Political and Economic System of Kenya - Case Study Example

Political and Economic System of Kenya Historical overview Preamble Akama (736) explains that the population of Kenya is approximated to be 43 million. Out of this population majority are Christians though the percentage of Muslims is quite significant as well as other religion. English is the official language of the country though Swahili is perceived to be the national language. The country has slightly over 42 ethnic groups and the life expectancy is at 63%. The main economic activity is agriculture mainly subsistence farming hence most conflicts often emanate from land rights, water, grazing space and at times politics and religion (Gad 54). Urbanization has played a vital role in the integration of the ethnic communities. Pre-colonial history Records have it that the Cushites arrived in the country in 2000 BCE while the Nilotes arrived in 500 BCE. On the other hand, the Bantus are said to have reached at around millennium CE. Fossil records reveal that apparently the early hominids such as the Homo habilis and Homo erectus who first resided in Kenya lived there around 350,000 to 2.5 million years ago (LoveJoy 24). The country was then colonized along the coast by the Persians and Arabs during the 8th century and trade was the stimulant to the colonization due to the existence of strategic ports at the east coast. The Arabs introduced their religion (Islam), a factor which influenced the region and consequently led to the birth of Swahili language. Thereafter, the Portuguese took control of the East coast between the 16th and 17th century though the Arabs later on ran over them. Colonial and post colonial At around later 19th century Britain become a protectorate of Kenya and its neighboring country Uganda (Reid 485). When they declared protectorate over the country little of lack thereof the incorporation of the indigenous inhabitants were considered with regards to rights and politics. In 1944, a political union called Kenya African Union was established as a channel for the presentation of grievances to the colonial authority over the need for political representation of the locals. In the middle of the 20th century, Mau-Mau uprising troubled the British rule and the colonial authorities were compelled to relinquish more agricultural and political rights to the natives (Collier and Lal 1012). The country gained its independence in 1963. The regimes that took over power were, however, corrupt and perceived to perpetrate dictatorship form 1963 to 2002 where the leadership mantle were in the hands of Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi respectively (Ehret 276). President Mwai Kibaki took over power in 2002 and served for two terms after which President Uhuru Kenyatta succeeded him in 2013. In 1997 elections, violence was reported in some sections though it was not as dire as the one the country experience in the year 2007. In 2007, one of the presidential candidates had claim or alleged that there was an electoral malpractice and hence violence was reported in various parts of the country. This violence was based on ethnic lines. The country has a centralized system of government with the president at the helm of affairs. There are however checks and balances that aid in regulation of the executives. In 2010, the country ushered in a new constitution that has greatly played a key role in the devolution of not only power to the local level but also resource. The economy of Kenya The currency of the country is in form of shillings (Kenya shillings. Currently one US dollar is equivalent to 90 KES. The GDP is roughly $ 35 billion as of the year 2012 with the greatest contributor being the tourism sector followed by agriculture. The main industries are agriculture, fishing, service industry, and consumer industry. The major markets are Europe-agricultural products and Africa. The UK contributes to approximately 9% of the export market. One of the greatest challenges that are likely to impact on the country as the East Africa economic hub is the poor infrastructural development (World Bank Para 3). Governmental institutions and structure According to Gabriel (14), the government of Kenya is structure in a devolved system of government. It is a republic with three arms of government. These are the legislature, the national executive and the judiciary. The legislature is sometimes referred to as the parliament and is of two types: the national assembly and the senate. The occupants of the national assembly as an institution for legislation are the national assembly speaker, the members of parliament from various constituencies, and nominated members, as well. On the other hand, the senate constitutes of the senators from counties, nominated senators, and the speaker of the senate. The institutions within the national executive are the office of the president, the deputy president, the cabinet secretaries and the office of the attorney general (Gabriel 20). Below the national executive is the transition authority that synchronizes and integrates the roles of the national government and the county government. Below that facet of the government are the National and County Government Coordinating Summit and the Council of County Governance (Gabriel 15). The county government consists of the county executives and the county assemblies. The various offices in the county assemblies are held by county representatives inclusive of the county women representative. In addition, it has the county speaker mandated with the task