Kissing the Cadaver: Elite Manipulation and Ethnic Violence in Kenya, 1960 – 2008

Abstract

When the post-election violence erupted immediately after the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) announced the December 2007 presidential results, many people were shocked at how fast the country descended into a Hobbesian war of all against all. Yet, a careful reading of the country's post-colonial history was replete with vital pointers to the precarious nature of inter-ethnic relations and how such relations jeopardized the nation building project. This research, conducted in Njoro, Rongai and Molo areas of Nakuru County, former Rift Valley Province demonstrates that elite manipulation, not land, remain the most serious threat to peace in the Rift Valley. Through a combination of both primary and secondary sources, the study displaces the narrative of historical injustices such as land as the main cause of violent ethnic based conflicts in the County. Oral interviews, archival records, reports of inquiry on ethnic violence, land commission reports all seem to indict the political class. To interpret data, the study used the elite manipulation approach.