Only 26 per cent of Kenyans have faith that votes are fairly counted during elections, a new research has shown.
Findings of the survey show that the majority of citizens express serious concerns about the fairness of vote counts, corruption during elections, and the safety of voters during campaigns and at the polls.
The research by Afrobarometer, a pan-African, non-partisan research network that conducts public attitude surveys on democracy and governance in Africa, shows that elections are not working well as mechanisms to ensure people’s views are represented and that voters can hold non-performing leaders accountable.
Low levels of public confidence in the vote count put a country at risk of post-election protest and violence in response to perceived voter fraud and manipulation, Afrobarometer cautions.
LOW CONFIDENCE
“Several countries with a history of election-related violence express low levels of confidence in the vote count, including Kenya (26 per cent) Zimbabwe (22 per cent) and Nigeria (6 per cent),” says the report that collected views in 36 African States including Kenya.
However, the research says rural residents have higher regard for electoral process in Kenya because of limited amount and quality of information they receive.
Large majorities have faith in the vote count in Niger (69 per cent), Mauritius (67 per cent), and Senegal (63 per cent), but in 30 out of 36 surveyed countries, fewer than half of all citizens fully trust the vote count.
The startling statistics extend to Kenya’s Independent Electoral Commission where only a quarter of the population has full trust in the institution; while 23 per cent say they just have a little trust in the body, 22 per cent say they do not trust it at all.
Six per cent are indifferent.
Poor electoral management, the research warns, can enable election fraud leading to political alienation, public mistrust, protest, and violence even if such mismanagement does not swing an election.
Kenya’s trust in electoral body has dropped by seven percentage points in a period between 2011 and 2014.
“Kenya implemented biometric voter registration and identification before its 2013 General Elections, but procurement, management, and technical problems led many Kenyans to question the integrity or competence of the electoral commission,” says the report.
