Assessing the Role of Mediation and Negotiation in Managing Post Election Violence: A Case Study of Kenya, 2007/8

Immediately after the announcement of the winning presidential candidate in the 2007 general presidential elections in Kenya was declared in December 2007, violence broke out immediately because the mood surrounding the 2007 elections was already very suspicious, but no one blew how bad it would get. At the time, the Party of National Unity (PNU) political party leader the former president of Kenya. Mwai Kibaki was running against the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) party leader Raila Odinga who was also locally 'mown as "Nyundo" or "Rao" for presidency. Upon the announcement of Mwai Kibaki’s winning, the supporters of Raila took to the streets of Kisumu, Nyanza, the Rift Valley and in other regions because ODM supporters were in violent protest and denial over the final announcement. This brought a lot of disunity in the country to the point of ethnic clashes mainly between the ethnic communities that come from the rift valley region in Kenya. The post electoral conflict left approximately 1,500 Kenyan citizens dead, 30,000 Kenyan refugees across the borders and at least 300,000 of the Kenyan population were internally displaced peoples because of the looting and rioting that had taken place. Some of the internally displaced people's either ran for their lives or their homes were burnt to the ground left with nothing but their lives and nowhere to shelter themselves or their families. This study will assess the means that was used to bring peace (Diplomacy), and whether it is the best means of resolving an electoral conflict in a state.