The Impact of Elections in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, 2014-2017

These are transcripts of interviews conducted in Ghana, Kenya and Uganda between January 2014 and June 2017 as part of the ESRC project ‘The impact of elections’. The project was undertaken by Nic Cheeseman (University of Birmingham), Gabrielle Lynch (University of Warwick) and Justin Willis (Durham University). The interviews did not follow a standard template, but in most cases focussed on the interviewee’s personal experience of elections. In a number of cases interviews also covered attitudes to elections and to electoral manipulation. Interviews were all conducted by one or more of the investigators. In many cases, a research assistant hired in country was also present. Most interviews were conducted in English; in a small number of cases the research assistants acted as translators for some questions and answers. This is indicated in transcripts by the use of italics. Interviewees were identified partly through national and local reputation, and partly through a process of snowballing. They were contacted in advance and provided with an information and consent form before the interview. For all transcripts deposited here, the interviewees gave consent for deposit without requesting anonymity. However, as an additional safeguard, transcripts have been lightly anonymised. They have also been lightly edited to remove some hesitations and repetitions. A significant number of interviewees did not give permission for their interviewees to be made available for wider use. As a result, this collection only includes 184 transcripts out of around 300 interviews conducted. The results of the research are set out in the book The Moral Economy of Elections in Africa: Democracy, Voting and Virtue (Cambridge University Press, 2021), by Nic Cheeseman, Gabrielle Lynch and Justin Willis.