An analysis of land and natural resource conflict as a source of political violence, focusing on election violence in Kenya.

The 2007 general elections in Kenya led to major unrest. The aim of this book is to examine and analyse the events that set the country on fire for several weeks. The situation has largely stabilised since April 2008, when the articles collected in this book were first individually published. Some political information has been updated post April 2008. The coalition government took shape with Mwai Kibaki remaining President while Raila Odinga became the Prime Minister. The country however remains in suspense, as do the donors who had made it possible for Kenya to restore a semblance of peace. But to what point will they be interested in investing in the country and to protect their place in it? The collection comprises a translation of a special issue of Les Cahiers d'Afrique de l'Est, n?37, the journal of the Institut Fran?ais de Recherche en Afrique (IFRA) and a collection of articles from Politique Africaine, n?109. On site researchers - Bernard Calas, Anne Cussac, Dominique Connan, Musambayi Katumanga, J?r?me Lafargue, and Patrick Mutahi; fieldwork carried out between December 2007 and February 2008 by Florence Brisset-Foucault, Ronan Porhel, Brice Rambaud; and in-depth country knowledge by Claire M?dard and Herv? Maupeu, combined to produce a mass of data within a short time. Whilst the tone of the book is not highly optimistic, the thrust is not intended to dampen the unanimous sense of hope in the country that the political and social situation will once more be more than just tolerable.

This book explores the effect of the judiciary on the incidence of post-election violence by political actors across Africa and within African countries. It examines how variation in judicial independence can constrain or incentivize election violence among democratizing states. Using case studies and cross-national analysis, the book shows that variation in levels of judicial independence from a non-independent judiciary to a quasi-independent judiciary or from a fully independent judiciary to quasi-independent judiciary increases the likelihood of strategic use of post-election violence by non-state actors. However, the likelihood of post-election violence is significantly reduced in non-independent judiciaries or once countries' judiciaries become fully independent. The author makes the theoretical argument that, within unconsolidated states, non-state actors that view the judiciary as semi-independent are more likely to engage in post-election violence with the purpose of creating political and professional uncertainty in order to influence assertive behaviour from judges in disputed elections. Consequently, the book argues that semi-independent judiciaries or judiciaries that are neither fully controlled by the incumbent nor fully independent from the incumbent can help explain post-election violence among unconsolidated states, all else being equal. This book will be of interest to scholars of election violence, democratic politics, law and politics and African politics.

Multiparty elections have become the bellwether by which all democracies are judged, and the spread of these systems across Africa has been widely hailed as a sign of the continent’s progress towards stability and prosperity. But such elections bring their own challenges, particularly the often intense internecine violence following disputed results. While the consequences of such violence can be profound, undermining the legitimacy of the democratic process and in some cases plunging countries into civil war or renewed dictatorship, little is known about the causes. By mapping, analysing and comparing instances of election violence in different localities across Africa – including Kenya, Ivory Coast and Uganda – this collection of detailed case studies sheds light on the underlying dynamics and sub-national causes behind electoral conflicts, revealing them to be the result of a complex interplay between democratisation and the older, patronage-based system of ‘Big Man’ politics. Essential for scholars and policymakers across the social sciences and humanities interested in democratization, peace-keeping and peace studies, Violence in African Elections provides important insights into why some communities prove more prone to electoral violence than others, offering practical suggestions for preventing violence through improved electoral monitoring, voter education, and international assistance.

On December 30, 2007, declaration of highly disputed presidential election results triggered widespread violence across Kenya. The height of the violence was on January 1, 2008 when attackers who were unleashing murderers' violence on supporters of the presidential candidate who had just been declared winner meticulously planned and torched down Kenya Assemblies of God church full of women, children, and old people who had sought refuge there after learning of an imminent attack on Kiambaa Village in Eldoret Kenya. Seventeen people, mostly women and children, were burnt alive inside the church, and more than eighteen other people were shot with arrows, hacked with machete, and killed outside the church. Anthony Njoroge Mbuthia, who was then ten years old, survived the church fire but with very severe burns. He was treated in Kenya for one year and then referred to Shriners Hospital for children in Sacramento, California, USA, for reconstructive surgery. The international community led by the UN, USA, and the African Union quickly intervened to stop the murderers' violence that was becoming genocide, and thereafter mediation efforts between the combatants gave rise to a government of national unity that incorporated all political stakeholders. Investigations into the violence revealed that crimes against humanity were committed by well-organized and properly financed tribal militias. Several people, among them two who would later become president and deputy president, were indicted by the international criminal court that seats in The Hague, Netherlands. While Anthony was recuperating at the hospital and while he was suffering acute pain, he asked, "Dad . . . why did they burn the church? I thought the church is a sacred place?" I had no simple answer. Scars of a Nation is a story that gives a witness narration of what transpired during and after the violence efforts to obtain justice for Anthony and all other survivors and victims of the violence, while at the same time answering Anthony's question, "Dad . . . why did they burn the church?" which is actually the real motivation behind the writing of this book.

Music and Healing Across Cultures unfolds the mechanics of the relationship between music, healing, and the cosmos. It shows the organizing power of this tradition in its ability to even promote mind/body coordination in schizophrenics. This systematic, scientific approach to ethnomusicology and anthropology stands as a beacon light to those researchers who wish to make use of an ancient and wiser time when drums and restraints were preempted by creative energy and inner calm. Those incapable of feeling happiness are found dancing with joy. Those who could not speak are singing.

Effects on the violence

During the run-up to Kenyas 2013 general elections, crucial political and civic questions were raised. Could past mistakes, especially political and ethnic-related violence, be avoided this time round? Would the spectre of the 2007 post-electoral violence positively or negatively affect debates and voting? How would politicians, electoral bodies such as the IEBC, the Kenyan civil society, and the international community weigh in on the elections? More generally, would the 2013 elections bear witness to the building up of an electoral culture in Kenya, characterized by free and fair elections, or would it show that voting is still weakened by political malpractices, partisan opinions and emotional reactions? Would Kenyas past be inescapable or would it prepare the scene for a new political order? Kenyas Past as Prologue adopts a multidisciplinary perspective mainly built upon field-based ethnography and a selection of case studies to answer these questions. Under the leadership of the French Institute for Research in Africa (Institut francais de recherche en Afrique, IFRA), political scientists, historians and anthropologists explore various aspects of the electoral process to contribute in-depth analyses of the last elections. They highlight the structural factors underlying election and voting in Kenya including the political system, culture and political transition. They also interrogate the short-term trends and issues that influence the new political order. The book provides insight into specific case studies, situations and contexts, thus bringing nuances and diversity into focus to better assess Kenyas evolving electoral democracy.

This book provides an overview of the troubled process of nation-building in post-colonial Kenya. Despite the distinctive features of the Moi and Kenyatta regimes, contributors make the case that since the late colonial period continuity, and not change, has been the dominant theme in Kenyan political life. Through a range of methodological lenses and empirical material, the chapters highlight different aspects of this continuity: the strength of the provincial administration, the weakness of formal party structures, the central role of ethnicity in shaping political competition, the understanding of the state as a resource in itself, and the ultimately incompatible beliefs held by different communities regarding how power can be legitimately exercised. Taken together, the persistence of these factors over time helps to explain the failure of the nation-building project in Kenya, and the context within which disputed elections in late-2007 could lead to the collapse of political order and the deaths of over 1,000 Kenyans.