Editing History of Kenya (section)

====2007 elections and ethnic violence====
{{further|2007–2008 Kenyan crisis}}
[[File:Raila and the media.jpg|thumb|right|[[Orange Democratic Movement]] leader Prime Minister [[Omolo Odinga]] speaking with the Kenyan media.]]
Once regarded as the world's "most optimistic," Kibaki's regime quickly lost much of its power because it became too closely linked with the discredited Moi forces. The continuity between Kibaki and Moi set the stage for the self-destruction of Kibaki's National Rainbow Coalition, which was dominated by Kikuyus. The western Luo and Kalenjin groups, demanding greater autonomy, backed Raila Amolo Odinga (1945– ) and his Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Murunga GR, Nasong'o SW|date=2006|title=Bent on self-destruction: The Kibaki regime in Kenya|journal=[[Journal of Contemporary African Studies|J. Contemp. Afr. Stud.]]|volume=24|issue=1|pages=1–28|doi=10.1080/02589000500513713|s2cid=154675141}}</ref>

In the December 2007 elections, Odinga, the candidate of the ODM, attacked the failures of the Kibaki regime. The ODM charged the Kikuyu with having grabbed everything and all the other tribes having lost; that Kibaki had betrayed his promises for change; that crime and violence were out of control, and that economic growth was not bringing any benefits to the ordinary citizen. In the December 2007 elections the ODM won majority seats in Parliament, but the presidential elections votes were marred by claims of rigging by both sides. It may never be clear who won the elections, but it was roughly 50:50 before the rigging started.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2020-05-28|title=National-level Data on the 2007–2008 Postelection Violence|journal=Political Violence in Kenya|pages=317–318|doi=10.1017/9781108764063.013|isbn=9781108764063|s2cid=238119891}}</ref>

"[[Majimbo]]ism" was a philosophy that emerged in the 1950s, meaning federalism or regionalism in Swahili, and it was intended to protect local rights, especially regarding land ownership. Today "majimboism" is code for certain areas of the country to be reserved for specific ethnic groups, fuelling the kind of ethnic cleansing that has swept the country since the election. Majimboism has always had a strong following in the Rift Valley, the epicenter of the recent violence, where many locals have long believed that their land was stolen by outsiders. The December 2007 election was in part a referendum on majimboism. It pitted today's majimboists, represented by Odinga, who campaigned for regionalism, against Kibaki, who stood for the status quo of a highly centralised government that has delivered considerable economic growth but has repeatedly displayed the problems of too much power concentrated in too few hands – corruption, aloofness, favouritism and its flip side, marginalisation. In the town of Londiani in the [[Rift valley|Rift Valley]], Kikuyu traders settled decades ago. In February 2008, hundreds of Kalenjin raiders poured down from the nearby scruffy hills and burned a Kikuyu school. Three hundred thousand members of the Kikuyu community were displaced from Rift Valley province.<ref name="alertnet">{{Cite news|url=http://alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/KE_VIO.htm?v=in_detail|title=Kenya violence: Election turmoil|date=2008|work=[[Reuters AlertNet]]|access-date=10 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100620021022/http://alertnet.org/db/crisisprofiles/KE_VIO.htm?v=in_detail|archive-date=20 June 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kikuyus quickly took revenge, organising into gangs armed with iron bars and table legs and hunting down Luos and Kalenjins in Kikuyu-dominated areas like [[Nakuru County|Nakuru]]. "We are achieving our own perverse version of majimboism," wrote one of Kenya's leading columnists, Macharia Gaitho.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/world/africa/15kenya.html|title=Signs in Kenya of a Land Redrawn by Ethnicity|last=Gettleman J|date=2008|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=22 February 2017|archive-date=5 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105180232/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/15/world/africa/15kenya.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Luo (Kenya and Tanzania)|Luo]] population of the southwest had enjoyed an advantageous position during the late colonial and early independence periods of the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s, particularly in terms of the prominence of its modern elite compared to those of other groups. 
However the Luo lost prominence due to the success of Kikuyu and related groups (Embu and Meru) in gaining and exercising political power during the [[Jomo Kenyatta]] era (1963–1978). While measurements of poverty and health by the early 2000s showed the Luo disadvantaged relative to other Kenyans, the growing presence of non-Luo in the professions reflected a dilution of Luo professionals due to the arrival of others rather than an absolute decline in the Luo numbers.<ref>{{Cite journal|vauthors=Morrison LB|date=2007|title=The nature of decline: distinguishing myth from reality in the case of the Luo of Kenya|journal=[[Journal of Modern African Studies|J. Mod. Afr. Stud.]]|volume=45|issue=1|pages=117–142|doi=10.1017/S0022278X06002308|jstor=4486722|s2cid=55019548}}</ref>