Contesting political legitimacy through Facebook: Electoral campaigns and social media use in Mombasa, Kenya
It is difficult to ignore the interweaving of physical and digital spaces in political competition and debate in Kenya. Online political activity appears increasingly dynamic and diverse as politicians, bloggers, media houses and anonymous citizens respond actively and with increasing animation to new opportunities for information access and production online. Over the past five years, these dynamics have extended to the coastal city of Mombasa. The Office of the Governor of Mombasa County regularly updates on his activity on both Facebook and Twitter. Other local elected leaders join him in regularly using Facebook to speak directly to their constituents. Alongside, popular ‘citizen journalists’ and citizen-convened discussion groups have formed, sharing information that has grabbed the attention of some elected leaders and led to their direct and indirect intervention in what is said.
Equally, while local politicians and citizens are increasingly present on social media, constituency-based electoral politics in Mombasa appears to retain a strong material and physical foundation. Those who compete for elected posts easily write off the centrality of Facebook and social media to their campaigns for election and legitimacy. Online activity is perceived to be insufficient for a politician to gain electoral success, unless also visible on the ground speaking with constituents and providing services and resources. Yet such recognition does not stop politicians and citizens from investing in online debate: Facebook debates about local politics were intense and active in the run up to the 2017 elections, involving campaigners, the electorate and political aspirants alike.
Drawing on observations interviews with political contestants and campaigners in the 2013 and 2017 elections in Mombasa, this paper interrogates how and why constituency-based politicians are engaging on social media, participating in, monitoring and even attempting to manipulate what is said online. What role is social media, specifically Facebook, playing in negotiations over elected leaders’ legitimacy in their constituencies? What does this suggest about the ways in which politicians are negotiating their legitimacy, and the role of digital spaces within a historically local and material political contest?