of presiding over legislation at the county level. The county assembly also has the county assembly board. The county executive is categorized into two. One category entails the Intergovernmental Relation Forum and County Security Committee while the other category encompasses the Board of Cities or Municipality and the County Public Service Board. All these institutions are geared towards the provision of services to the common citizen (Gabriel 17). The third arm of the government as earlier illuminated is the judiciary. The head of the judiciary is the chief justice. The chief justice is aided by the deputy chief justice. The various institutions within the judicial system are the Supreme Court and the Subordinate Courts. The holders of these offices are attorney’s or lawyers by profession or learned friends as a common term they use refer to themselves. The elaborated structure is according to the constitution that was ushered in 2010. The constitution provided two approaches in the management of the powers of the state and the organization of the governance. The approaches were: one dimensional and multi-dimensional (Gabriel 20). The one dimensional approach is characterized by centralization or concentration of power while the multiple dimensions organizes and manages governance and powers of the state through numerous multiple structures as highlighted above. The devolved system of government embedded in the constitution of Kenya as a form of decentralized system of governance. However, decentralization is the transfer of functions that are selected from an authority that is centrally organized to the lowest structural level. This is relative different form devolution which entails the central authority ceding powers to the local authority through legal channels (Gabriel 25). Economic overview According to African Development Bank Group (Para 3), the economic review of the country in the year 2013 indicated that the growth of the country’s economy was approximately 5% and the anticipation was that in 2014 it would appreciate to 6%. In comparison to 2011 which was characterized by depreciation of the Kenyan currency and inflation in 2012 and 2013 there was relative stability as the rate of inflation dropped by a single digit. The anticipation was that in 2014 the stability would likely to continue. The proceedings of the international Criminal Court suffocated the Kenyan climate once more; it was also expected to take center stage in the year 2014. 2013 economic report revealed that the economy was recovering from the slow growth that had been witness in 2011. National statistics in 2014 revealed that the Kenyan economy had achieved the status of lower middle income level. Currently the country is 9th largest African nation with a GDP of approximately $ 55.2 billion. The World Bank Group (WBG) attributes the growth of the country’s economy to the increase in aggregate demand which is stimulated by the increase in consumption, as well as investments. According to Kenya Economic Update of 2014, all sectors of the economy have made significant contribution to the GDP. The economy has been resilient and the Eurobond issue in 2014 resulted in the generation of $ 2 billion. The government’s consultation with the IMF in the assessment of the economic stability in terms of debt showed some positivity (IMF Para 4). The financial year budget of 2015 targeted the GDP with 4% deficit with the inflation being constantly monitored. However, in August 2014, the rate of inflation rose to 8% which in May was at 6.9%. The increase in food prices and energy cost played a vital role in the increase in the rate of inflation during the period highlighted. A board was established by the WBG through the Kenya Country Partnership Strategy which anticipated injecting investments of approximately $ 4 billion into the country for four subsequent years to aid in the potential growth of the economy. This was to be achieved through creation of job opportunities to the youths; development of infrastructure; and devolution of power and resources to the regional or local communities. The devolution support is aimed at putting an end to the extreme level of poverty. The challenges to economic development emanate from several quarters. Terrorism has led to the decrease of tourism activities in the country. Tourism industry contributes a larger percentage to the country’s GDP. Political temperatures have often been so high that investors tend to get discouraged due to fear of instability. In most cases political temperatures are heightened by ethnic tension. The other challenged that has grossly affected the Kenyan economy is corruption. Corruption has thrived in the Kenyan institutional systems and structures in such a way that huge amount of the country’s resources are lost for the various institution in the country. Public policy concerns and prospects for the future Public policies help in the illumination of the governments intentions. Policies provide guidelines for governance hence without them governance becomes elusive. They provide the public with the ammunitions and arsenal for to evaluate the achievement and failures of the government. Suppose a policy is criticized, the government can withdraw the policies from its operations. It is usually provided in form of a document that lists those that the government intends to achieve with a particular period as well as within a particular department. These policies tend to encompass all the facets of the government such as the education sector, the economic sector, the