The key platform on which the Opposition campaigned before the December 27 elections was majimbo, a Kishwahili term that implies a form of devolution, promising to give the different regions of Kenya more autonomy.

However, this was interpreted by many opposition supporters, belonging to the Kalenjin tribe, as effectively a licence to remove rival tribes from the Kalenjin's ancestral lands — a type of ethnic cleansing.

That is a clear misrepresentation of what majimbo meant, but many people believed it.

As a result, it has given many people a sense that their long-standing ethnic grievances are going to be solved, and post-election rivalries have now mutated into widespread tribal violence.

The tribalism that colours Kenyan life

The eruption of violence following Kenya's elections has brought to the fore the latent tribalism present in every day life

Multimedia

• Video comment: Richard Dowden, Africa expert

• Video: violence in Nairobi

Multimedia

• Pictures: Kenyan elections protests

BACKGROUND

• FCO issues Kenya travel warning

• 50 die in blazing church as tribal war looms

• ‘We’ve spent three days hiding in our homes’

• British tourists told to stay indoors

Related Links

• Kenyan killings prompt aid threat from Europe

• Kenya tourists seek refuge from mob killers

• Kenya leaders meet for first time since election

Although this particular issue may have been the one to light the touch paper and bring this conflict to a head, the ethnic tensions at the core of it are long-standing.

For a long time, liberal observers in the West have — wrongly — assumed that such differences do not matter in Kenya, and successive Kenyan governments have tried to move away from tribalism. In many cities, this policy has started to succeed.

However, what this violence shows is that the acute tribal differences have been vastly underestimated.

A flashpoint that particularly illustrates this is the sudden surge of violence in Naivasha. It has always been regarded as a quiet little market town close to Nairobi, and no one was expecting such sudden and horrific developments.

In the coming weeks, expect the clashes to rumble on. For the moment, at least, the politicians are certainly not helping matters by putting out inflammatory statements, and mediation efforts appear futile.

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