ABOUT THE PORTAL BACK GROUND ERS The Africa Portal backgrounder series offers brief background information and commentary on current policy issues of concern to Africans—especially in the areas of confict, energy, food security, health, migration and climate change. Written by seasoned, up-and-coming scholars on Africa, the backgrounders are published exclusively on the Africa Portal and are available for free, full-text download. The Africa Portal is an online knowledge resource for policy-related issues on Africa. www.africaportal.org AFRICAPORTAL a project of the africa initiative BACKGROUNDER IDENTITY, DEMOCRACY AND INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS IN KENYA PRISCA KAMUNGI BACKGROUND Contrary to the popular belief that participatory democracy promotes inclusion, recent research from low-income countries fnds that increasingly open political systems have also been a cause of social exclusion at the local level. During the 2007 elections in Kenya, for instance, political mobilization on the basis of who ‘belonged’ in a certain area motivated violent displacement and questioned notions of citizenshipy and identity (Jackson, 2006; Geschiere, 2009). In examples such as this, identity is viewed as being ‘rooted in the soil’ and only long-time residents of a given territory can enjoy full political and social rights — a perspective which is then used to justify the exclusion of non- members (Malkki, 1992: 25-6). The resulting demands for migrants to return to their native lands not only contradicts constitutionally-protected human rights, but also complicates the search for durable solutions for internally displaced SUMMARY • Contrary to the popular belief that participatory democracy should promote greater inclusion, Kenya’s increasingly open and competitive political system has also been a source of exclusion for groups perceived not to ‘belong’ to certain areas. • Though equal rights to land and location are guaranteed by Kenya’s constitution, the country’s long history with the politicization of ethnicity and autochthony has complicated efforts to alter the perception of ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders.’ • Though the government’s national policy response to the 2007-08 election violence has been robust, its continued ethnic orientation has not addressed underlying causes of resentment that initially enabled internal displacement. NO. 47 JANUARY 2013