[1] The agreement was signed following a 16-month-long peace process led by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to address sources of ethnic conflict and a history of violence in the rift valley region of Kenya.
[7] This policy displaced a large number of Kenyan natives, caused an influx of immigrant laborers not previously from the highlands and led to the creation of squatter settlements.
[10]: 6–7 Ethnic patronage politics grew in post-colonial Kenya, as the state became the main vehicle for social and economic mobility in the race for resources and access to power.
[11] Initial violence seemed to be the result of a spontaneous response to the perceived election fraud, soon leading to the attacks in Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) stronghold areas (Nairobi slums, Eldoret, Kisumu, and Mombasa) against Kikuyus assumed to be PNU supporters.
[12] The Panel, led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, began formal negotiations between the principals on 29 January 2008 which would go on to discuss four agenda items: On 28 February 2008, Kibaki and Odinga signed an agreement to install a transitional power-sharing government, ending the immediate political crisis and paving the way for legislation like the National Accord and Reconciliation Act (2008) and the National Cohesion and Integration Act (2008).
[13] The latter act created the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to undertake activities to eliminate discrimination and to further equality and peaceful coexistence of different ethnic and racial communities in Kenya.
The NCIC and NSC began formal engagement in Nakuru County in April 2011, guided by an approach that focused on the two main protagonists in conflict, the Kikuyu and Kalenjin communities.
Finally, toward the end of the process, the NCIC and NSC sought technical support from the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue for the drafting of the peace agreement, which included extensive input from the communities themselves.