Lynch, Gabrielle. (2008) Courting the Kalenjin : the failure of dynasticism and the strength of the ODM wave in Kenya's Rift Valley province. African Affairs, Vol.107 (No.429). pp. 541-568. ISSN 0001-9909

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Abstract

This article explains the strength of the ‘ODM wave’ in the 2007 Kenyan election and the popular rejection of Daniel arap Moi's call to re-elect President Mwai Kibaki across the Kalenjin areas of the Rift Valley. It examines the election campaigns, voting patterns, and aftermath of the contested election, and reveals why most Kalenjin dismissed Moi's pleas as self-interested and were instead drawn towards the pledges and leadership of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). The article discusses how a strongly ethnicized discourse of ‘persecution’ and ‘bias’ was interwoven with narratives of past and potential ‘injustice’, leading to the vilification of the Kibaki regime and the casting of ODM as the vehicle of ‘meaningful change’. In addition, it argues that local understandings and interpretations of the past and present provide the relevant context for understanding subsequent violence and attacks on the Kikuyu community.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DT Africa H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform J Political Science > JC Political theory
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Orange Democratic Movement (Kenya), Kalenjin (African people), Rift Valley Province (Kenya) -- Social conditions
Journal or Publication Title:	African Affairs
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0001-9909
Official Date:	2008
Volume:	Vol.107
Number:	No.429
Page Range:	pp. 541-568
Identification Number:	10.1093/afraf/adn060
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/38696

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