Ethnic violence, elections and atrocity prevention in kenya. Yet, the most recent post election violence, because. Security warned about circulating sms that may cause public unrest. The 200708 kenyan crisis was a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis that erupted in kenya after former president mwai kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election held on december 27, 2007. In east africa kenya, tanzania and uganda electoral violence has been a major feature of politics in the post independence era. Using two surveys conducted before and after the election we find that one out of three. Report from ohchr factfinding mission to kenya, 628. First is the perception of historic marginalization by certain ethnic groups as a. The independent variable is the nature of political mobilization. Kenya experiences displacement as a result of various factors. In this study, the dependent variable is the election related political violence. Where the extant published research about election violence violence occurring immediately before and during balloting comprises a small literature, published research about post election violence hardly comprises a literature at all. The recent 2016 post election crisis in gabon12 that left scores dead seems to shows that electoral violence is an intractable phenomenon on the. Aug 06, 2009 view map of the post election violence hotspots in kenya.
Determinants of postelection violence in kenya core. Findings in relation to the causes and patterns of the postelection violence. Also in 2007 election the need for some communities to continue holding power led to what is described as the worst post election violence to ever hit kenya. Apr 29, 2015 influencing election violence in kenya posner, 2005 the remainder of this paper proceeds as follows. The post election violence which engulfed kenya fell short of civil war that several independent african countries have experienced as a result of factors ingrained in national political, economic and sociocultural character. The impact of the 20072008 post election violence on. Although exacerbated by political feuds, the violence had its roots in ethnic rivalries and struggle for ancestral lands.
Further, in a bid to establish the extent to which political parties, voter motivation and civic education contributed to election violence, a simple linear regression was used. Ghana has been framed by the international community as a unique bastion of democracy and peace on the african continent. Incidence of political and election related violence, radicalization and violent extremism, interethnic. Where the extant published research about election violence violence occurring immediately before and during balloting comprises a small literature, published research about post election violence hardly comprises a.
Jul 01, 2009 kenya and liberia held elections in 2017 that were closely watched by the international community, as both countries history of violence led to fears over election security. The objective was to explain the causes of ethnic politics in kenya which led to the political assassination of the 1960s under jomo kenyatta, the ethnic clashes of moi era and culminated into the 20078 post election violence of kibaki presidency. Commission of inquiry into the post election violence. Voting in elections has widely been along ethnic lines in many kenyan communities. The case has all the significant traits and problems of a. The current situation of internally displaced persons in kenya. We categorise them here largely for conceptual reasons since. Causes of electoral violence in africa written by ngah gabriel sous dir.
Introduction the announcement of the presidential poll results caused a massive outpouring of violence it led to the loss of several hundred human lives and. This was widely confirmed by international observers, as being. Specifically in kenya, the attainment of independence on 12 december 1963, with the kenya african national union kanu forming the first post independence government has, until recently, failed to provide for. Generally, the history of electoral politics in africa has not been encouraging. The chapter discusses some scholarly works on contextual concepts, historical ethnic divisions in kenya and the origin of political parties. The closely contested kenyan elections in 2007 were based upon a lawed election process, and led to a deepening of ethnic divisions and serious post election violence lasting well into 2008. Anderson and lochery, violence and exodus in kenyas rift. Table of contents kenya national commission on human. In this paper, i perform an analysis of the conflict to examine why widespread violence erupted in. Local language radio stations are routinely partisan and unethical. December 2007 post election violence issue in kenya. However, before it turned into a real local war the conflict was settled, a peace agreement signed and the people went back to their jobs again.
The announcement of the results of the 27 december 2007 general election in kenya triggered widespread violence, resulting in the deaths of over a thousand people, thousands of people being injured, and several hundreds of thousands of people being. Kenyas 2007 post election violence surface syracuse. This thesis is about the 2007 electoral violence in kenya. About the authors the lead author, claire elder, worked as a consultant with international crisis groups horn of africa project in nairobi, kenya, where she monitored and researched the 20 kenyan general elections. Post election violence in kenya pdf political violence and the 20 elections in kenya. Widespread perception that the count of the presidential election was modified in favour of kibaki.
