Washington, DC — allAfrica editor Brian Kennedy picks out some of the best American and British reporting on this week’s elections. (Free registration may be required to read original coverage.)
With only four days to go until Kenya's election, the international press, and in particular, the press in the United States, is beginning to pay attention to what should be a very close election.
The most interesting piece, however, barely focuses on the heated presidential contest. Joseph Hammer, a former Africa bureau chief for Newsweek magazine, focuses on a parliamentary race in northern Kenya in a piece for the New York Times Magazine.
The race sets an incumbent who happens to be Christian against a Muslim candidate, giving Hammer the opportunity to look at the larger issue of the supposed rise of radical Islam in the Horn of Africa. The Christian candidate, who spent much of his adult life in the United States, accuses the Muslim candidate of having connections to al-Qaeda, while the Muslim candidate counters by accusing the United States Central Intelligence Agency of funding his opponent's campaign.
Both accusations seem ridiculous, but they highlight the intense nature of this year's election, even in the most remote part of Kenya. The article provides a good look at a local race, and local politics are being largely ignored by international and Kenyan press.
The article focuses on what could be the key difference in the presidential race—President Mwai Kibaki's supposed crackdown on Muslims in Kenya. Muslims could vote overwhelmingly for opposition candidate Raila Odinga, and in a close race their votes will matter.
The larger-than-life Odinga is the subject of a profile in Saturday's New York Times by Jeffrey Gettlemen. Gettlemen tries to capture this complicated figure in a short newspaper article, which is no easy feat.
Gettlemen emphasizes Odinga's appeal among both youths and smaller ethnic groups. Although Kibaki has the advantages of incumbency and the overwhelming support of the Kikuyu, the largest ethnic group in Kenya, Odinga has a slight lead over Kibaki in most polls, and the youth vote (a key variable in almost any country's election) could be a key factor in determining the outcome.
Stephanie McCrummen of the Washington Post focuses on the "new style of policking in Kenya," which she calls "modern" and "media-savvy".
According to McCrummen, both Kibaki and Odinga will likely spend around U.S. $6 to $10 million on the campaign, the average amount spent in a U.S. Senate campaign. Kibaki recently held a U.S. $15,000-a-plate fundraiser, and Odinga called in Dick Morris, a former political adviser to former U.S. President Bill Clinton to consult for a couple of days. Both campaigns are using the power of the text message. With the explosion of mobile phones in sub-Saharan Africa, this could transform campaigns across the continent.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The Economist, a news magazine based in the United Kingdom, brings us back to the heart of the matter – this is an incredibly competitive presidential race. The Economist predicts that despite Kenya's robust economic growth, corruption and the lack of jobs could be Kibaki's undoing.
Ultimately, everyone hopes the race is another step forward for Kenya's new and somewhat fragile democracy. As the Economist writes, "Kenyans hope that a fiercely fought election will forge a truer democracy, not cause more bloodshed."
