African Union’s Intervention in Kenya’s Post Election Violence in 2007/2008

Abstract

Post-election violence in Kenya in December 2007 led to bloodshed and displacement on a massive scale. Beyond the despair and anger over poverty, corruption, and the need for political change in the face of a fraudulent election, the riots also revealed the underlying tensions between ethnic groups that had been fueled by the presidential campaign. These tensions culminated in a clash between supporters of Raila Odinga, Kenya‘s main opposition leader, and those of Mwai Kibaki, the incumbent president. With the onset of violence, Kenya, once viewed as a relative haven of stability in the Horn of Africa, faced ethnic violence, a growing humanitarian crisis, economic disruption, and unresolved questions about its future political direction. The violence resulted in more than 1,000 deaths, at the hands of security forces and in violent ethnic clashes, as well as approximately 600,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs). The magnitude of the trauma and structural violence that took place in Kenya after the fourth multi-party general election took both Kenyans and the international community, alike, by surprise. The severity of this conflict unfolded in a span of 59 days between Election Day, December 27th, 2007 to February 28th, 2008, when a political compromise was reached upon the AU‘s intervention together with the brokering of a power-sharing by the then UN secretary general, Kofi Annan.