•Police had earlier in the day put the number of those dead in the violence leading to the announcement at more than 40 in Nairobi and over 50 in Kisumu.
•Early results on December 28, 2007, had shown Raila taking a comfortable lead though most of the returns were from his strongholds.
Sunday, December 31, 2007, was no ordinary day for Kenyans as the eagerly awaited presidential result was declared by the then Electoral Commission of Kenya chairman Samuel Kivuitu.
It was four tense days after Kenyans had gone to the polls when Mwai Kibaki was declared the winner in a closely contested election, sending his supporters to the streets in celebration.
Tension was high and that Sunday two people had been killed in Kisumu as police dispersed protestors who had gathered claiming that ODM leader Raila Odinga’s win was being stolen by Kibaki.
Police had earlier in the day put the number of those dead in the violence leading to the announcement at more than 40 in Nairobi and over 50 in Kisumu. Early results on December 28, 2007, had shown Raila taking a comfortable lead though most of the returns were from his strongholds.
His lead however shrunk to just 38,000 votes by December 30, 2007, with 190 of the 210 constituencies having reported their tallies.
“The commission therefore declares Honourable Mwai Kibaki as the winner,” Kivuitu said in a press conference that was attended by a handful of journalists at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre VIP holding room.
His short statement was a continuation of one he had been making at the tally centre. Kivuitu had been whisked to the room by the police after scuffles and heckling had erupted moments earlier at the tally centre as he read the final tallies.
Kibaki had won by about 280,000 votes but Raila claimed that 300,000 of the president’s votes were fraudulent and demanded a recount. The government moved with speed to ensure there was no vacuum.
Within an hour of the declaration, Kibaki was sworn in as President at dusk on the grounds of State House, Nairobi, immediately triggering protests from Raila’s supporters.
International observers said the election could not be declared free and fair with irregularities perpetuated by both sides of the political divide.
“When you see the kind of violence in the country like yesterday and the unruliness that we have witnessed today, it is a sad day for Kenya,” US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger said as he called on Kibaki and Raila to address their supporters and calm them.
These events led to one of Kenya’s darkest moments that required international intervention. Two months later the first power-sharing agreement in the country was signed.
It was the largest blot on Kibaki’s presidency. Kibaki had been praised for undoing the damage, especially on the economy, done by the Kanu administration under President Moi who ruled for 24 years.
In the streets of Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru, Kericho, Nairobi and Mombasa protests against Kibaki’s apparent win started with gunshots, smoke and wails filling the air for the better part of that night.
There were running battles in the informal settlements of Kibera and Mathare in Nairobi as supporters of both sides went at each other.
Houses were burnt, shops looted, women and girls raped, people slashed each other with pangas, others were shot by the police. It was one of the most difficult and chaotic nights in Kenya’s history.
Central Kenya, Kibaki’s backyard, was calm with celebrations dying off once the President was sworn in. Raila refused to concede defeat alleging that the government had rigged the election in favour of his opponent.
The weeks that followed were challenging for Kenyans, with the chaos leading to the death of more than 1,500 people and the displacement of 650,000 others.
Internally displaced persons camps were set up from Nairobi to Limuru, Nakuru, Eldoret and Kisumu with women and children bearing the brunt of the chaos.
The election had sent Kenya to the brink and the international community had to intervene by forcing Kibaki and Raila to negotiate.
The chaos was prominently covered by the international media with headlines such as ‘Disputed Vote Plunges Kenya Into Bloodshed’ by the New York Time on December 31, 2007. The Guardian reported ‘Death toll nears 800 as post-election violence spirals out of control in Kenya’ on January 28, 2010
On January 3, 2008, opposition supporters attempted to gather in Uhuru Park to force Kibaki to leave office but were dispersed violently by the police. That same day Kibaki announced that he was ready to negotiate with Raila but only when the country was calm.
The first attempt to bring the two protagonists to the table was by America, which sent Assistant Secretary of State Jendayi Frazer into the country. In separate meetings, Kibaki said he was willing to negotiate but Raila insisted that the President must resign first.
Later, Raila changed his mind and said ODM was willing to negotiate as long as Kibaki agreed to an international mediator.
Through Government Spokesman Alfred Mutua (now Machakos governor), the state banned rallies but Raila organised them, leading to more violence as police dispersed his supporters.
