Guide Note
Wide scale rioting broke out in Kenya after Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner of the presidential election on December 30, 2007. Presidential runner-up Raila Odinga called for a recount and independent investigation into the election.
Fast Facts
- Raila Odinga had been reported as the front runner in the election to unseat incumbent Mwai Kibaki
- Kibaki was proclaimed the winner of the election by 230,000 votes
- Odinga accused Kibaki of rigging the election
- An estimated 300 people were killed and another 75,000 were displaced during the post-election conflicts
- Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, a European Union observer, reported that "the presidential elections were flawed" 1
Resolution
The election results further exacerbated tribal tensions between Kikuyu supporters of Mwai Kibaki and Luo supporters of Raila Odinga. As violent protests and accusations of botched electoral results persisted through January and February of 2008, Kibaki and Odinga began negotiating a coalition government. A power-sharing agreement was reached between the two parties on February 28, 2008. As part of the agreement, Raila Odinga was named the Kenyan Prime Minister on April 13, 2008.
