Scholar Assesses Kenya Politics

Constitutional reform is the central issue. It is the issue that split the original NARC coalition (alas, we should not forget that the same cast of characters were in coalition less than five years ago); the issue that gave life to the Orange Democratic Movement, and is the only vehicle capable of delivering a thoroughgoing re-design of political institutions and incentives. I believe that constitutional reform is still possible under a coalition government, preferably with the same "people driven" process as in 2005/2006. One risk to guard against is an elite-negotiated constitutional reform -- that history in Kenya shows -- leaves too many issues unaddressed (e.g. land).