The ‘strange’ inclusion of Tuju in Uhuru Cabinet and what it means to our politics

Raphael Tuju, the Jubilee Party secretary General during an interview at the party headquarters in Nairobi. [Photo: Pius Cheruiyot]

Kenya is a multi-party democracy with a vibrant political culture but lacking in one ingredient that makes democratic consolidation a mirage; the inability to sustain political parties beyond a five-year electoral cycle.

In Kenya, political parties are cobbled up in the run-up to a General Election and act as special purpose vehicles which quickly decline and outlive their purpose once elections are over. The idea of democratic consolidation suggests a durable and functional state to the extent that a return to a non-democratic state is no longer viable with a strong multi-party political system being key to its achievement.