Political parties in kenya help to promote democracy. They offer alternative polices from being pursued by the government. Kenya is a multiparty democracy whereby many political parties are allowed to participate in national and civic elections. Usually the party with better policies and programs for the country wins the election and forms the government as the ruling party.

In a democracy country like Kenya, political parties play the following functions:

• They promote freedom of association that allow people to belong to a political party of their choice. Where there are many political parties, there are higher chances of the people’s beliefs and wishes to being carted for. They also increase their chances of selection as many political parties provide opportunity for candidates who are denied freedom from one party to join another. Some of the parties demand a lot of money from people who would want to be sponsored by the parties, while other have fewer demands

• Political parties also provide an alternative government in situations where the ruling party fails to meet the needs of the people, the opposition party has a shadow government and promises wananchi it can do better than the government. That is how KANU was bitten by NARC during the 2002 elections. They also put the government on its toes as they monitor the activities of the government on behalf of wananchi. In a situation where there is only the ruling party, wananchi will not be aware of the poor performance of the government. Political parties in parliament will help make good laws for the country as they correct bad policies of the government. The presence of the political parties in parliament and other government institutions ensures that the government spend the revenue collected for the welfare of the people.

• Political parties educate wananchi on national issues and the problems facing the country and the solutions to the problems. They do so as they hold rallies when they campaign for the various seats in their effort to win the elections. Political parties use newspapers, radio and television to give information to wananchi and encourage them to vote hence encouraging them to exercise their right to vote and elect wise leaders of their choice.

• Political parties in Kenya encourage the respect for human rights and opposition parties as they act as people representative, they also make the change of government orderly and lawful as witnessed in 2002. Above all political parties make democracy to work and when they are active they encourage wananchi to participate in national affairs.

Seven Governors in Kenya have received summons from the Senate Committee investigating the spending of Counties funds. The governors are to appear before the committee and explain how the funds unaccounted for have been used.

Though, on 18th Feb, 2014, over 30 governors held a meeting where they came into conclusion that no governor will appear before the senate committee until the pending case in the court is resolved. The governors have sort advice from the Commission for the Implementation of Constitution (CIC), and until the matters are cleared, none is supposed to answer the summons.

However, two governors have already appeared before the Senate Committee and explained the usage of funds, contrary to the othet governors wishes. Governor Isaack Ruto is the addressed the press about the decision of the governors in the matter. 

When one is done with the whole process of applying for a national Identity card, one is supposed to wait for the identity card to be processed. The waiting period is estimated to last between six to eight weeks. During that time, the applicant is expected to be holding in their possession a waiting card which serves as their national identity card.

Before, the applicant would seat and wait until the waiting period is over and then they would go to the office of the District officer to check if their identity card had been processed or not. In many cases, applicants would be told to wait a little longer if it had not been processed yet. This resulted in applicants making futile trips to and fro the Office of the District officer until they got the identity card.

With the new technology, the applicant can now track the progress in the process of processing their identity card in just a few steps. This can be done either online or by sending a short message. If checking online, one will need an internet connection to connect to http://www.identity.go.ke/search.html. Here, they will be required to enter the first nine digits of the serial number of their identity card. The serial number can be easily read from the waiting card that the applicant receives immediately after applying for the identity card.

If the applicant cannot access the internet, they can easily send a short message to the number 2031. The contents of this short message should be the serial number of the identity card only. When the message is received, the applicant will then get a reply with the status of the progress in the process of creating their national identity card in a short while.

 

The chief justice in the republic of Kenya is Avery senior person and is often described as the head of the judiciary. The person presides over the Supreme Court and further has various roles including the administrative duties found in the Kenyan court system. Basing on the above description, the following roles and responsibilities are attributed to the chief justice in Kenya.

Judicial Function

Being the head of judiciary, the person is responsible for being senior person over all the judges. He is currently the high court judge and is responsible for presiding in the supreme court of Kenya.

Administrative Functions

The elected chief justice will assume the responsibility of  being the government administrator. The condition can take place when there is the absence of the governor general and takes all the functions and powers of that respective office. The powers include chairing and taking the leading role in the executive council of Kenya.

He is the principal point and acts as the contact between the executive branch of the government and the judiciary. He communicates with the government about various policies and major practices that affect the judicial service commission. Speaking for the judiciary and explain the roles to the government should also be a major step and function for the chief justice.

 Swearing in of the President

The chief justice is responsible for the process of swearing a newly elected president of the republic of Kenya. He takes the leading role in ensuring that all the judicial and justice procedures are followed and adhered to. It is important for the particular chief justice to carry out the process in a more convenient manner.

