Kenya 1991 Summary
Kenya’s constitution was revised in 1991 in response to widespread popular demand and external pressure for the country’s return to a multi-party system. Throughout the late 1980’s the single party system, which had been constitutionally mandated since 1982, had been a source of increasing tension, as evidenced in demonstrations and increasingly open operations of illegal political organizations. In 1989, the vice president ordered a commission to investigate the matter, but reported in 1990 that that a majority of Kenyans still supported the single party system. Opposition leaders created a united front to call for a boycott of the next election (1992) unless a national conference on multi-partyism was held. The ruling party continued to resist such demands until the major donors of development aid suspended financial assistance to the country pending such reforms. Eighteen months after the commission’s findings were announced, a special meeting of the ruling party’s governing council was called to develop a response. This body (composed of 12 members) met in secret to discuss the matter and developed the initial text of a bill which was presented to a party congress of 3600 delegates in early December (2 or 3rd) of 1991. The bill was then forwarded to the legislature, which at the time was composed of 200 members of which 12 were appointed by the president. On December 20, 1991, 140 representatives voted in favor and only one opposed.
In the subsequent presidential election (1992) the incumbent (ruling party) candidate was elected with only 36% of the vote. Many contended that the process was marred by continued limitations on the opposition’s party’s ability to organize, by intimidation of their leaders and supporters, and by gerrymandering of legislative districts. Demands for constitutional reform (sometimes violent) continued throughout the end of the twentieth century. Although parliamentary acts in 1999 decreased the power vested in the president, opposition leaders remained unable to overcome ruling party resistance to broader reforms. When the ruling party president (who held office from 1978 to 2002) stepped down and an opposition party leader gained the presidency, a National Constitutional conference was called and began discussing a draft constitution on April 28, 2003.