Journal of Eastern African Studies 

About: Journal of Eastern African Studies is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Politics & Somali. It has an ISSN identifier of 1753-1055. Over the lifetime, 579 publications have been published receiving 11828 citations. The journal is also known as: Journal of the British Institute in Eastern Africa & Journal of East African studies.

The Political Economy of Kenya's Crisis

Abstract: Using political economy analysis, this paper discusses three precipitating factors that were ignited by Kenya's 2007 election, which was too close to call beforehand and highly contested afterwards. These factors were: the gradual loss of the state's monopoly of legitimate force and the consequent diffusion of violence; the deliberate weakening of institutions outside the executive in favour of personalized presidential power, raising questions about the credibility of other institutions to resolve the election on the table rather than in the streets; and a lack of programmatic political parties which gave rise to a winner take all view of parties that were inherently clientist and ethnically driven, something that raised the stakes of winning and gave rise to violence. The paper discusses each of these factors in historical perspective. It explains how and why they arose and what made each so dangerous. It also aims to place what happened in Kenya into a wider framework of understanding by drawi...

Voting in Kenya: Putting Ethnicity in Perspective

Abstract: Do Kenyans vote according to ethnic identities or policy interests? Based on results from a national probability sample survey conducted in December 2007, this article shows that, while ethnic origins drive voting patterns, elections in Kenya amount to more than a mere ethnic census. We start by reviewing how Kenyans see themselves, which is mainly in non-ethnic terms. We then report on how they see others, whom they fear will organize politically along ethnic lines. People therefore vote defensively in ethnic blocs, but not exclusively. In December 2007, they also took particular policy issues into account, including living standards, corruption and majimbo (federalism). We demonstrate that the relative weight that individuals grant to ethnic and policy voting depends in good part on how they define their group identities, with ‘ethnics’ engaging mainly in identity voting and ‘non-ethnics’ giving more weight to interests and issues.

Exploring the usage and impact of “transformational” mobile financial services: the case of M-PESA in Kenya

Abstract: Since its introduction in March of 2007, the M-PESA application has grown rapidly, acquiring a user base of over seven million and an agent network of over ten thousand. Because of its rapid growth...

The Kenyan Elections of 2007: An Introduction

Abstract: The importance of the Kenya crisis for the African continent is not that Kenya may become ‘another Rwanda’, but that it reveals how fragile Africa's new multi-party systems may be when weak institutions, historical grievances, the normalization of violence, and a lack of elite consensus on the ‘rules of the game’, collide. This paper provides an overview of the election campaign and the results, highlighting the major areas of continuity and change with Kenya's recent past, and identifying the key dynamics within the presidential and parliamentary contests. In doing so, it focuses on the ongoing process of coalition-building that underpinned both the rise and fall of NaRC and the emergence of Odinga as a major political player. I suggest that an appreciation of the difficulties of coalition building central to understanding the campaign and the results, and will be key to any long-term resolution of the Kenya crisis.

Violence and Exodus in Kenya's Rift Valley, 2008: Predictable and Preventable?

Abstract: This article offers a preliminary analysis of the outbreak of violence in the Rift Valley Province of Kenya, over January and February 2008, following the national elections of December 2007. Maps of the earliest phase of the violence are reproduced to illustrate the sequencing and location of conflict. The causes of the violence are explored through discussion of historical patterns of land settlement in the Rift Valley, the impact of political violence in key constituencies since the early 1990s, and more recent political contingencies around the question of constitutional reform and regionalism (majimboism). The violence of 2008 bore strong similarities to earlier episodes of conflict in the Rift Valley, and in that sense was predictable and might have been prevented. Though the December 2007 poll was the catalyst for this violence, its causes are to be found in deeper-rooted historical and political conflicts.