Cabinet Affairs Office in the Presidency

Office of Deputy President

Ministry of Interior & Coordination of National Government

Ministry of Devolution and Planning

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Ministry of Defence: Kenya Air Force, Kenya Army, Kenya Navy

Ministry of Education, Science and Technology

The National Treasury

Ministry of Health

Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure

Ministry of Environment, Water and Natural Resources

Ministry of lands, Housing and Urban Development

Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Services

Ministry of Sports, Culture and The Arts

Ministry of Energy and Petroleum

Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries

Ministry of Industrialization and Enterprise Development

Ministry of East African Affairs, Commerce & Tourism

Ministry of Mining

 

Disaster is a serious disruption of the functioning of a community or society causing widespread human, material, economic or environmental losses which exceeds the ability of the affected community or society to cope using its own resources.

Examples of disaster are; floods, landslides, heat waves, building collapse, fire, explosion, civil disturbances/violence.

Rift valley is one of the former provinces in Kenya before the enactment of the new constitution of the republics of Kenya. This region has been largely affected by frequent violence in various places around the region.

 

Causes of violence in Rift Valley.

There are many factors that have contributed to violence in Rift Valley region. They include;

2 .Ethnicity

3. Land allocation and distribution.

4. Economic and political inequalities in resource distribution.

5. Culture of impunity.

6. Lack of peace building mechanism.

7. Poverty and unemployment.

8. IDP (internally displaced persons) return and resettlement.

9. Patrimonial and ethnic-based politics.      

 

Impacts of Violence in Rift Valley.

There are various effects which have been brought by the violence in rift valley region and these include;

• Loss of life.
• Mistrust and hatred among ethnic communities.
• Poverty.
• Food insecurity.
• Environmental degradation and loss of wildlife.
• Disempowerment of women, elders and youth.
• Ethnic discrimination.
• Massive displacement of people.
• Increase crime rates both in peri-urban and semi-arid region.
• Breakdown of family unit through divorce and other marital problems.

 

Recommendations.

• District peace committees are to be recognized by the government.
• There is need to strengthen initiatives, institutions and organization which support civil education, conflict management, peace building and human right training which are currently being undertaken but have very low capacitance.
• The peace building intervention being put in place should include promoting understanding of reality of poverty, resource constraints, investment opportunities and livelihood strategies.
• There is need to empower communities with strategies to embrace the project of the national commission for social cohesion, which will be a long term issues beyond TJRC.
• The national commission for social cohesion should invest in peace, media and democratization.
• Conscious efforts should be made to link peace and development, as a way of responding to relative lack of development initiatives in arid land especially in the North Rift.

 

 

 

 

Displaced persons are people who have been displaced from their communities or even countries. The displacement of people in Kenya was caused by a number of factors, the most common being armed conflict. Natural disasters, famine, political reasons and economic changes are some of the others. In Kenya, the majority of displaced people were displaced due to post election violence that broke in 2008, after the2007  general election. This violence in Kenya lead to some Kenyans’ displacement from their lands on political grounds.

The displaced persons in Kenya can be divided into two categories:

Internally displaced persons.

Externally displaced persons.

Internally Displaced Persons in Kenya

These are people who have been displaced within their country for instance Kenya, following ethnic clashes or disasters such as floods and earthquakes. For instance in Kenya, people were displaced due to ethnic clashes and were distributed to many places where they were living in camps. These places within Kenya included Naivasha, Nakuru, Kitale among other places. The Government of Kenya under president Uhuru Kenyatta has tried to settle some of the displaced person while others are in the process of being settled according to the report of the Government of Kenya.

Externally Displaced Persons Within Kenya

These are people who have run away from their country as a result of civil war or political persecution and are seeking refuge in Kenya. They are also known as refugees. For example in Kenya, there are many refugees from neighbouring countries such as Sudan and

Somalia and are in Kakuma and Daadab refugee camps in Kenya. The government in Kenya works closely with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to settle all externally displaced persons. The problems experienced by displaced persons in Kenya include housing, sanitation, water supply, lack of inadequate nutrition which may result in malnutrition, security risk and human rights violation, overcrowding which may cause rapid spread of diseases, lack of education opportunities lack  health services, emotional needs and poverty.

Displaced persons in camps in Kenya tend to develop health problems due to poor living conditions, as well as psychological and physical trauma caused by displacement.

Some displaced persons are separated from their families and relatives and have lost homes, jobs and schools for their children. They need material as well as psychological care. Some may develop antisocial behaviour as a defence mechanism as they are unhappy with the displacement in their own country Kenya. It is necessary that some measures need to  be taken to help these displaced persons in Kenya, primarily to resettle them so that their lives can go on.

Apart from the above problems, people who have been displaced within Kenya may bring new diseases, such as diarrhoeal diseases, typhoid, measles, meningitis, sexually transmitted diseases, and HIV/AIDS. Even their animals can bring in diseases such as rabies, anthrax, foot and mouth and brucellosis. So as you can see, they can also pose as a health risk to the community where they settle.

Displacement of persons in Kenya often leads to dramatic changes in the family structure and gender roles, relations and identities. In conflict situations, many women are suddenly thrust into the role of head of the household because the men are recruited to combat, they stay behind to maintain land, or migrate in search of work. Other effects of displaced persons include escalation in the level of poverty, reduction in the level of foreign aid, demographic consequences, religious effect, conflicts between the host community and the displaced group, and political effect.

