Kenyan elections on Monday stir fears of ethnic violence
One front runner for president is wanted in The Hague accused of orchestrating brutality in the last election five years that left 1,100 dead
"Welcome to Valley View photographic site," says the weathered wooden sign, boasting that you are 2,400 metres above east Africa's Rift Valley, the birthplace of mankind. A row of corrugated-iron shops hawk traditional Masai cloths and handcarved elephant, lion and zebra bookends. But today there are not many tourists to barter with.
Down in the valley there's a clue why. Sunshine gleams off the metal roofs of housing built for families displaced by ethnic violence that followed Kenya's general election five years ago. More than 1,100 people were killed and 600,000 fled their homes. On Monday, the nation goes to the polls again in possibly the most important vote in its 50-year history. Many fear a repeat.
To an outsider it is hard to believe the most powerful country in the region, with its vibrant middle class, boutique malls and thriving tech sector could be on the brink of catastrophe. But every five years, its foundations are shaken by the democratic cycle. In recent months more than 200 people have been killed in politically charged violence in the Tana river region and in the north. The fact that one of the front runners for president has been indicted by the international criminal court (ICC) is another portent of trouble.
The Rift Valley in particular has become accustomed to these convulsions. Internally displaced persons are still living with the consequences of the politically fuelled tribal conflict in 2007-08.
Margaret Wambui Mwai, 65, is 282 kilometres from her home village and mourning her son, Joshua, who was killed in the eruption.
"He had been hacked to death on his way back from work. The memory still haunts me. The doctors at the mortuary could not salvage the situation so he was buried with his head almost off," she said.
Joshua, 42, left behind three wives and 12 children. The violence caused Mwai to flee for her life. "People started burning houses. We ran away, we didn't salvage anything, we left our things to burn. It was a very frightening time."