Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAS) is a German political foundation. The work of KAS is founded on the basic principles of freedom, justice, and solidarity. In 2016, the Kenya country program partnered with the Centre for Multi-party Democracy (CMD), a respected Non-governmental organization in Kenya that brings together various political parties to promote democracy and good governance.
The partnership gave rise to a program that has now been conducted in 10 counties across the country with a strong message on the well-known issue of voter bribery in Kenya. Together, KAS and CMD provided a platform for debates engaging mainly political party youths, key influencers and political aspirants to air their views regarding the matter. These vibrant debates became the basis for conducting this survey, which we believe is the first of its nature in Kenya.
The findings of this survey were that out of the 514 respondents, who participated in the survey, majority, 56%, had confirmed that they had ever received a bribe from a political aspirant/candidate and among all the respondents, who participated in the survey, 24% confirmed to have ever offered a bribe. The findings of this survey are based purely in 10 Counties namely Kiambu, Trans-Nzoia, Kakamega, Kisumu, Machakos, Nakuru, Bomet, Meru, Migori and Kilifi where KAS in partnership with CMD conducted this rapid exercise.
Election administration and the attendant voting rights concerns continue to remain fundamental issues of interest in every democracy, from first world countries to third world and developing democracies, especially with regard to electoral processes. KAS and CMD are proud of the final product from this exercise, but by no means can we claim to have left all stones unturned. A lot more work needs to be done by all stakeholders to unearth the full extent of this phenomenon and to consequently act on the recommendation of this report and those of others that may follow. In releasing this report, we hope that it helps to inform the country of some issues relating to electoral malpractice and challenge various actors to think beyond the election fever for future interventions.
