While ethnic bloodletting has haunted its neighbours, Kenya has long enjoyed a reputation as one of the most stable nations in east Africa.

Since winning independence from the UK in 1963, it has built up a booming tourist industry, seen impressive economic growth, and given off an impression of happy co-existence. The extreme ethnic violence verging on civil war that has broken out following the December 27 election has shocked many Kenyans, who feel that their country is "not the kind of place where things like this happen".

But tensions among Kenya's 42 ethnic groups are a permanent feature of daily life. Kenyans claim they can tell the different tribes apart by the colour of their skin and their names. Members of President Kibaki's tribe, the Kikuyu, have lighter skin then those of rival opposition leader Raila Odinga's Luo tribe. Kikuyu names begin with K, M or N. Luo names often begin with O.

It is well known among expats and diplomats that if you hire household staff, they must be members of allied tribes or, even better, the same tribe.

Conversations are scattered with the kind of casual stereotypes that hide more deep-seated prejudices. Luos drive expensive cars, but live in the backseat. Kikuyus own second-hand cars, then drive them home to their mansions. The Masai sell their cars for cattle.

And this is not the first time that the political process has enflamed these latent tensions. In 1992 and 1997, election-time clashes between rival tribes left more than 2,000 people dead. In the 1970s, the assassinations of two politicians, Tom Mboya and J.M. Kariuki, sparked violent backlashes from their respective tribes.

This most recent outbreak of ethnic violence only confirms that tribal bonds in Kenya remain stronger than national identity, and political and ethnic loyalties remain inextricably linked.

The Kikuyu is Kenya's largest - and traditionally most powerful - ethnic group, comprising 22 per cent of Kenya's 36 million population. It wields great economic power and has long been seen as the country's ruling class. Like Mr Kibaki, Kenya's first post-independence leader, Jomo Kenyatta, President from 1964 until 1978, was also a Kikuyu.

Many tribes feel that they have suffered under Mr Kibaki's five-year Kikuyu-centric rule. For Kenya's third largest tribe, the Luo, opposition leader Mr Odinga, also a Luo, represented a brighter, fairer future. The Luo heartland is in western Kenya but many of Nairobi's most notorious slums, such as Kibera, have huge, desperate Luo populations.

Much of the campaigning by Mr Odinga and Mr Kibaki in the run up to last week's election contained direct and indirect ethnic appeals, with phrases such as "It is our time to eat" indicating to voters that if a member of their tribe became President, they could expect to reap the benefits.

Voting was almost entirely along tribal lines, with some areas in the Kikuyu heartland of central Kenya recording almost 97 per cent of votes for Mr Kibaki.

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