Kenya and the Politics of a Postcolony

Examines the governance and politics of Kenya since independence, focusing on the betrayal of the aspirations of anticolonial nationalism.

Kenya and the Politics of a Postcolony sets out to probe, explore, and evaluate the betrayal of anticolonial nationalism in Kenya. Contemporary Kenya's emergence is rooted in the colonial enterprise, its deleterious effects, and the subsequent decolonisation spearheaded by a fierce anti-colonial nationalism that was embodied in freedom struggles at the cultural, political, and military levels.

As a settler colony, the colonial settlers hived off millions of hectares of the best land in the highland areas of Kenya and appropriated them for themselves, thereby generating a large mass of the landless. This land alienation constituted one of the most deeply felt grievances which, together with the exclusivist, exploitative, and oppressive colonial system, inflamed anti-colonial nationalism that undergirded the struggle for independence. The expectation on the part of the masses was that independence would bring about social justice, restitution of the stolen lands, and a government based on the will and aspirations of the governed.

Political developments soon after independence, however, demonstrated the extent of betrayal of the cause of anti-colonial nationalism, which has remained the reality to date. This book covers the extent of this sense of betrayal from the time of independence to the present. It begins by locating contemporary Kenya within the colonial context, then proceeds to thematic issues of betrayal including the fallout between President Kenyatta and Vice President Odinga over ideology and issues of development, which constituted the first betrayal; the scourge of bureaucratic corruption and rent-seeking; the question of land and associated historical injustices; and electoral malpractice since the return of multiparty politics in 1992 to the most recent elections of 2022.

The implications of these dynamics for the future of the Kenyan polity are delineated and discussed.