Kenya's Recent Political Crisis
In realizing the political history of Kenya, it is now easier for one to take a better look at the recent crisis in Kenya. Gettleman stated in his article that on December 27, 2007 President Kibaki was declared victor by a narrow margin in a clearly rigged election. This resulted in massive rioting across the nation leaving massive bloodshed with over 1000 people dead and many displaced (Jopson 2008). According to the Associated Press, the bloodshed that occurred in Kenya was set against Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe which has been “long resented for dominating politics and the economy” (Champion 2008). Most rioting started in Nairobi’s slums, where crowds formed and started hurling rocks at police officers and burning Kikuyu businesses, then the movement surged across the nation. This was the first election that had political heavyweights from two tribes, which cracked open a new divide between the two tribes (Gettleman 2008). The Kikuyu representative was President Kibaki and the Lou representative was ODM representative Raila Odinga, the rigged election declared Kibaki the winner. Triggering rival fighting between the two major tribes, the Lou began attacking the Kikuyu. Gettleman reported of tribal militias who roamed the countryside with rusty machetes tearing apart neighborhoods and farms (Gettleman 2008). Gettleman also reported that the Rift Valley flared, with tens of thousands of Kikuyu heritage fleeing to guarded buses to be transported tout of the western side of the country.