Research News

A recent article from influential magazine The Economist shows how political issues covered in the TV soap opera Makutano Junction set in Nairobi mirror those in the forthcoming election in Kenya.

Makutano Junction’s imaginary election will run at the same time as Kenya's real general and presidential ones, scheduled for December 27th. The show is watched by some 5 million out of Kenya's 9 million viewers from a total population of around 35 million.

The candidates standing for the parliamentary seat of Makutano Junction, include single mother and former nurse Hope Baraka, and wealthy politician Harrison Matata, who rarely visits his constituency and is accused of electoral fraud and violence. Ms Baraka’s bid for parliament has persuaded many Kenyans that women deserve more of a say in Kenyan politics. According to The Economist, many of the show’s fans are undecided rural voters, who could be influenced by issues covered in the programme.

The real Kenyan presidential election is likely to be as close as the on-screen version as issues of tribal loyalties and allegations of corruption cause real tensions in the run up to Election Day. The two main contenders are Raila Odinga who leads in the poles and seems to have rising popular support, and Mwai Kibaki, 77, the modernising incumbent whose health has recently been drawn into question.

More information:

Could the president be ousted? (The Economist, 1 November 2007)

See a case study on the DFID website which describes the way the programme developed Kenyan capacity to make sustainable quality low cost TV.

Makutano Junction was developed as a result of research conducted for DFID by partners to investigate different ways to spread messages about issues in rural livelihoods in East Africa. See project records for Makutano Junction on R4D here and here. DFID Kenya continues to fund production of the programme.

See also previous news stories on R4D Makutano Junction online, Return to Makutano Junction, and Makutano Junction goes Interactive.