Politicians set sights on diaspora votes
- Ника Давыдова
- 10 сент. 2011 г.
- 4 мин. чтения
MP for Gatanga Peter Kenneth addressing Kenyans in Dallas in August 2011
The increasing power of Kenyans in the Diaspora has seen politicians training their guns on a constituency that has in the past been disenfranchised.
Among such leaders is Planning, National Development and Vision 2030 assistant minister Peter Kenneth, who recently was on a whirlwind tour of the United States of America.
Mr Kenneth addressed Kenyans in Dallas, Texas, Atlanta in Georgia, Baltimore in Maryland, Delaware, Newark and Jersey in New Jersey.
He also visited Worcester, Lowell and Boston in Massachusetts, Chicago in Illinois, Minneapolis and Minnesota.
Addressing the League of Young Professionals of Kenya in Nairobi immediately after the trip, the Gatanga MP said the diaspora would most likely account for one of the largest voting blocs in the 2012 election.
Largest voting blocs
“Kenyans in the diaspora will have an opportunity to vote in the next elections and I can assure you, this is one of the largest voting blocs which we cannot wish away,” said Mr Kenneth.
Mr Kenneth was in the US between August 20 and 26. Kenyans in the diaspora contribute more than Sh200 billion annually to government coffers, he said and were entitled to have a say in the way the country was managed.
According to the Bill of Rights section 38.(2), every citizen has the right to free, fair and regular elections based on universal suffrage and the free expression of the will of the electors.
It goes ahead to state that every adult citizen has the right, without unreasonable restrictions, to be registered as a voter; and to vote by secret ballot in any election or referendum.
Mr Kenneth said the diaspora played a great role in nation-building and was better placed to provide expertise in important areas of development in line with Vision 2030.
“They contribute to the growth of the private sector through private projects and businesses and they should be given an opportunity to influence national and county government plans and policies to for the common good.”
The MP said Kenyans in the diaspora were the country’s ambassadors.
The founder and executive director of the African Youth League in the United Kingdom, Mr John Kamau, said Kenyan politicians had visited various cities in the country to sell their agendas.
“Mr Kenneth has visited East London and other cities several times. He has unofficially come here at least more than three times and held meeting with Kenyan youth. Prime Minister Raila Odinga has also been here,” said Mr Kamau.
Bring them on board
Nominated MP Mohamed Affey said his party, ODM Kenya, was aware of the critical constituency created by the new Constitution.
The party has started building networks in several cities of the world to ensure all Kenyans are brought on board.
“We want to bring them on board not just because of their votes but also as an important group that will provide us with expertise once our candidate, Mr Kalonzo Musyoka, becomes president next year,” said Mr Affey.
Dujis MP Adan Duale agrees with Mr Kenneth that the diaspora would play a significant role in the 2012 elections.
Mr Duale said UDM was wooing Kenyans in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan.
“We already have representatives in those countries and we will intensify our drive beyond our borders to include them because they too are Kenyans,” said Mr Duale.
The party is also building networks in the rest of the world.
According to Foreign Affairs assistant minister Richard Onyonka, it would be an oversight for any politician to overlook the power of the diaspora, given the amount of money they remitted home.
Surveys by the World Bank last year indicated that Kenya came second after Nigeria in investments such as land purchases, building houses and starting businesses from diaspora remittances.
The survey said Kenyans scored 52 per cent after Nigeria at 55 per cent of the share of total investment followed by Burkina Faso at 36 per cent, Uganda at 20 per cent and Senegal at 15 per cent.
Head of the Diaspora Department at the Foreign Affairs ministry Maurice Okoth says there are 3 million Kenyans in the diaspora, both registered and unregistered.
Mr Okoth says such numbers could tilt an election if all of them voted in the next election.
According to a World Bank/African Development Bank report, migration is a vital lifeline for the continent and about 30 million Africans live outside their home countries, and Kenya contributes 10 per cent of this population.
Largely untapped
Mr Dilip Ratha, the main author of the report and lead economist at the World Bank, says African governments need to strengthen ties between diasporans and home countries to protect migrants.
“The potential of migration for Africa remains largely untapped,” said Mr Ratha.
Independent Interim Electoral Commission chief executive Lawrence Oswago, however, says it is important for proper legislation to be put into place to determine who will be eligible to vote in the election.
He says there is need to objectively debate whether a Kenyan who has been away from the country for several years is eligible to vote.
“We have Kenyans who have been out of the country for over 40 years and we need to ask if these people can actually vote, and if Kenyans in the diaspora were to vote, would they vote in the presidential elections only or for all the positions,” Mr Oswago says.
The IIEC chief executive gives the examples of Britain where you cannot vote if you have been away for more than 15 years; Australia where a six-year absence deprives you of the vote and the US where Americans can vote regardless of how long they have been outside the country.
Every US citizen must vote wherever he/she is, while India does not allow its diaspora population to vote because a big population is resident outside the country.
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