Demo Finland in Kenya
The co-operation started in 2020.
Partner: Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD)
The programme aims to support Kenyan political parties in developing internal democracy, accountability, transparency and inclusion of politically underrepresented groups. The programme is a pilot that has helped parties in identifying the areas that they want to develop. It has provided the parties with tailored support in reviewing their strategies, action plans, communication and structures. The programme builds co-operation with essential governing bodies, like the election officials and the Political Parties Liaison Committee, whose task is to liaise between parties and relevant governing bodies. The target with the governing bodies is to ensure sustainability by extending internal democracy development to all registered parties in Kenya.
Results of our work in 2025 and 2026
- The programme has formed the first multi-party forum in the history of Kenya for discussing internal democracy. 20 political parties have participated in the multi-party dialogues. (There are altogether about 100 registered parties in Kenya in 2026.)
- Four parties out of the seven that are in the project develop their strategies and action plans independently of the project.
- The Political Parties Liaison Committee has committed to doing its part to ensure that the development of internal democracy extends to all registered parties.
- The Office for the Registrar of Political Parties (ORPP) merged the National Disability Multi-Party Caucus (NDMC), composed of 20 political parties and established by the previous programme to promote the political participation of persons with disabilities throughout the Kenyan political system. As a result of the merger, ORPP now requires all registered parties in Kenya to establish a functional disability league.
Background on Kenya
Kenya has had a multi-party system since 1992. Elections are held regularly, and the political party system is fairly well regulated by law. The legislative and executive branches are separated, and the judiciary is formally separate. However, the president has extensive autonomous power. In Kenya, political parties have traditionally formed around a single strong leader, representing the leader’s region and county. As a result, the parties have been ethnic in their core, and therefore lack a social philosophy and programmes based on it, as well as knowledge or experience of intra-party democracy.
In 2024, Kenyan youth led widespread protests, demanding accountability, transparency and inclusiveness from the Kenyan political system. The protests were the first in the country’s history in which citizens demanded democratic action from all politicians. Demo Finland’s partners planned the present project to reflect the current needs. In 2026, the youth are still very active in the country’s politics. The general elections in 2027 will show if this will lead to permanent changes in the balance of power.
- Ranked 74/179 in V-Dem’s Liberal Democracy Index.
- Classified as an electoral democracy* by V-Dem.
- Latest parliamentary election: 2022.
- Women in parliament: the National Assembly 23%, the Senate 31%.
- The UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights was ratified in 1972.
- The UN Convention on the Rights of Women was ratified in 1984.
- The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was ratified in 2008.
- More information on the state of democracy in Kenya: https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/country/kenya
*In electoral democracies, there are free and fair multi-party elections and satisfactory degrees of human rights and political rights, but not all the criteria of a liberal democracy are met.