Majimbo: Towards Ethnic Federalism in Kenya?

The article is devoted to the majimbo system (majimbo, Swah. regions; hence regionalism, federalism), which was disputed in the early 1960s as part of discussions about the future government structure of independent Kenya. The discussions involved African political parties, representatives of the British colonial administration and Kenya’s white settler minority. The idea of majimbo had been discussed before, since the 1940s, but it was at the dawn of independence that it was important to determine what kind of state a sovereign Kenya would be – federal or unitary. The discussion of the idea of majimbo continued with renewed vigor in the 1990s – the early 2000s and at the present time. The author focuses on the problem of the constitutional process in Kenya: the new 2010 constitution was designed with the aim of implementing a fundamental reform of the country’s political system – it was planned to introduce the principle of devolution, ensure political stability, separation of powers, limitation of presidential power, self-government, protection of the rights of individuals and “ethnic” minorities. The article examines some opinions about majimbo, regionalism, and devolution in Kenya: without taking into account the history of federalism it is impossible to understand the present condition of Kenyan statehood, the national question, domestic politics, and the place of this country in regional East African federal process. It shows how fully and effectively federalism was implemented in the practice of state building in Kenya. The processes indicating the recentralization of the Kenyan political system and local government are also analyzed.