The 2022 general elections were the third general election and the fourth presidential election since the promulgation of the Constitution 2010. They were also the 7th periodic general elections since the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in Kenya in 1991. They were transitional elections for Kenya as they marked the end of the incumbent President Uhuru Kenyatta’s two terms in office. Similarly, there were 22 transitions at the county governors’ level due to the expiry of respective 2 term limits. Since the re-introduction of multi-party politics in 1991, Kenyan elections have remained very high-stakes affairs that are characterized by heightened socio-economic, political and ethnic tensions.

While the 2022 general elections were no exception, they were nuanced by an additional layer of new political shifts and narratives that emphasized socio-class and identity-based grievances and tensions. Other numerous issues and factors, such as rising cost of living, high unemployment and poverty levels, corruption, bulging public debt, general insecurity, and political patronage, among others, also defined and shaped the context and environment in the lead-up to the 2022 elections.

These factors were compounded by the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, splintered ruling party, class and intra-elite tensions, existential politics of survival and the exponential cost of elections, to make the 2022 general elections unprecedented, unpredictable, complicated and challenging. The two top contenders for the presidential position, Raila Odinga and William Ruto, in some way, had a claim to incumbency and attracted a near-equal political support base across the country. Opinion polls over the period also showed a close margin between the two top presidential contenders and a possibility of the presidential election outcome tilting in favour of either of them at the finish line.

They also portrayed a potential of neither of the two top presidential candidates crossing over the 50%+1 threshold, thus the likelihood of a run-off. Out of a national population of 47.6 million, 22,120,458 Kenyans (49.12% female and 50.88% male, while 39.84% were youth between 18-35 years) were registered to vote in the 2022 general elections at the 46, 233 gazetted polling stations across the 1,450 electoral wards in the country. Even though this was an increase from the 19.6 million registered voters in 2017, general apathy and lack of interest, among others, as well as the consequent low voter registration, characterized the voter registration drives for the 2022 general elections.

The registered voters were required to simultaneously cast six ballots for the election of a President, Senator, Member of the National Assembly, Woman Representative, County Governor and Member of County Assembly. The IEBC cleared and registered a total of 16,100 candidates to contest for the 1,882 elective seats across the country. Out of these, 11,574 (72%) contested on political parties’ tickets, while 4,526 (28%) contested as independent candidates. While the majority of the candidates were vying through political party tickets, these elections also had a record-high number of independent candidates as compared to the previous election.