Kenya

Post Election Violence in Kenya - Timeline

December 27, 2007

• Presidential and parliamentary elections in Kenya.  President Mwai Kibaki, of the Party of National Unity, runs for re-election against, the Orange Democratic Movement ( ODM), led by Raila Odinga.

December 29, 2007

• ODM declares Odinga the winner. Kibaki's party refuses to concede claiming votes are still being counted.

December 30, 2007

• The Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) declares Kibaki the winner. Kibaki is sworn in as president the same day.

• Having initially praised the election process, European Union election monitors criticize the "credibility of the tallying process," and cast doubt on the accuracy of the final results.

• ODM wins the largest number of seats in the parliamentary election.

• Opposition street protests break out.  Police break up demonstrations using live ammunition.

December 31, 2007

• Over 100 people killed in post election violence.

January 1, 2008

• Over 30 villagers from Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe burned to death in a church near Eldoret where they were seeking sanctuary.  "Political anger is being expressed along tribal lines," reports the BBC.
• Kenyan Red Cross says over 70,000 people displaced from their homes by the violence.

January 2, 2008

• UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon expresses concern over "escalating violence."
• Kenyan government accuses the opposition of "ethnic cleansing."

January 4, 2008

• U.S. Assistant Secretary of State, Jendayi Frazer, arrives in Nairobi in an effort to resolve the crisis.

January 5, 2008

• Kibaki offers to form a government of national unity, but his offer is rejected by the opposition, who call for a recount.

January 7, 2008

• Odinga meets with Frazer and agrees to participate in mediation efforts.

January 8, 2008

• Kibaki names his supporters to key ministerial positions, sparking further opposition protests.
• African Union Chairman, John Kufuor arrives in Nairobi to promote mediation.

January 10, 2008

• Kufuor announces that both sides will agree to mediation by a panel of eminent Africans, headed by former U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan.

January 15, 2008

• Parliament convenes. ODM wins post of Speaker.

January 16 - 18, 2008

• Opposition rallies held throughout the country in which at least 23 people are killed.
• Kenyan police say that more than 500 people killed in post-election violence.

January 22, 2008

• Kofi Annan arrives in Nairobi.

January 24, 2008

• Kibaki and Odinga meet for the first time since the election.

January 25, 2008

• Annan denounces continuing human rights violations and calls for an investigation .
• Violence between different ethnic groups continues, especially in the Rift Valley.

January 29, 2008

• Formal mediation talks, led by Kofi Annan, begin.
• Melitus Mugabe Were, an opposition member of parliament, is murdered in an alleged political assassination in Nairobi.  Riots and revenge attacks ensue in slums like Kibera and Mathare outside Nairobi and in the Rift Valley towns of Eldoret, Molo, Nakuru, and Naivasha.
• OCHA reports an increase in the number of rapes in post-election violence. In just one hospital, The Nairobi Women's Hospital, over 167 cases of rape have been recorded.
• United Nations Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide, Francis Deng, reports that he is to send a representative to Kenya to investigate the situation.
• The New York Times reports over 800 killed and 300,000 displaced in the violence.

January 30, 2008

• Assistant Secretary Frazer characterizes the violence in Kenya as "ethnic cleansing."
• U.N. Security Council holds closed door briefing on Kenya as U.N. agencies report a sharply deteriorating security and humanitarian situation.

January 31, 2008

• David Kimutai Too is the second opposition member of parliament killed in two days, when he is shot in Eldoret, sparking further violence in the Rift Valley. 
• Kofi Annan's mediation talks are temporarily suspended after the shooting.

February 4, 2008

• Mediation talks resume with ODM and PNU agreeing on a road map towards restoring peace and order to Kenya. One of the Chief negotiators of Annan's mediation team, the South African Cyril Ramaphosa, withdraws from mediation efforts due to protests from PNU.

February 5, 2008

• Kofi Annan announces that the ODM and the PNU agree to the creation of a Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. The commission would include local and international jurists, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights investigation team.

February 6, 2008

• The Security Council releases a presidential statement condemning the widespread violence and loss of life following the elections in Kenya. The Security Council publicly states its support of the Annan led mediation talks and stresses the need for sincere dialogue and negotiations between rival parties.
• A team deployed by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, begins a fact finding mission in Kenya that will be conducted over the next three weeks.

February 7, 2008

• The United States government announces a travel ban on 10 Kenyan political officials who are accused of inciting post-election violence.

February 8, 2008

• Mediation talks, led by Kofi Annan, make a breakthrough as ODM and PNU agree to reach a political settlement.
• The U.N. Under Secretary-General, Mr. John Holmes arrives in Kenya to meet with party officials and assess  the humanitarian situation.