Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission of Kenya
These ethnic tensions originate in events occurring before independence when British colonists forced the Kalenjin pastoral tribe off their land to develop the Rift Valley agriculturally.
Later when selecting government officials after independence in 1963, the tension between these two tribes increased as Jomo Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, became president and Daniel Moi, a Kalenjin, became vice-president.
In the 1991 clashes, non-Kalenjin and non-Maasai ethnic groups were "attacked, their houses set on fire, their properties looted and in certain instances, some of them were killed or severely injured with traditional weapons like bows and arrows, spears, pangas, swords and clubs".
In its investigations, witnesses told the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) that violent clashes between the Kalenjin, on the one hand, and the Kikuyu and Kisii on the other, began in 1992.
Despite evidence of electoral irregularities, political violence and a legal framework which favoured the incumbent government, observers of the elections endorsed the resulting victory of President Moi and the Kenya African National Union (KANU) as being an expression of the will of the people.
It was clear that this violence was following a pattern similar to that encountered during previous outbreaks of conflict in Kenya between 1991 and 1994 – prior to and after the country's first multi-party elections in 1992— in which predominantly Kalenjin supporters of KANU attacked members of ostensibly ‘pro-opposition’ ethnic groups.
On the night of 11 January 1998, some members of the Pokot and Samburu ethnic groups raided the home of a Kikuyu widow at a place called Mirgwit in the Laikipia District of the Rift Valley Province.
A group of Kikuyu men followed the raiders but, having failed to catch up with them, entered a Samburu compound where, in retaliation, they mutilated livestock that they found there.
On the night of 13 January 1998, some Pokot and Samburu men attacked Kikuyu communities in the Magande, Survey, Motala, Milimani and Mirgwit areas of Ol Moran in Laikipia.
It has been estimated that over 50 Kikuyus were killed during these attacks and over 1000 others fled the area and sought refuge at the Roman Catholic Church at Kinamba, from where they were later relocated to temporary shelters at Sipili and Ol Moran.
On 21 January, about 70 unidentified people invaded three farms in Njoro including one belonging to the newly elected DP Member of Parliament for Molo Constituency, Kihika Kimani.
The closely contested presidential election was characterised by unrealistic promises, fragmentation, balkanisation, media hype and strong expressions of ethnic nationalism.
Inspired and propelled by the rejection of the 2005 Referendum on a government sponsored constitution, the main opposition party went full throttle to wrest power form the incumbent in the general elections.
[10][11] In part due to the ethnic and geographic diversity of the ODM coalition, no one narrative can explain the reaction of opposition supporters to the announcement of Kibaki's swearing-in.
[12] Targeted ethnic violence (as opposed to violent protests) escalated and at first was directed mainly against Kikuyu people – the community of which Kibaki is a member – living outside their traditional settlement areas, especially in the Rift Valley Province.
Some of the Kikuyu also engaged in retaliatory violence against groups supportive of Odinga, primarily Luos and Kalenjin, especially in the areas surrounding Nakuru and Naivasha.
The slums of Nairobi saw some of the worst violence, some of this ethnically motivated attacks, some simple outrage at extreme poverty, and some the actions of criminal gangs.
On 28 February 2008, Kibaki and Odinga signed a power-sharing agreement called the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, which establishes the office of prime minister and creates a coalition government.
[14] The two parties agreed to tackle four main agenda items to end the political crisis and address its underlying causes.
The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) is part of the accountability component of Agenda Four of the National Accord signed in 2008.
By addressing the cause and effects of historical injustices and gross violations of human rights the TJRC will contribute towards national unity, reconciliation, and healing.
Kenya's civil society have called for a truth, justice, and reconciliation process since 2002 when the NARC Government came into power after the twenty four-year rule of President Moi.
They can recommend prosecutions, reparations for victims, institutional changes, and amnesty in exchange for truth for perpetrators who did not commit gross human rights violations.
The TJRC investigates, analyses, and reports on human rights abuses, economic crimes, illegal acquisition of land, marginalisation of communities, and ethnic violence.
Additionally, the commission has focused on educating the country about the history of violence, and emphasises promoting reconciliation through revealing of truth.
The TJRC will conduct public and private hearings at which victims, perpetrators, experts will give testimony relating to gross violations of human rights.
One of the many suggestions in the official report that the Waki Commission made was that the Kenyan government establish a tribunal of both international and national judges to investigate and prosecute perpetrators of the gross human rights violations.
[26] In February 2009, after the Kenyan Parliament voted against founding the tribunal and no further action was taken by the government, the Waki Commission handed over its information, including a list of those believed to be responsible for the violence, to the ICC.
This ruling marks the beginning of the second phase of the vetting process, and the investigation may end the corruption in Kenya's own legal system.
He commented that, “This week's decision in The Hague [confirming four Kenyans must answer to charges of crimes against humanity] was welcomed peacefully across the country.
