CIVICUS Monitor speaks to Kenyan activist in aftermath of election

As previously featured on the CIVICUS Monitor, Kenyans experienced increasing restrictions on their civic freedoms in the run-up to general elections on 8th August 2017. Given civil society's serious concerns over the fairness, transparency and security around the 8th August, Kenya was placed on the CIVICUS Monitor Watch List in July 2017.

Questions still remain over the integrity of the electoral process, and opposition groups claim that the election was rigged in favour of current President Uhuru Kenyatta. While international observers have since declared that the elections were free and fair, opposition groups insist that the electronic voting system was hacked to inflate the number of votes for Kenyatta, who on 12th August was declared the victor. Following this announcement, opposition groups led by politician Raila Odinga urged Kenyans to protest over the alleged electoral fraud. Odinga called on people to strike on 14th August as a way of expressing their discontent with the election results. 

Unrest in the society over the allegations of electoral fraud spread quickly, leading to protests and clashes with security forces. Though it has been difficult to determine exact numbers of those injured or killed in post-election protests, at least twenty four people have reportedly been killed since the vote took place, including a nine year-old child.  

To find out more about the current situation on the ground in Kenya, the CIVICUS Monitor recently spoke with Kenneth Ogembo, a community mobiliser and programme officer at Siasa Place - a political hub that empowers youth and women and people living with disabilities to realise their potential politically, socially and economically. Siasa Place also encouraged citizens to exercise their right to vote and organised an online discussion - #Kenyanswin - on election day to discuss citizens' experiences with the voting process. The interview with Ogemba can be listened to in the window below.