The services available for displaced persons tend to be those provided by relief agencies, NGOs, the government of Kenya through the provincial and district administration, the church, and institutions such as UNCHR which take care of external refugees. These institutions provide the displaced persons within Kenya with shelter, medical care, food and clothing, and sometimes rehabilitation in the form of teaching them new skills.

Refugees have some sort of international protection provided in Kenya. Their needs are catered for by UNHCR, and their rights are also protected. Internally displaced people are still citizens of their country, and are offered protection in Kenya. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Kenya protects the rights of internally displaced people. Kenya Red Cross conducts protection and assistance programmes for these victims.

 

The electoral process in Kenya is conducted by the independent electoral and boundaries commission which is headed by Isaac Hassan and it conducts election after every five years unless in the instances that a by election is announced for a certain parliamentary seat. The following steps describe the parliamentary electoral process in Kenya:

Registration of voters

Kenyan citizens who have the required voter registration documents are given a chance to register as voters in their given constituencies. The qualified voters are then given votes cards which are kept safely for use on the particular day of voting.

Checking of voters register

After the voter registration process is over, the registered voters are given an opportunity to go back to the areas where they registered so as to confirm whether their names appear on the voters register. They also find out whether their names are spelt correctly. In the 2013 election, confirmation was done through sending a message which was replied showing the person’s registration status and details.

Announcing of election dates.

The term of each house of parliament expires on the date of the next general election. After the parliament is dissolved, the speaker of the national assembly declares the electoral seats vacant of office holders. The chairperson of the electoral commission declares vacancies in all the constituencies and announces the election date.

Nomination of candidates

The chairperson of the electoral commission announces a period during which registered political parties nominate their candidates for parliamentary seats.

Registration of candidates.

The chairperson of the commission receives the names of the nominated candidates who obtained certificates from the party nominations contest. The registration of these parliamentary candidates is done in their constituencies by the returning officers.

Educating voters and appointment of election officials

During this period, voters are educated on how to vote through wide advertisement and media awareness through the country. The people are also informed on the importance of voting. The commission then appoints; returning officers, presiding officers and polling clerks. These officials supervise the election process in the wards and constituencies.

Conducting elections

During the actual elections day, candidates must ensure that the polling stations have their agents who make sure the ballot boxes are empty before the casting of votes starts. The votes then elect members of their choice.

Counting votes and announcement of results

The votes are counted at the polling stations and the presiding officer delivers results to the presiding officer at the constituency level. The returning officer after compiling all the results from presiding officers announces the results of the parliamentary elections. The results are then submitted to the IEBC.

Assassination as defined by the Oxford dictionary means to terminate one’s life or murder of a person mostly a public figure or politician which is mostly done secretly by hired hutment in a quest to eliminate an opponent in a political battle. Since independence Kenya has experienced a number of political assassinations over the 51 years but it has never confirmed to establish the alleged assassins. The following are the heroes who lost their lives in what they thought were the fight for Kenyan rights:

PIO GAMA PINTO 1965

He was the Member of Parliament for Parklands constituency currently called Westlands in Nairobi. He was one of the key politicians in the new Independent Kenya he used his journalism career to fight for independence by drafting the newsletter ‘sauti ya Kanu’ , he later earned appointments in the government like special electorate representative in 1964. He was killed in 1965 after he was shot at while driving with his daughter, despite Mutua serving a 35 year jail term he still pleaded innocent upon release and asked for investigations with rumous surrounding the death of Pinto pointing on The Kiambu Mafia as the crime perpetrators’.

THOMAS JOSEPH MBOYA 1969

He was a famous luo politician from Nyanza who represented Nairobi region both in the colonial and post colonial era. He was gunned down in July 1965 by unknown people and despite Mr. Nahashon Njenga having been found guilty and hanged the public has declined to give in accusing the then Kenyatta Government to have had a hand in this together with the kiambu Mafia. Mboya contributed to the fight against the colonial rule and also engaged in national policy development being a strong believer of capitalism but it was his budding career as a politician that is said to have led to his demise as her was first gaining international recognition hence was seen as a future political threat to the presidency.

JOSIAH MWANGI KARIUKI 1975

He was representative of the Nyandarua electorate up to 1975 when he was found dead in 1975. Popularly known as J.M. Kariuki among Kenyans he was remembered for his political critics of the government condemning the acts of land grabbing and consolidation of power among few individuals leading to his quote ‘ Kenya is a country of 10 millionaires vs. 10 million kenyans’

JOHN ROBERT OUKO 1990

He was a representative of kisumu town constituency at the time of his death and a member of KANU, he was discovered dead by a heardsboy Shikuku at the hills of Got Alila after having disappeared from his house in late February upon his return from Washington DC where he had represented the government as Minister for Foreign Affairs under the Moi regime prompting investigations about his death to be linked with the office he served though the truth is yet to be known. He had an undergraduate degree in public administration and economics , a diploma in international relations and diplomacy and was doing a Thesis for his masters at his time of death.