Clinton School assistant professor Dr. Warigia Bowman is traveling to Kenya this week to observe the country’s landmark presidential election set for Monday, March.
Bowman, who has extensively studied the politics and public policy of North Africa, has started a blog about the election that she will update throughout next week.
Bowman has posted profiles of each of the candidates in the election, including the two front-runners, current Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta.
She also notes that the circumstances surrounding the election process will be closely watched by the international community.
“If it goes well, it could signal a sea change in African politics,” Bowman wrote in her first post previewing the election. “If the Kenyan 2013 Presidential Election goes smoothly, and is not very violent, than it will mean that there are at least three African countries with well-functioning multi-party democracies: Ghana, South Africa, and Kenya.”
Bowman’s interest in the election extends beyond her scholarly pursuits, according to her blog. Her late mother and husband are both from Kenya.
“The bottom line is that due to being raised in America, and being half white, I am not a tribalist.,” she writes. “Rather, I like to think of myself as a global citizen. Further, I have been carefully studying the use of information technology as a factor in democratization in Kenya and East Africa for a decade.”
Click here to visit Bowman’s blog and click here for her Twitter feed which will include updates on the election.
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