SUMMARY

The Rift Valley Province of Kenya is home to many ethnic groups and is, together with the Western Province and Nyanza, one of the most densely populated areas of Kenya is characterized by such vicious cycles of violence.

Aside from the tensions caused by cattle raiding, another factor having a negative influence on inter-ethnic relations were land disputes. In Kenya access to land is central for most people. Different systems and corruption have led to many areas having double or triple registrations over the same land. The land issue is especially delicate in densely populated areas such as the Rift Valley. Traditionally, such land disputes were not linked to ethnicity. However, since the early 1990s, political rhetoric relied increasingly on ethnic stereotypes and as a result, the previously non-ethnic land disputes became more and more linked to ethnicity.

The non-state conflict between the Nandi and the Pokot is first included in UCDP data in 1998. By the 1st och November that year, fighting between the two groups had resulted in more than 25 battle-related deaths.