Kujenga Amani: Opposition as ‘Incumbent’ and ‘Incumbent’ as Opposition: Analyzing the Key Issues in Kenya’s 2022 Presidential Campaigns

By Nicodemus Minde

Recent victories by opposition parties in Zambia, Malawi, Cape Verde, and Ghana are challenging the power of the incumbent thesis in African elections. In Kenya, no sitting president has ever lost an election but a sitting president has seen his preferred candidate lose an election. In 2002, longtime President Daniel Moi saw his chosen successor Uhuru Kenyatta defeated by Mwai Kibaki in what was seen as the freest elections in Kenya’s history. Fast forward, twenty years on, President Uhuru Kenyatta is backing his longtime political nemesis turned ally Raila Odinga against his “estranged” deputy William Ruto.

You can read the full analysis here.