss how to interpret the data from their survey results. IRI then released the results of the survey to Kenyan media outlets, and the widely covered results were the topic of considerable debate by politicians and civil society.
In March 2001, IRI expanded its polling work with a new public policy decision making program aimed at providing information to political parties and parliamentary leaders in Kenya on how public opinion survey data can be used as a tool to determine public policy. IRI conducted separate workshops in Nairobi with each political party that had representation in the National Assembly. The workshops focused on how to analyze data and then relate the results to strategic planning and legislative action. In conjunction with this program, IRI provided a sub-grant to the Institute for Civic Affairs and Development (ICAD) in Nairobi to conduct a national poll. A series of workshops on the polling process followed.
IRI conducted further polls in October and December 2001 and in April 2002, soliciting Kenyan's opinions on a variety of issues ranging from the 2002 elections, to the ongoing reform process. The survey results were widely covered by the Kenyan media and were featured in a number of international newspapers.
IRI is currently sponsoring a number of nationwide polls leading up to the general election in December 2007 on a variety of topics and, in addition, will contract for several smaller, more focused polls in different areas of the country. The institute, in conjunction with a local polling firm, commenced this most recent polling project with the country's second-ever exit poll focused on the November 21 Referendum of the Draft Constitution. During the course of this project, IRI will commission several nationwide polls on governance-related topics that will be determined by political developments. After which, the institute will conduct focus group discussions directed by a moderator to gain further insight into citizens views regarding issues covered in the polls. The interaction between participants in a focus group setting provides insight into citizens' thoughts and opinions, and will allow IRI to gain a better understanding of why these attitudes exist. As part of its effort to increase the use of survey data for public policy advocacy, IRI will conduct training exercises and consultations with interested civic groups on how to interpret and utilize survey results in order to advocate priority issues.
Campaign Schools for Women and Youth
In order to enhance the ability of women and youth in Kenya to compete for elective office, IRI will hold a series of campaign schools in four different regions of Kenya. Participants will include members of all the major parties with whom IRI works, and IRI will endeavor to maintain a balance among numbers of participants from each party.
Campaign schools will target men under the age of 40 as well as women candidates of all ages. Beginning this series of campaign schools in the second half of 2006, IRI will train potential candidates and campaign staff more than one year before the December 2007 general elections. IRI has embarked on a process to develop a comprehensive and responsive curriculum for the program.
Policy and Campaign Development for Political Party Officials and Members of Parliament
In light of the forthcoming 2007 campaign period, IRI will focus on assisting the Members of Parliament (MP) and the parties to mount effective campaign platforms.
This program concentrates on building bridges between political parties and their members of parliament. These bridges will enable the parties to design clear agendas and communicate them to their parliamentary caucuses for implementation. In this program, IRI has been targeting the National Executive Councils (NEC) and Parliamentary Groups (PG) of Kenya's four largest parties.
IRI has been conducting consultative sessions for each of the four parties that bring together the party's NEC with key members of the PG. These seminars allow each party to discuss ideas for designing legislative agendas and campaign strategies. Given the likelihood that new alliances between parties will form in preparation for the 2007 general elections, these workshops also seek to improve the skills of MPs and party leaders to negotiate and maintain effective cross-party alliances.
In addition to the seminars, IRI has also been conducting frequent discussions and small workshops with party leaders and MPs to help them reorient their legislative strategies and election campaigns toward issue-based approaches. These have helped the parties design and articulate clear positions on important issues to the public.
Capacity Building and Mainstreaming for Political Party Youth Leagues
Political party youth leagues in Kenya largely operate from the peripheries of the parties without much input into major decisions. In the past, youth leagues have been used largely as a resource by politicians to harass and attack their opponents during election campaigns. Most parties do not fully utilize the potential that these leagues possess to mobilize voters and popularize the party's platform. For their part, youth leagues need to present themselves to the Kenyan public as responsible actors and not mercenaries for hire.
As such, IRI has started building the capacity of national party youth leagues to participate in the agenda-setting process for the 2007 general election campaign and to prevent their members from being manipulated into committing violent acts against party rivals.
Support to the Kenya Young Parliamentarians' Association (KYPA)
Established in 2004, the KYPA, which brings together parliamentarians from different and often antagonistic political parties, has the potential to occupy an important place in the Kenyan political landscape. Younger politicians have fewer ties to corruption and power struggles, are more receptive to progressive ideas and are willing to work across party lines, than their older colleagues.
IRI has been supporting the association in its strategic planning development and capacity building. IRI has also assisted the association in hosting policy forums which seek to make an input into important policy processes that touch on certain priority areas identified by the association. Given that KYPA's membership comprises less experienced politicians who are likely to serve much longer than their older counterparts. It is important, therefore, that they are aware of new ideas and legislative techniques used by progressive legislative bodies in other countries. The new generation in parliament is Kenya's best hope for rooting out a mediocre and regressive parliamentary culture.
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When Kenyans went to the polls on December 27, 2002, Mwai Kibaki garnered an overwhelming 62 percent of the vote to KANU candidate Uhuru Kenyatta's 31 percent. The historic elections were also notable for their largely transparent and peaceful nature. Despite allegations of vote-buying and discrepancies in the electoral register, international observers agreed that Kenyans were able to freely express their will through the ballot box. Following these landmark elections, Kenya's new government faced significant challenges to materializing its campaign promises into sound national policy. Their biggest challenge is the adoption of a new constitution before elections in 2007.
