"Democracy," according to Winston Churchill was "the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time." Whether the elections which have finally been completed in Kenya fall into the category of democracy or one of those "other forms" is something that is very much open to question.
Supporters of President Daniel arap Moi have, not surprisingly, claimed the vote was democratic while opposition politicians - and many of the thousands of foreign observers - have spoken of massive vote-rigging operations.
Mr Moi, according to the official results, has been elected to serve his fifth term as the country's president although his Kenya African National Union (KANU) party will need the support of minority groups in parliament in order to form a government. Opposition politicians claim that the country has been subjected to an orgy of corruption and that this culture of fraud was extended to the counting of votes. They have called, not for Mr Moi's resignation, but for a re-run of the polls in three week's time.
It has been patently obvious that there have been major irregularities in the course of the election campaign and the actual voting procedure. The polling in the election, which was due to have been brought to a successful conclusion on Monday, was extended to Tuesday in most areas and to Wednesday in others. At least 11 people were killed in election violence, and of these, four were shot head by the security forces.
In the past decade, the trend towards democracy in the continent has overturned corrupt oligarchies including those in South Africa and Malawi. Mr Moi, however, has remained as one of the more traditional leaders of post-colonial Africa. His record as a democrat has left a great deal to be desired.
In the past, western democracies have been tempted to support corrupt regimes in the interests of regional stability. History has shown this attitude to be self defeating. The pseudo-democracies which undoubtedly belong to Churchill's "other forms" have engendered violent and unstable responses in their own countries.
So far, Kenya has escaped the worst of these manifestations of instability. But the ingredients for conflict are undoubtedly present. In the capital Nairobi, for example, opposition supporters greatly outnumber those of Mr Moi and of KANU. The same situation applies in many other regions of the country.
When there are large centres of population in which the majority feels disenfranchised, the danger of instability and even violence is high. KANU politicians have admitted that the vote was flawed. Their claim that it was equally flawed for all, however, has served merely to inflame the situation further. It is to be hoped that an agreement can be reached between Mr Moi and his opponents in order to defuse the situation.