NICODEMUS MINDE|
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta – whose final term in office ends after the 9 August polls– has been a key figure in east Africa. Over the last nine years, he has tried to create markets and address issues like peace, malaria and climate change. Within the East African Community, he signalled the end of an era on 21 July when he handed over the bloc’s leadership to his Burundian counterpart, Evariste Ndayishimiye. International relations scholar Nicodemus Minde explores five reasons neighbouring states follow the change of guard in Nairobi very keenly.
1. Participatory politics and term limits
Kenya’s democratic trajectory has always been viewed by east African neighbours as the bellwether for being fairly participatory. The annulment of President Kenyatta’s electoral victory on 1 September 2017 also offered crucial lessons to neighbours.
As court reversed Kenyatta’s win, John Magufuli (Tanzania’s president at the time) had banned all political party activities, ushering in an era of brutal dictatorship. In Rwanda, President Paul
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