Exploring the politics of intergroup accommodation in Kenya’s vernacular radios during the 2007/08 conflicts

For many years, Kenya gave the impression of a relatively stable nation-state within the turbulent sub-Saharan Africa and a suitable hub from which the international community extends its missions to parts of Africa such as the Great Lakes Region (Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, DR Congo, Kenya and Tanzania) and the Horn of Africa (Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia Djibouti and Uganda). However, the highly disputed presidential elections in 2007 and the upheaval that followed prompted concern about Kenya’s stability in the wake of global insecurity. While the healing process is underway, challenges of intergroup accommodation persist, as Kenya counts about forty-two distinct ethno-linguistic groups. Also, the International Criminal Court (ICC) recently brought criminal proceedings against four of the six alleged masterminds of the 2007/08 conflicts, adding to the challenges of intergroup cohesion ahead of the next general elections.  This dissertation examines the politics of intergroup accommodation in Kenya’s vernacular radios and how they influenced intergroup relations in the events leading to the 2007/08 conflicts. Considering conflict as a communicative process, it builds on Azar’s (1990) theory of Protracted Social Conflicts (PSC) by integrating media framing not only to unpack the discourses that surrounded the framing of the 2007/08 conflicts, but also to uncover attitudinal shifts that characterized intergroup relations prior to, during, and after this particular conflict. The study mainly borrows from qualitative methods to collect data from three distinct ethno-linguistic regions in Kenya: Nyeri (Kikuyu majority), Kisumu (Luo Majority) and Eldoret (Kalenjin majority).  The central argument of this dissertation is that the framing of conflicts by vernacular radios can either be differentiated or concerted, and this depends on the stage at which a given conflict manifests itself. While in differentiated framing, media narratives are negotiated in terms of negative competition likely to reinforce divisive or rebellious attitudes, concerted framing underpins the framing process whereby media discourses are articulated in a manner that underlines shared ideals that cut across intergroup allegiances, and thus may strengthen collaborative attitudes. I argue that the shifts in vernacular radio narratives occur when new elements are added to the already existing conflict frames and the kinds of “new meaning” they generate with regard to conflict processes.  I also argue that the shifts from differentiated framing to concerted framing (and vice-versa) also hinge on the degree to which the proposed frames resonate with the appeals and expectations of the target population. Overall, the study argues that the language of broadcast and cultural proximity drive the framing of intergroup relations in Kenya’s vernacular radios, particularly in situations of conflict or competition. The strength of this dissertation lies in the analytical viewpoints that it proposes to locate the shifting perspectives in conflict situations, especially in multiethnic states where the politics of intergroup accommodation are fragile and situational.

Keyphrases: Kenya, Social conflicts, Peace-building, Ethnicity, Media framing, Vernacular radios