The Rift Valley experienced the most severe violence of the post-election crisis, with organized ethnic cleansing of Kikuyu settlers and other non-Kalenjin communities in districts including Eldoret, Naivasha, and Nakuru. Local Kalenjin leaders mobilized constituencies, articulating grievances about historical Kikuyu land acquisition and marginalisation under Kibaki's government. The violence was particularly organized in Eldoret, where hundreds were killed in attacks on Kikuyu-associated neighborhoods. Thousands fled to refugee camps or informal settlements. Churches were burned, homes destroyed, and survivors reported systematic patterns of ethnic targeting.
See Also
- 2007 post-election violence
- Ethnic cleansing Kenya
- Rift Valley politics Kenya
- Internally displaced persons Kenya
Sources
- Waki, Philip et al. (2008). "Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence, Kenya." Government of Kenya. https://www.krckenya.org
- Human Rights Watch (2008). "Ballots to Bullets: Voting Irregularities and Violence in Kenya's 2007 General Elections." New York: HRW. https://www.hrw.org
- Amnesty International (2008). "Kenya: Post-Election Violence and the Criminalization of Peaceful Protest." https://www.amnesty.org
- Branch, Daniel (2011). "Kenya: Between Hope and Despair, 1992-2011." Yale University Press. https://www.yalebooks.com