Faith-Based Organizations-State Relation and the Democratization Process in Kenya

This article examines how Faith-Based Organizations (FBOs)-state relation influences the democratization process in Kenya. Ideally, the state should be in the forefront in nurturing the democratization process. However, evidence suggests that the Kenyan state has for a long time appeared as an unwilling participant in the democratization process. Instead, the Kenyan state has refused to let go of the old system of governance associated with restricted political freedoms, ethnic discrimination, human rights abuse and grand official corruption, among others. It is the failure by the state to lead from the front that has created an enabling environment for the participation of FBOs (an element of civil society) in the democratization process. Ideally FBOs step in to act as a check and balance against the excesses of the state. It is argued that FBOs-state relation can be explained in terms of either cooperation or hostility. A major argument is that the contribution of FBOs to the democratization process is higher when the relationship between FBOs and the state is hostile. FBOs’ contribution to the democratization process is the lowest when the relationship between FBOs and the state is cordial (cooperation).