The Weight of Votes: Analysing the Principle of Equality in Kenya’s Electoral Boundaries
Posted: 6 November, 2024 Filed under: Uday Makokha Keya | Tags: Constitution of Kenya, customary international law, democracy, electoral body, electoral boundaries, electoral system, Independent Electoral Boundary Review Commission, Kenya, legal framework, population quota, Principle of Equality, protected constituencies, UDHR, unfair representation, Universal Declaration of Human Rights Leave a comment
Author: Uday Makokha Keya
Third-year law student, Kabarak University
“A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user”
-Theodore Roosevelt.
“Democracy amplifies the notion of legitimacy of the government and that people are the source of authority for the government. Conversely, democracy can as well be curtailed, and serve as a tool to access power for the elites.”[1]
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) asserts that the legitimate source of authority for the government is the people,[2] and for a government to be legitimate, it ought to draw its authority from the people. While the UDHR is not a treaty, there is predominant consensus that it forms part of customary international law and should therefore be implemented by all states. To that effect, the 2010 Constitution of Kenya provides that citizens have a right to elect their leaders.[3] Further, the law provides that elections for every representative are conducted after every five years.[4]
Analysing Ethiopia’s Adherence with the Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections in Africa: A Spotlight on the 2021 National Election
Posted: 8 July, 2024 Filed under: Reda Benkhadra, Yeabsira Teferi | Tags: Access to Information, African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, African Commission, democracy, elections, electoral boundaries, Electoral Proclamation, Ethiopia, Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections in Africa, June 2021 national elections, National Electoral Board of Ethiopia, NEBE Leave a comment
Author: Yeabsira Teferi
Lecturer of law, School of Law, Dilla University, Ethiopia
Introduction
A fundamental element of democracy is the freedom to choose political leaders through elections. As envisaged under Article 13 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (the African Charter), for elections to be free, fair and credible, the electorate must have access to information at all stages of the electoral process.
The Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression, a special mechanism established by the African Commission, with the specific mandate of monitoring member states’ compliance with article 9 of the African Charter adopted the Guidelines on Access to Information and Elections in Africa (hereinafter, the Guidelines), in 2017.[i] The Guidelines provide directions on access to information in the electoral process as a means of strengthening democratic governance in Africa and specifically incorporates the principle of proactive disclosure of information. The principle of proactive disclosure requires that those who hold information of public interest must routinely provide such information to the public even without being requested to do so.
AfricLaw 