Crackdown on dissent puts status as democracy at risk

Once considered an island of stability in a neighborhood bedeviled by conflict and one-party rule, Kenya is mired in a protracted electoral dispute that is undermining its democratic credentials.

Political tensions have been simmering in the East African nation since opposition leader Raila Odinga boycotted a rerun of a presidential vote in October and rejected the declaration of Uhuru Kenyatta as the winner. They flared again when Odinga declared himself the so-called people’s president last month, and the authorities cut off TV stations airing the ceremony, initially ignored a court order to restore broadcasts and deported a prominent opposition lawyer.

The dispute has weighed on Kenya’s economy, the region’s largest, with growth slowing to an estimated 4.8 percent last year from 5.8 percent a year earlier. That may undermine efforts to create jobs for more than a third of the potential workforce who are unemployed. While the opposition drew criticism for failing to see the electoral process through, the government response has raised concerns about Kenyatta’s commitment to the rule of law.

“Nobody was expecting him to go to such lengths to keep fighting political battles,” said Christopher Dielmann, senior economist at Exotix Capital. “This is not an electoral blip. It calls into question the political and constitutional structure of Kenya.”

The world’s largest shipper of black tea and a regional hub for companies including Alphabet Inc. and Coca-Cola Co., “I think the government wants to beat anyone and everyone into submission. You find any form of dissent being criminalized.”

Daisy Amdany, executive director of the Community Advocacy and Awareness Trust. Kenya emerged from oneparty rule in 1992, with three presidents chosen in regular — though often-disputed and sometimes violent — elections. The press is mostly free and the judiciary set an African precedent when it declared the initial August vote void after claims it was rigged.

The Interior Ministry denied there’s been any crackdown on political opponents. The government is “becoming more disciplined and focused on ensuring that discipline is followed,” spokesman Mwenda Njoka said by phone. He accused the opposition of “using extra-legal means to sabotage the government.”

Kenya has “a very strong constitution and strong institutions,” he said. “Once people have tasted certain levels of freedom the genie is out of the bottle, you cannot put it back.”

The opposition National Super Alliance has rebuffed calls from the U.S. and European Union to recognize Kenyatta’s victory and last month Odinga began a campaign for fresh elections, spurring authorities into actions that also included the arrests of lawmakers who attended his mock swearing-in ceremony and passport suspensions for some opposition leaders.

“I think the government The government is “becoming more disciplined and focused on ensuring that discipline is followed.”

Mwenda Njoka, spokesman for Interior Ministry, which denies there has been any crackdown on political opponents. wants to beat anyone and everyone into submission,” said Daisy Amdany, executive director of the Community Advocacy and Awareness Trust, a local group that campaigns for economic and political development. “You find any form of dissent being criminalized.”

Chris Suckling, a senior analyst at London-based IHS Markit, said although the arrests could be seen as authoritarian, they suggest a strategy of targeting individuals rather than a wider clampdown. The police, who’ve previously clashed with opposition supporters, showed restraint during Odinga’s mock swearing-in ceremony, he said.

“In terms of Kenyatta’s position, the ruling Jubilee Party are at the strongest position they have been,” Suckling said by phone. “I imagine their strategy is to let Odinga and his nationalist movement run out of steam, and they don’t have to do much.”

Kenyans won’t easily relinquish their democracy and will take a stand against authoritarianism, according to Amdany.

“One thing they are not willing to let go is their fundamental rights and freedoms,” she said. “We have been there and we know what it is like.”