Tribal tensions have been simmering in Kenya for decades.
After independence in 1963, then-President Jomo Kenyatta flooded this western Kenyan region, native to the Kalenjin and Luo tribes, with his Kikuyu people. Many of the Kikuyu had been displaced by the British from the fertile central highlands that are their ancestral home.
The Kikuyu settlers quickly prospered, growing into the most powerful of Kenya's 42 ethnic groups, running businesses and politics. But favoritism shown to Kikuyus fueled old resentments.
Kikuyus in the Rift Valley were targeted in ethnic clashes during elections in 1992 and 1997, when then-President Daniel arap Moi, a Kalenjin, sponsored gangs from his tribe to intimidate his opponents.
Politicians also helped stoke recent violence, with opposition politicians promising Kalenjins the return of lands they believe were wrongly wrested from them.
This is an example of the complexity of world events today. We have the potential of conflict on every level from nuclear weapons to bows and arrows.
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