Pdf postelection crisis in kenya and internally displaced. Over the last decade, kenyas politicalsecurity volatility has been well documented by extant research and media reports. According to the agreement the final goal of that political dialogue is to achieve sustainable peace, stability and justice through the rule of law and respect for human rights. As i detail in this book, more than half of all elections held in africa experience some form of violence or intimidation either. An analysis of the post 2007 general election conflict. Postelection violence in kenya and its aftermath center. The human rights impact and causes of postelection. Dec 12, 2017 kenya underscores the spirit and letter of unsc resolution 2250 in many ways. For instance, in kenya, there have been unresolved conflicts since the colonial period and the situation has been getting worse overtime following the five year electoral cycles of 199219972002, all which culminated to the post election violence pev in 20072008.
Media, elections and political violence in eastern africa the. Internally displaced persons refugee consortium of kenya. The post election demonstration and violence stemmed from a mixture of motives. Explaining electoral violence in africas new democracies. Similar accusations were made concerning the 2005 referendum campaign. Causes of electoral violence the causes of electoral violence are multifaceted, and can.
More than 250,000 people were internally displaced, made refugees in their own country. Pdf ethnicity as the root cause of conflict and its effect. Political violence in kenya a study of causes, responses, and a framework for discussing preventive action introduction th is paper focuses on political violence in kenya. It is therefore right to say that the violence that has instigated kenya s political and social scene appears to have been as a result of a deliberate manipulation and instigation by the. What role have the media played in kenyan democracy. Ethnicbased violence has a long history in the country, fueled by grievances over land, privilege, and inequality. According to government records, some constituencies were not recorded however therefore the number is set to be higher. Responsibility to protect examines the causes of widespread ethnic violence in kenya during 20072008 and explores why the country was able to avoid similar violence during the march 20 election. To do this, we must fi rst understand the history of political violence in kenya and what. The study causes for postelectionviolence 20072008 in kenya reconsidered. Ethnic politics and postelection violence of 20078 in kenya. Background on the postelection crisis in kenya center for. Causes of the violence the 2007 post election violence in kenya rooted in the interethnic resentments between the kalejins and kikuyus and was triggered by results of the december 2007 elections. The 2007 postelection violence in kenya, however, was of a different magnitude.
During the violence following the 2007 presidential election. While the causes and reasons behind electoral violence are myriad. Conclusions based on an empirical analysis of post election violence conducted at the constituency level in kenya on december 27, 2007, and zimbabwe on march 29, 2008, are presented. Aug 11, 2009 according to the report by the commission of inquiry into the post election violence, sexual violence against women and girls took the form of individual and gang rapes, many of which were ethnically driven, as well as female and male genital mutilation. The specific objectives were to explore the causes of the post election violence, to establish the extent to which media escalated andor deescalated violence, and to assess the impact of media reports on post election violence. The commission of inquiry on post election violence 2009 that investigated kenya s 200708 post election violence attributed the countrys history of electoral violence to a combination of longstanding conflict drivers. Mar 05, 20 here are a few of the circumstances that some experts say can spark election violence in kenya and elsewhere.
The post election violence pev of 200708 in kenya left over 1,500 people dead and 660,000 displaced. Critical analysis of the discourse formation good governance and its implementation by the world bank deals with the impact of discourses and connected power structures on kenyan national politics. The international media looks at this crisis through the lenses of ethnic cleansing and a fight for tribal supremacy between the luo and the kikuyu. The joint mission, which visited kenya between 29 march and 9 april 1998, had four main objectives. The concept of internal displacement is not new to kenya, though the 20072008 post election violence brought the phenomenon to wider attention as it displaced more than 650,000 persons. Pdf explaining postelection violence in kenya and zimbabwe. The government and the opposition have agreed on a political framework to address the post election violence. The kenyan commission of inquiry into postelection violence background the commission of inquiry into postelection violence cipev was the outcome of the kenya national dialogue and reconciliation accord of february 28, 2008, negotiated by kofi annan and the panel of eminent african personalities, and its sister agreement of. Dec 14, 2017 kenya will not address its cycles of political violence if the underlying rights abuses that are among the causes of past election related violence remain in place. The impact of the 20072008 post election violence on women. Kenya has experienced election violence since the introduction of multiparty politics.
In particular the author, abdullahi boru halakhe, focuses on the range of reforms implemented. Social media and postelection crisis in kenya scholarlycommons. The violence erupted immediately after mwai kibaki was named the winner amidst allegations of election rigging and manipulation. Responsibility to protect examines the causes of widespread. Preventing postelection violence based on the kenyan experience. Conflict analysis of 2007 postelection violence in kenya. According to the agreement, the final goal of that political dialogue is to achieve sustainable peace, stability and justice through the rule of law and respect for human rights. It has always been a source of unrestrained resentments, irrational action and political instability. Sexual violence against women and girls in kenyas 2017. Although the trigger of the violence is clearly the presidential election in 2007, there are various hypotheses as to its root causes. John hickmanexplaining post election violence in kenya and zimbabwe. Pdf ethnicity as the root cause of conflict and its. The case of internally displaced people following the. Roberts september, 2009 abstract kenya has been riddled with conflict and violence throughout its brief history as a nation.
