The 2013 Kenyan general election was held on March 4, 2013, marking the first presidential and parliamentary contest under the 2010 Constitution. It represented a watershed moment for Kenya's democratic architecture, introducing devolved governance through county elections, constitutional running mates, and a new electoral commission while simultaneously being dominated by the specter of International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutions against the leading candidates.
The election resulted in victory for Uhuru Kenyatta, who secured 50.07% of the presidential vote, narrowly avoiding a runoff and returning to power just over a decade after the disputed 2007 election that precipitated post-election violence. His running mate, William Ruto, similarly triumphed despite both facing ICC charges related to 2007 violence. This outcome confounded many analysts who had predicted the ICC factor would be disqualifying, revealing instead that the political calculations of Kenyan voters encompassed complexity beyond international justice considerations.
The contest pitted the Jubilee Coalition of Kenyatta and Ruto against the CORD coalition led by Raila Odinga, who was making his third presidential attempt. Regional ethnic voting patterns remained pronounced, with the Jubilee ticket's strength in Central Kenya (the Kikuyu heartland) and the Rift Valley overwhelming CORD's traditional strongholds along the coast and western regions. The election also inaugurated Kenya's county system, with 47 governor races simultaneously determining the first decentralized leadership tier under the constitution.
Several institutional and technological innovations featured prominently. The IEBC (Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission) replaced the discredited Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), and the election deployed biometric voter registration and electronic result transmission at scale for the first time, though implementation remained imperfect. The running mate requirement, mandated by the new constitution, introduced a novel dimension to coalition-building and campaign dynamics.
Raila mounted a legal challenge to the results, alleging irregularities and statistical implausibilities in Uhuru's victory, but the Supreme Court unanimously dismissed the petition, validating the IEBC's tabulation. The election solidified the foundation for devolved governance, reshaped Kenya's political coalition map, and demonstrated that even candidates facing international indictment could mobilize sufficient electoral support to secure national office.
See Also
2013 Election New Constitution Context 2013 Election Jubilee Coalition 2013 Election CORD Coalition 2013 Election ICC Factor 2013 Election IEBC 2013 Election Results 2013 Election Timeline
Sources
- International Crisis Group. (2013). Kenya's 2013 election: Too fragile for comfort. Retrieved from https://www.crisisgroup.org/
- European Union Election Observation Mission. (2013). Kenya 2013 General Elections: Final Report. Retrieved from https://www.eueom.eu/
- Carter Center. (2013). Observing the 2013 Kenya Elections. Retrieved from https://www.cartercenter.org/