Kenyans and the coalition government: disappointment in spite of relative peace

The briefing paper seeks to evaluate the performance of the coalition government in Kenya since its inception in 2007. Moreover, relying on a survey conducted in 2008, the paper demonstrates the public views about the coalition.

The author underscores that the presidential election in 2007 led to unprecedented violence in the country, and the coalition government was established in a hurry. Accordingly, the first year appears to have been spent on trying to come to terms with the teething problems that the coalition experienced.

The document concludes the following findings:

• a large majority of Kenyans still agrees with the statement that, “democracy is preferable to any other kind of government”
• a majority of Kenyans are of the view that creating a coalition government was the best way to resolve the post-2007 election crisis
• yet, most Kenyans think that the coalition government has so far failed to deliver on the promises of its three parties 
• however, there is a number of sectors, such as HIV fighting, in which Kenyans seem to believe the government has delivered on its mandate 
• the overall verdict from Kenyans is that they are disappointed with the performance of the coalition government thus far
• nonetheless, despite the poor performance of the coalition government, the parties that form the coalition are still the most popular.