Th e rationale of the paper is to understand how such violence can best be prevented. In addition, we found that international election observation missions may decrease the likelihood of pre election violence, but may increase the likelihood of post election violence if they expose attempts at election fraud. Following the announcement of presidential election results on december 30, 2007, kenya ex perienced the worst electoral violence since the inception of multiparty politics in 1992, leaving more than 1,100 people dead, 650,000 displaced, and the country deeply divided. To what extent are they responsible for inflaming the post election violence of 2008. This briefing from the bbc world service trust draws on semistructured interviews and a.
Thus, it is pertinent to note that remote causes of the violence are traceable to the advent of multiparty politics in the 1990s and it was manifested in different forms. Preventing postelection violence based on the kenyan. Susan stigant is a senior program officer in usips center for governance, law, and society. In kenya, the media, particularly local language radio, have been accused of being responsible for fuelling ethnic hatred and violence in the aftermath of the 2007 presidential elections. Kenya article 19 defending freedom of expression and. According to unsubstantiated reports in the media the police and politically connected gangs contributed to the majority of the killings observed during the post electoral violence ohito and obonyo, 2010. Genderbased violence such as rape and forced circumcision of males from luo and luhya communities tribes were pervasive bayne, 2008.
The kenyan commission of inquiry into postelection violence. See appendix 2 for a map of the main different ethnic groups in kenya. The report finds evidence of massive failures by the state security agencies, especially. Post election political violence 2 joint mission to kenya to carry out research into the roots and repercussions of the violence. This background paper is an introductory overview of the causes and experiences of election related violence in relation to patronage politics in ghana. The results show that in kenya, competition for land associated with population density rather than electoral fraud provides the better explanation for postelection violence.
By midjanuary, six hundred kenyans lay dead in an unprecedented orgy of post election violence. Similarly, election and communal violence that does not rise to the level of armed conflict causes displacement e. Kenya possesses, even if the presidential elections were not rigged, violence. Supporters of kibakis opponent, raila odinga of the orange democratic movement, alleged electoral manipulation. There were limited books about the issue this being a recent event, but most information was gotten from the onli ne news and reports. For one, the kalenjis believed that the kikuyus have marginalized them for far too long by dominating the major sectors of the kenyan economy at the. The report suggests that the police were responsible for all of these deaths. To understand the political geography of kenyas 200708 postelection violence pev, locational territorial and relational ethnic.
First, post election violence merits investigation because it has been too little studied. Causes of electoral violence in africa written by ngah. The concept of internal displacement is not new to kenya, though the 20072008 postelection violence brought the phenomenon to wider attention as it displaced more than 650,000 persons. Yet, the most recent post election violence, because of its relationship to the contested election results and because of its speed and scale, seemingly came as a. Violence was directly instigated by political actors and by politically connected gangs such as mungiki even before the elections. Within the mentioned framework the parties have made. Although liberias election was largely peaceful, kenya s was marred by intense violence. Organized political violence and kenyas crisis of governance. Methodology focus of the study was restricted on the role played by women in conflict management following the 20072008 post election violence. The 2008 post election violence played out largely on ethnic lines, and ethnicity continues to play an inordinate role in kenyan political life. While election violence had occurred in kenya during previous elections in 1992, 1997 and 2002, it had never reached such catastrophic levels, with over 1,200 people killed10 and over 600,000 displaced.
During the 2007 post election violence, the chief clashing tribes were the larger groups including kikuyus, luos, and kalenjins. An exploration of the effects of postelection violence in kenyas. Background on the postelection crisis in kenya center. Election related violence is not limited to physical violence but includes other coercive means, such as the threat of violence, intimidation and harassment. The 2007 postelection violence in kenya rooted in the in terethnic resentments between the kalejins and kikuy us and was triggered by results of the december 2007 elections. Oct 16, 2008 in some ways the postelection violence resembled the ethnic clashes of the 1990s and was but an episode in a trend of institutionalization of violence in kenya over the years. Triggers and characteristics of kenyan electoral violence. The focus lies on the gga and the practical implementation of the same by the world bank and follows the argument that the discourse formation merely constitutes a continuation of the.
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