Context
- Kenyan legislators are amongst the highest paid in the world, relative to the size of the economy.
- Kenya is an extremely diverse country and ethnicity plays a significant role in politics and political organisation. Since independence, ethnic mobilisation has been one of the most prevalent tools used to galvanise political support. This political culture creates a situation whereby issues of national or local interest often take a back seat to the ethnic arithmetic of the day.
- Since the passage of a new constitution in 2010, which created six elective positions available in each county - if you include the votes for the President and members of the National Assembly - larger political parties have sought to secure their dominance by piggy-backing on the popularity of the presidential candidate to seek all six elective seats in a particular county: a six-piece suit in Kenyan parlance.
- This study covers the costs of running for four seats in Kenya’s democratic make-up: Senate, the Woman Representative, the National Assembly MP and the member of the County Assembly.