Contribution of tyranny of numbers to democratic governance

Tyranny of numbers is a hypothesis introduced by Mutahi Ngunyi in 2013 in Kenya.

He was of the opinion that Jubilee Alliance would win elections in 2013 through the
first round with a substantial majority over the Cord coalition. He believed that
Jubilee Alliance had a large numerical advantage to secure an electoral victory. This
is because they had a bankable ETHNIC VOTE OF 6.2 million or 43.2% of total
vote. This consisted of the GEMA and Kalenjin votes. The election outcome was as
hypothesized.
Tyranny of numbers may be seen as a form of democracy since democracy normally
involves the election of representatives by the public through free and fair elections.
The rule of majority is very visible in democracy since when electing one person to
a particular seat, it may not be possible to attend to each and every opinion of very
many and different people and. Democracy may be seen to promote the Utilitarian
theory espoused by Jeremy Bentham; what causes happiness to many people is the
right norm. In this case, the leader that has been elected by the majority is the best
to rule.
Tyranny of numbers basically pronounces the power in majority, the power in
numbers. Tyranny of numbers has been provided for in many of the laws in Kenya;
the Acts and Constitution which normally stipulates that during voting procedures
the majority vote stands. This is very visible in the national assembly. For example,
the constitution in article 115(4)(a) provides that a bill shall be passed in parliament
through a vote supported by two-thirds of members of the national assembly. So it
is through the tyranny of numbers that bills are passed into laws in the legislature.
Consequently, the peoples elected representatives are able to pass laws that affect
the wananchi which we can indirectly say that the mwanachi participates in making
decisions.
Using the tyranny of numbers, Kenyans have successfully participated in making
decisions that affect them. It is through the tyranny of numbers that Kenyans were
able to pass the constitution 2010 which is a good constitution. In this case, we see
tyranny of numbers promoting democratic governance through free and fair
elections.
On the other hand, tyranny of numbers in Kenya as hypothesized by Mutahi Ngunyi
has not been in good faith. In Kenya, tyranny of numbers mostly works when ethnic
communities form coalitions and vote one of their own. For example, currently
Jubilee being the ruling/ majority party are able to pass laws in their favour. During
debates (in 5th and 10th September 2013) in the National assembly, for kenyas
withdrawal from ICC the minority in the legislature staged a walk out since the
majority leader was using tyranny of numbers to pass the motion disregarding their
opinion and amendments to the motion. This is one of the ways that tyranny of
numbers undermines democratic governance because members of parliament just

want to pass/ fail a bill simply because it was moved by a member from their
political party.
Our members of parliament have used tyranny of numbers to undermine
democratic governance by failing to pass bills on a basis of merit. Mutahi Ngunyis
hypothesis claims that kenyas voting is historically influenced by ethnicity which
has been seen in the national assembly.
Another way that tyranny of numbers undermines democracy is In the case of
representation of minority groups. If during elections the majority rules, it means
that the voice of the minority is not heard and this undermines democratic
governance. For example the Gender bill that was recently in parliament failed since
the house does not have as many women in numbers who share in the sentiments
that the bill shared. Should there have been women in numbers, a higher
probability is that the bill would have passed.
The same effect of tyranny of numbers has been replicated in the county
assemblies where members in the assembly will not vote in nominated county
secretaries or even pass bills simply because the person does not come from the
county. A case in scenario, members of the county assembly of Narok county may
not vote in a nominated county secretary whose national identity card reads Migory
county. In this instance, numbers speak and they speak in a negative way.
Basically, tyranny of numbers should promote democratic governance because it
represents the opinion of the majority in a state. However, when people use these
numbers to form ethnic cartels and seek to promote opinions only held by people
from these ethnic communities, tyranny of numbers hence becomes a tool for
undermining democratic governance.