ABSTRACT
The central questions for this chapter are why and how did a new wave of contention incubated in the ashes of the 2005 referendum lead to the 2007/8 post-election violence and finally deliver a new constitution in 2010? It is argued that the 2005 referendum exposed deep cleavages not only within the new regime but also in the pro-change movement and the wider Kenyan public. These cleavages and frustration over NARC’s failure to deliver a new constitution found expression in the ethnic demagogy that characterised the 2007 election campaign. This precipitated the 2007/8 post-election violence, which was ignited by a dispute over the presidential ballot tally. The resolution of this violence involved power sharing and, importantly, a truce between the competing elite coalitions, both of which were necessary to deliver a new constitution in 2010.
