Nakuru's Diversity Can Be Kenya's Peace Blueprint, Kihika Says

By Suleiman Mbatiah

Governor Susan Kihika has presented Nakuru as a test case for the country’s ability to manage ethnic and political diversity peacefully, saying the county’s cosmopolitan population gives it a responsibility to demonstrate peaceful coexistence.

The Governor said Nakuru County, with more than 2.1 million residents across 11 sub-counties and 55 wards, is classified by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) as one of Kenya’s cosmopolitan counties.

Speaking during the International Day of Peace celebrations at Nyayo Gardens in Nakuru City, Kihika said the county’s diversity could offer lessons for the rest of the country as Kenya prepares for the 2027 General Election.

“Nakuru is Kenya in miniature,” Kihika said, describing a county where people from different ethnic communities live, work and conduct business alongside one another.

She said peaceful coexistence must extend beyond the absence of violence to everyday interactions between Kenyans who differ in language, religion, ethnicity and political affiliation.

The Governor said Nakuru’s diversity also carried a responsibility for residents and leaders to demonstrate that communities can work together despite their differences.

She cited interactions between farmers, traders, workers, families and young people from different parts of the country as examples of the everyday relationships that can strengthen cohesion.

Kihika said development was also part of building peaceful communities, arguing that access to healthcare, education, economic opportunities and other public services can help reduce exclusion and strengthen people’s sense of belonging.

The Governor warned against allowing political competition ahead of the 2027 elections to deepen ethnic divisions, urging Kenyans to focus on policies, development and the records of leaders.

“Let us debate policies. Let us debate development. Let us challenge leaders on their record,” she said, warning that ethnicity should not become “the price of political belonging”.

She said the county’s experience showed that peace needed to be built not only through political agreements but also through services and opportunities that bring communities together.

Kihika further challenged the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) to intervene before political rhetoric escalates into violence, calling for investigations and enforcement against individuals who repeatedly spread hate speech or use ethnicity to provoke communities.

“Do not wait for violence before you act,” she told the commission, urging it to investigate, enforce the law and engage communities where warning signs emerge.

Her call was echoed by peacebuilding organizations and the NCIC, which used the Nakuru commemoration to stress early intervention, responsible political conduct and community participation as Kenya moves towards the 2027 elections.

Joseph Omondi, executive director of MIDRIFT HURINET, said Nakuru’s history made it particularly significant as a venue for the national peace commemoration.

The county experienced some of the worst effects of the 2007-2008 post-election violence, including deaths, displacement, and destruction of livelihoods and damaged relationships between communities, Omondi said.

“Nakuru County carries both painful memories and a powerful promise,” he said, adding that the county had also demonstrated resilience, healing and reconciliation.

Omondi said the history of the county should inform preparations for the 2027 elections, particularly efforts to identify tensions before they escalate.

He said electoral violence was often preceded by identifiable warning signs, including divisive political language, coded ethnic messages, hate speech, misinformation, threats, intimidation and the mobilisation of unemployed young people.

He called for communities to be able to report emerging risks safely and promptly, with information jointly verified before being referred to institutions with the mandate and capacity to respond.

“Early warning without early response is incomplete,” he said, stressing that communities lose confidence in public institutions when reports of threats do not receive feedback or action.

Omondi said effective early response did not necessarily mean deploying security officers and could instead involve dialogue, mediation, and engagement with political leaders, action against hate speech, psychosocial support or correcting harmful misinformation.

He called for stronger links between communities, peace committees, civil society organizations, and county administrators, NCIC, the National Steering Committee on Peacebuilding and Conflict Management and security agencies.

He also called for women and young people to be recognized as monitors, mediators, peace ambassadors, decision-makers and leaders in preventing electoral violence.

“The 2027 General Elections should not become a test of how effectively we respond after violence has occurred. They should demonstrate how successfully we can prevent violence before it begins,” Omondi said.

NCIC chairman Bishop Dr Kepha Omae said the responsibility for peaceful elections extended beyond state institutions to political leaders, communities, young people, the media and ordinary citizens.

Omae said elections provide Kenyans with a constitutional opportunity to choose their leaders, but warned that political competition should not become a trigger for communities to turn against each other.

“Political competition must never become a reason for Kenyans to turn against one another,” he said, reaffirming the commission’s mandate to promote national cohesion, peaceful coexistence and the elimination of discrimination.

The NCIC chairman said the commission had developed the second edition of its “Uchaguzi Bila Noma” roadmap to guide preparations for the 2027 elections.

The roadmap includes civic education, conflict prevention, early warning and early response, targeted peace messaging, stakeholder engagement and hate speech management, according to Omae.

The commission has also expanded peace education through its Amani Clubs program, which has established more than 1,000 clubs in schools to give young people opportunities to learn about peace, diversity, tolerance, dialogue and responsible citizenship.

Omae said peace education should begin well before an election period rather than when political tensions have already risen.

“Peace education cannot begin when an election is around the corner; it must begin early,” he said.

He also called on political leaders to campaign on issues affecting Kenyans, including unemployment, the cost of living, health, education, housing, security and development, rather than mobilizing voters along ethnic, religious or regional lines.

The NCIC chairman warned political parties and candidates against hate speech, incitement, ethnic profiling and misinformation, while urging them not to recruit or deploy young people for political violence.

Omae also placed responsibility on the media and digital content creators to verify information and avoid amplifying messages designed to provoke communities against one another. He said journalism should help citizens make informed choices without deepening divisions.

The commission said inclusion and fairness were also central to sustaining peace, citing its ethnic and diversity audits of parastatals, county governments and public universities as efforts to assess representation, employment practices and access to opportunities.

Omae said communities need to see that public resources and opportunities are distributed fairly if confidence in institutions and national cohesion are to be sustained.

The NCIC has continued to work with communities, national and county governments, political leaders, civil society, faith-based organizations, the media, young people and women to strengthen dialogue and address grievances before they harden into conflict.

The commission said it would continue monitoring emerging risks, strengthening early warning and response mechanisms and supporting dialogue across the country.

Omae said the responsibility for protecting Kenya’s cohesion ultimately extended to citizens themselves, regardless of their political or ethnic affiliations.

“We may support different candidates and political parties, and come from different ethnic communities and regions, but we are Kenyans first,” he said.

He strongly urged women and youth to participate fully in elections while resisting attempts to use them as instruments of political violence.