Former Public Service Secretary Karanja Kibicho has sparked discussion on social media by defending regional voting patterns in Kenya, arguing they reflect a global democratic trend.
In a statement posted recently, Kibicho noted that while countries like the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany exhibit consistent regional political preferences, these patterns are often praised abroad but condemned in Kenya.
“In the UK, the South sticks with the Conservatives while Northern England and London lean Labour. In the US, the Deep South is reliably Republican, and the Northeast and West Coast remain Democratic,” he said, adding that Germany’s Bavaria, the Ruhr, and the former East follow similar predictable voting tendencies.
Kibicho questioned why similar patterns in Kenyan regions such as Mt Kenya, Nyanza, Rift Valley, Western, Coast, and Ukambani are often criticized as tribalism.
He argued that while other nations celebrate regional identity in voting, Kenyans are “brainwashed into doubting” their electoral choices.
The former PS urged citizens to vote for regional interests “without apology, fear or shame,” emphasizing that such practices align with what he describes as “normal democracy.”
Ethnic voting has influenced party dominance, coalition building, and electoral outcomes since independence, contributing to debates over whether such patterns undermine national unity.
Kibicho’s statement arrives amid heightened scrutiny of voter behavior ahead of upcoming elections