Nakuru’s 2007–2008 violence aftermath offers 2027 election warning

By Suleiman Mbatiah

Nakuru’s experience of the 2007–2008 post-election violence should serve as a warning as Kenya prepares for the 2027 General Election, peace actors have said.

Midrift Hurinet Executive Director Joseph Omondi said the county still carries the painful legacy of deaths, displacement, destroyed livelihoods and damaged community relations from the violence, but has also demonstrated resilience and reconciliation.

Speaking during the International Day of Peace celebrations at Nyayo Gardens in Nakuru City, Omondi said the county’s history made it particularly important for residents and leaders to confront the risks that could threaten peaceful coexistence during the next election.

Nakuru was among the areas that experienced serious consequences of the 2007–08 post-election violence, with communities suffering deaths, displacement, and destruction of livelihoods and damaged relations between neighbors.

“Nakuru County carries both painful memories and a powerful promise,” Omondi said, noting that the county had experienced some of the gravest consequences of the violence before embarking on a process of healing and reconciliation.

The remarks came as Governor Susan Kihika described Nakuru’s ethnic and political diversity as both an opportunity and a responsibility ahead of the 2027 election.

The county has more than 2.1 million residents spread across 11 sub-counties and 55 wards, while the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) classifies it among Kenya’s cosmopolitan counties. Kihika said people from different ethnic, religious and political backgrounds routinely live and interact across the county.

She said peaceful coexistence should extend beyond avoiding physical conflict to the ability of Kenyans to disagree politically and socially without turning those differences into hostility.

“Peace is more than the absence of war. Peace is the freedom to disagree without becoming enemies,” Kihika said.

The governor said Nakuru’s cosmopolitan character placed an added responsibility on its residents to demonstrate that ethnic and political differences could coexist without undermining community relations.

She said the county brought together people from different parts of the country in workplaces, neighborhoods, markets and social spaces, making it a practical illustration of the country’s wider diversity.

“If Nakuru can live together, work together and build together, then Nakuru can show Kenya what peaceful coexistence looks like,” Kihika said.

Omondi, however, warned that peaceful coexistence could not be taken for granted as political activity intensifies ahead of the 2027 election.

He said electoral violence rarely emerges without preceding warning signs, identifying divisive political language, coded ethnic messages, hate speech, misinformation, threats, intimidation, gang mobilization, manipulation of unemployed young people, attacks on women in public life and unresolved local grievances among the indicators that should concern communities and institutions.

The peace organization said the challenge was not necessarily a lack of information because communities often identify emerging tensions before they escalate. The critical issue, Omondi said, was whether the information reaches the right institutions, is verified and prompts timely action.

“Violence rarely begins without warning,” Omondi said.

His warning was echoed by NCIC chairman Bishop Dr Kepha Omae, who said the country had made progress towards peaceful elections but continued to face risks associated with ethnic mobilization, hate speech, political intolerance, misinformation and violence.

Omae said the NCIC had developed its second “Uchaguzi Bila Noma” roadmap to guide preparations for the 2027 elections. The framework includes civic education, conflict prevention, early warning and early response, peace messaging, stakeholder engagement and hate speech management.

The NCIC chairman said political competition should not undermine relationships between citizens or turn ethnic identities into instruments of mobilization.

“Political competition must never become a reason for Kenyans to turn against one another,” Omae said.

The commission said it was strengthening dialogue at community level to allow grievances to be discussed before they hardened into conflict.

Omae said such dialogue was particularly important because unresolved local grievances could be exploited for political purposes, while fairness and inclusion remained important to sustaining public confidence and national cohesion.

Kihika placed particular emphasis on the role of political rhetoric in either preventing or fueling ethnic tensions, warning that hostility could begin long before physical violence occurs.

“Tribalism does not begin with a stone. It begins with a word,” she said, warning against politicians portraying other Kenyans as enemies or turning communities into political weapons.

She urged political actors to ensure that competition ahead of the 2027 General Election remained focused on policies and records rather than ethnic identity.

The governor also called on the NCIC to intervene when individuals repeatedly spread hate, incite communities or use ethnicity to provoke Kenyans against one another.

She said accountability should apply regardless of a person’s tribe, political party, office or popularity, arguing that every community should feel it belongs in the political process.

Omondi said early warning mechanisms would be ineffective unless institutions responded to information received from communities.

He said community peace committees were often the first to notice tension, receive information, convene dialogue and intervene before disagreements escalated into violence, describing them as the “eyes, ears and hands” of local peace infrastructure.

“Early warning without early response is incomplete,” Omondi said, warning that communities could lose confidence in public institutions when they report threats but receive no feedback or action.

The organization that champions for human rights, peace & security and good governance said early response should not automatically mean deployment of security officers, noting that dialogue, mediation, engagement with political leaders, action against hate speech, psychosocial support, and protection of threatened individuals and correction of harmful misinformation could also be appropriate interventions.

Omondi also called for stronger links between communities, peace committees, civil society, and county administrators, the NCIC, the National Steering Committee on Peacebuilding and Conflict Management and security agencies.

The NCIC said young people should also be protected from political exploitation as the country moves towards the election.

The commission said it had established more than 1,000 Amani Clubs in schools to expose young people to peace, diversity, tolerance, dialogue and responsible citizenship, arguing that peace education should begin before an election period.

Omae urged political leaders not to recruit or deploy young people to attack opponents, saying youth participation in democracy should not be turned into participation in political violence.

“We implore you not to use young people as instruments of violence,” Omae said, urging political actors to give young people genuine opportunities to participate in democratic processes rather than recruit, finance or deploy them against opponents.

The NCIC also called on political parties and candidates to reject hate speech, incitement, ethnic profiling and misinformation, while urging leaders to campaign on issues rather than mobilize citizens along ethnic, religious or regional lines.

For Nakuru, the warnings carry particular significance because of the county’s history and its continuing diversity.

Kihika said the objective should not be to create a county in which residents have identical identities or political views, but one in which people recognize one another first as fellow citizens.

“My dream for Nakuru is not a county where everyone looks alike. My dream is a county where everyone feels at home,” she said.

She said political differences should not be allowed to turn into ethnic hostility as Kenyans prepare to vote in 2027.

The governor urged citizens to examine what political leaders say and do, how they treat communities different from their own and whether their politics brings Kenyans together or drives them apart.

Omondi said the county’s history should encourage institutions and citizens to strengthen prevention mechanisms ahead of the next election rather than wait for violence to occur.

“The 2027 General Elections should not become a test of how effectively we respond after violence has occurred. They should demonstrate how successfully we can prevent violence before it begins,” Omondi said.

The NCIC said it would continue monitoring emerging risks, strengthening early warning and response mechanisms, supporting dialogue and working with partners across the country as Kenya prepares for the 2027 polls.