Kibaki invited Ghanaian President and African Union chairman John Kufuor to lead the negotiations between him and Raila.
Raila rejected Kufuor, terming the invitation a sideshow. He said Kibaki’s invitation was not in good faith having appointed a 17-man Cabinet that included ODM Kenya leader Kalonzo Musyoka as Vice President.
Shortly after, the African Union appointed a panel of eminent persons led by Kofi Annan, who was then a retired secretary general of the United Nations. Other members were former South Africa First Lady Graca Machel and former Tanzania President Benjamin Mkapa.
Kibaki appointed Martha Karua, Sam Ongeri, Mutula Kilonzo and Moses Wetang'ula to the negotiations while Raila was represented by Musalia Mudavadi, William Ruto, Sally Kosgei and James Orengo.
The negotiations took 41 days with several agreements signed by the two teams before the final one—the agreement on the principles of partnership of the coalition government—was signed by Kibaki and Raila on February 28, 2008, leading to a handshake outside Harambee House.
The signing was witnessed by Annan and then Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete, who was at the time chairing the African Union.
The other agreements were on how to deal with the humanitarian crisis that had seen thousands land in IDP camps and how to resolve the political crisis that had resulted from the election debacle.
The agreement on February 28, 2008, led to the enactment of the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, which entrenched the Grand Coalition Government in the Constitution with Raila as Prime Minister.
Though the Grand Coalition was faced with unending wars between the two sides, it managed to put in place reforms envisaged in the negotiated agreements including a new Constitution in 2010.
Two commissions were formed to investigate what went wrong before, during and after the 2007 election. These were the Independent Review Commission chaired by former South Africa judge Johann Kriegler and the Commission of Inquiry on the Post-Election Violence chaired by the Justice Philip Waki.
Though the IREC’s work was equally critical, the country’s attention focused on CIPEV, which was to unearth the truth on how more than 1,500 people were killed in the electoral violence and more than 650,000 others displaced.
In its final report, CIPEV blamed almost every section of the Kenyan society—politicians, media, religious organisation, businessmen, the security forces and even the citizenry—for the violence, with the highest blame going to the politicians.
It said that the increased personalisation of power around the presidency made the electoral competition a do-or-die process. The use of armed militia and the media by politicians and businessmen were also highlighted.
The CIPEV report was a critical document that brought another new challenge to Kibaki’s administration—now the Grand Coalition Government. Waki handed over the report with names of individuals who bore the greatest culpability for the violence, according to the commission’s inquiry evidence.
Many speculated that Uhuru and Raila had been told about the contents of an envelope that the Waki team said was handed over to Annan only.
The Waki report and the envelope became critical features in the years to come after the envelope with the names got to the International Criminal Court. Kibaki’s administration was reluctant to form a local mechanism to deal with the perpetrators of the PEV.
On July 16, 2009, ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo announced that he had received six boxes containing documents and supporting material compiled by the Waki Commission. He said the package contained an envelope with a list of who could be implicated in the violence.
On December 15, 2010, Ocampo announced the names of six Kenyans whom he said “bore the greatest responsibility" for the PEV.
They were Finance minister Uhuru Kenyatta (now President), his Industrialisation counterpart Henry Kosgey, Eldoret North MP William Ruto (now Deputy President), the head of the civil service Francis Muthaura, then Police Commissioner Hussein Ali and journalist Joshua arap Sang.
“They were crimes against humanity as a whole. By breaking the cycle of impunity for massive crimes, victims and their families can have justice. And Kenyans can pave the way to peaceful elections in 2012,” Ocampo said.
The prosecutor said he considered Ruto, Kosgey and Sang as the "principal planners and organisers of crimes against PNU supporters".
For Muthaura, Ocampo said he used his position as the chairman of the National Security Advisory Committee to "authorise the police to use excessive force against ODM supporters and to facilitate attacks against ODM supporters". Ali faced the same charges.
Uhuru was accused of mobilising the outlawed Mungiki sect to attack ODM supporters.
Only the cases against Uhuru, Ruto and Sang got to trial after judges declined to confirm the charges against Kosgey, Muthaura and Ali.
Eventually, all the cases collapsed, with the ICC pointing a finger at the Kenyan government led by Uhuru for failing to cooperate with the court. The cases were also said to have collapsed due to the intimidation and disappearance of key witnesses.