The General Elections in Kenya

This book is a translation of a special issue of IFRA's journal Les Cahiers d'Afrique de l'Est, n°37, and of a collection of articles from Politique Africaine, n°109. These both focused on the General Elections in Kenya at the end of 2007. The on-site presence of several researchers (Bernard Calas, Anne Cussac, Dominique Connan, Musambayi Katumanga, Jérôme Lafargue, Patrick Mutahi), fieldwork carried out by others between December 2007 and February 2008 (Florence Brisset-Foucault, Ronan Porhel, Brice Rambaud), as well as a good knowledge of the country by researchers on regular visits (Claire Médard, Hervé Maupeu), were all ingredients that led to the production of hundreds of pages within a limited period. These articles were actually published in April 2008. Some political information has not been updated but this changes nothing in terms of the initial aim of taking into account and analyzing the events that set the country on fire for several weeks. However, since April 2008, the situation-to all intents and purposes-stabilized. The coalition government took shape, with Mwai Kibaki remaining President while Raila Odinga became the Prime. The country, more so than ever, is truly in suspense. This includes 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 tone of this book may, undoubtedly, not sound highly optimistic. However, this should not dampen the unanimous sense of hope in the country that the political and social situation will once more be more than just tolerable.