Kenya Presidential Elections (2007)

From December 2007 to February 2008, Kenya experienced ethnic violence triggered by a  disputed presidential election held on 27 December 2007. A country with over 70 distinct  ethnic groups  – the  five largest being Kikuyu (20%), Luhya (14%), Luo (13%), Kalenjin (11%) and Kamba (11%) – Kenya’s elections since gaining  independence  in 1963 have been dominated by ethnic affiliation, resulting in exclusion and discrimination of those affiliated with the opposition.

In the lead up to the 2007 elections, the two coalitions vying for government – the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Party of National Unity (PNU) - were strongly supported by ethnically-rooted political constituencies. The ODM was backed by Luo, Luhya and Kalenjin, represented in the Nyanza and Western Provinces and Rift Valley; while the PNU was supported by Kikuyu, based in the Central and Eastern Provinces and strongly represented in Nairobi, the Coast Province and Rift Valley. The turnout for the election between incumbent president Mwai Kibaki of the PNU, ODM leader Raila Odinga and ODM-Kenya’s Kalonzo Musyoka was the  highest  on record, with approximately 70% voter participation. Opinion polls  published  prior to the election showed Raila Odinga with a narrow lead. However, on 30 December 2007, Kenya’s Electoral Commission chairman Samuel Kivuitu  declared  Mwai Kibaki the winner. Merely hours later, he was hastily sworn in as President. Odinga and the ODM immediately  rejected  the results, stating the elections had been rigged--a position with which foreign election observer missions, in particular the  European Union (EU) election monitors,  [http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,525984,00.html agreed. ].

The announcement of the results triggered widespread and systematic violence,  resulting  in more than 1,000 deaths and the displacement of over 500,000 civilians. Clashes were  characterized  by ethnically-targeted killings of those aligned with the PNU by ODM, and counter-attacks similarly intent on killing people in ODM-aligned communities. Due to the ethnic nature of the crisis,  violence  was particularly endemic in the Kikuyu-dominated region of the  Rift Valley, where  land inequity  amongst the ethnic communities of Kikuyu and Kalenjin is most prevalent. Following the conflict, evidence arose suggesting that much of the violence had been pre-meditated and planned by politicians and community leaders at both the local and national levels. Kenya’s police forces were also  implicated , with reports suggesting that they were responsible for almost 40% of civilian deaths.

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