CIVIC EDUCATION FOR DEMOCRATIC VOTING SYSTEM IN KENYA

Abstract

Civic education seeks to enable the people to acquire knowledge, skills and personal attributes that would make them understand and appreciate the processes, values and systems by which they are governed and the means by which they can participate in those processes. In Kenya majority of Kenyans do not understand the concept clearly and that is why they make errors or poor decisions during election process, and once they vote and after voting process and declaration of results, they start lamenting. The problem is in essence many Kenyans do not know their rights and responsibilities in socio-economic, political, environmental, legal and cultural contexts of their country. Civic education refers to the type of education that equips citizens with the knowledge, skills and desired attitudes, which in turn enable the recipients to make informed participation, choices and decisions about various issues of life. The objective of the research is to study the appropriate and applicable strategy to be used to teach the Kenyans to be open minded and critical to identifying problems facing them and exploring options or solutions to such problems for example elections. The research will be survey and data will be collected through both interview and questionnaires, from the common man in the villages and civil servants in offices in urban areas. The analyzed data will be presented in graphs and tables. The findings will be vital for citizens by increasing peoples’ awareness and levels of civic responsibility resulting in more stable, informed and consensus-based leadership and governance within our counties in the country.