health sector, environment, housing, energy, and political governance among many other sectors. In this country, there is an autonomous institution called the Kenya Institute for Public Policy Research and Analysis (KIPPRA) whose mandate is to evaluate and examine public policies. It was constituted in 1997 and was later in 2007 KIPPRA bill was signed by the president (Kenya Institute for Public Policy Para 2). The institute conducts researches that are objective and provide an analysis of issues related to policies of the public with the aim of appropriately advising policy makers on decisions concerning issues in discussion. Besides the advisory services, the body also provides services to the government or agencies in the government and other stakeholders. These services are technically based on public policy issues. I t disseminates findings from the collected and analyzed data on public policy through conferences and workshops to the concerned stakeholders (Para 4). In addition, KIPPRA is tasked with developing, as well as, maintaining the resources for research and public policy database and at opportune time provide these information to not only the government but also to the privates sector and learning institutions. The other function of this body is that it takes the roles or activities of building capacity for both the private sector and the government. The institute provides the link between the civil society, the private sector and the governments in the exchange of ideas or opinion. The main division for the KIPPRA research activities encompasses the productive sector, macroeconomics, social Sector, economic and infrastructural services, and trade, foreign Policy and governance division (Kenya Institute for Public Policy para 5). In the political system, the participation of citizen of the affairs of the public is significant in the democratic gains of the country. They are evaluated on the context of how open the government is the citizens concerning the public affairs. It has provided the platform for which citizen can demand for participation space (Nanjira 114). Some of the significant democratic gains in the Kenyan political arena have been attributed to the popular involvement and participation of the citizens. The aggravation and clamor for the second multiparty system in 1992 is attributed to the awareness of the Kenyan public on its role in policy decision making of the country. In 2010, the public through the public policy entrenched into the Kenyan political system enabled the citizens to usher in the new constitution that was to be inculcated for the prosperity of the nation. Kenyan election system is universal suffrage system where citizens who have attained the legal age of 18 years and above and are registered can take part in electoral process. Moreover, there are no discrimination in that any Kenyan citizen irrespective of the background can go for political office of choice provided they meet the requisite conditions (Kaimenyi and Ndugu 130). On the economic front, the public policy has it that in every financial year, the Kenyan citizens are given the leverage of providing insightful opinion unto the budgets before presentation to the parliament where the elected and nominated leaders as the representative of the public further debate and make decisions. Besides the economic and political fronts, public policies are also entrenched in the health sector, security, and environment among other sectors. In the health sector, the provision of the constitution stipulates that the government has the mandate of ensuring that the citizens have access to basic needs such hospital, sanitation et cetera. Therefore, public policies are essential in instilling confidence in the citizens as well as incorporating citizens to be involved in the affairs of the nation. It significantly contributes in inculcating patriotism and sense of belonging. Work Cited: Akama, John and Kieti, Damianah. Tourism and socio-economic development in developing countries: A case study of Mombasa Resort in Kenya (2007). Journal of sustainable tourism, 15(6), 735-748. Ashforth, Adam. Ethnic Violence and the Prospects for Democracy in the Aftermath of the 2007. 2009. Kenyan Elections. Public culture, 21(1), 9-19. Collier, Paul, and Lal, Deepak. Why poor people get rich: Kenya 1960–1979.World Development (1983). 12(10), 1007-1018. Ehret, C. The Civilizations of Africa: a History to 1800. 2002. University Press of Virginia. Gadd, M. E. Conservation outside of parks: attitudes of local people in Laikipia. 2005.Kenya. Environmental Conservation, 32(1), 50-63. Kimenyi, M. S., and Ndung’u, N. S. Why Has Kenya Not Experienced a Full-Blown CivilWar? Understanding civil war: Evidence and analysis.2005) 1, 123-156. Lovejoy, Paul. Transformations in Slavery, A History of Slavery in Africa, 2nd Ed. 2000, Cambridge University Press. Nanjira, D.D. African Foreign Policy and Diplomacy: From Antiquity to the 21st century, (ABC-CLIO: 2010). Reid, R. Histories of the Hanged: Britain’s Dirty War in Kenya and the End of Empire. The English Historical Review. 2005. 120(488). Gabriel, Lubale. An Introduction to the County Government of Kenya. 2012. Web on 14th April 2015 IMF. IMF Executive Board Concludes 2014 Article IV Consultation with Kenya. 2014. Web on 14th April 2015 World Bank. Kenya Overview. 2014. Web on 14th April 2015 Kenya Institute for Public Policy. Kenya Economic Report 2013. 2013. Web on 14th April 2015 African Development Bank Group . Kenya Economic Outlook. 2014. Web on 14th April 2015 Read More