ABSTRACT
This chapter demonstrates the socio-cultural, ethnic and sometimes economic factors that help explain the history and contemporary conditions in Kenya that make elections almost necessarily a violent affair. The analysis of the elections and the post-election violence will only be contemplated in the context of the socio-cultural and ethnic dimensions that it produced. The subsequent violence turned ordinary citizens, former peaceful neighbors and shadowy ethno-nationalist groups, aspects of government agencies, well-heeled elites and shadowy groups against each other in Kenya's worst ethnic bloodletting. Returning to the ethnic groups' angle, it is useful to further explore Kenya's 42 ethnic groups and subdivide them into three broader groups: the Nilotes, the Bantu and the Cushites. The campaigns for the acceptance or rejection of the draft constitution were largely peaceful, despite the recriminations surrounding the coalition, and the fact that some of the ministers affiliated with Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) opposed the adoption of the draft constitution.
