Political tension in Kenya

It is interesting to follow how the presidential elections and the surrounding political situation are very different in Finland, Kenya and USA as all countries are preparing for getting a new president. The situation in Kenya is quite volatile and the political tension clearly visible.

You may have seen in the news that the International Criminal Court in Hague ruled yesterday that charges against 4 of the 6 suspected were confirmed and they will stand trial before the ICC in a case of crimes against humanity after the post election violence in 2007-08. The charges include murder, deportation, persecutions, torture and rape, hence the ICC case.

A little bit of history is needed to shed some light on the background. After the last presidential election in Kenya in 2007, post election violence erupted leaving over 1,300 Kenyans dead and more than 300,000 people fleeing from their homes.

It all started when the runner up, Mr. Raila Odinga claimed that he was cheated of victory and should be the president instead of the elected current president Mr. Mwai Kibaki. This resulted in protests by supporters of Mr. Odinga and eventually violent clashes with th e police and supporters of Mr. Kibaki. Kenya consists of multiple tribes that belong to 3 ethnic groups. As the candidates represented different tribes and ethnic groups the supporters of Odinga and Kibaki also divided along ethnic lines and the clashes had strong undertones of ethnic differences and rivalries. The long standing land and economic disputes between the groups also played a role in the violence the followed the elections. The violence eventually ended when Mr Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga agreed to share power, with Mr Odinga becoming prime minister.

At the end of 2010 International Criminal Court named the suspects. These suspects were six high-profile Kenyans he accuses of being behind the violence. The six suspects represent both sides equally, and were said to be ‘most responsible’ for the actions even if a larger amount of people were involved.

The next presidential elections are held end of this year, and obviously this not only refreshes people’s minds regarding the outcome of the last election but also potentially impacts how the elections will go this year. The case has especially big impact on the forthcoming elections as two of the suspects, William Ruto and Uhuru Kenyatta, plan to run for president this year. Not only do they plan to run, but are the key presidential aspirants. Having said that, it is easy to see the impact to Kenyan politics and forthcoming elections.

There were concerns that there would be some sort of adverse reaction by the public on release of the ICC verdict by supporters of the suspects, street protests etc. Luckily so far it has been peaceful and we can only hope this is a good sign considering the rest of the year.

It remains to be seen what the outcome of the decision of ICC will be and how it’ll change the elections this year. Hopefully no matter what happens the history will not repeat itself and we can have as peaceful elections as in Finland right now.