Why police did not fire even a single shot in trouble spots

• “If you are bitten by a snake once, even a stick will make you jump. This time we did not leave anything to chance,” says a tea picker in Kericho

Just before the referendum, the government mounted one of the largest security operations in history: 18,000 law enforcement officers were posted to trouble spots in Rift Valley Province - Naivasha, Kuresoi, Njoro and Kericho.

Ethnic tension had begun to rise, evoking painful memories of the 2008 violence that killed 1,133 people. Doomsayers predicted another wave of violence, especially after reports that leaflets warning certain communities to leave had been found in parts of the province.

But the policemen did not fire a single shot. Records indicate that only one deserted house was set ablaze in Kuresoi during the polls. And in less than 12 hours the suspected arsonists were arrested and locked up. No one was injured in the incident.

Now residents of the areas that have witnessed ethnic violence every election year say it took more than paramilitary patrols to keep the peace.

Here are their stories:

Naivasha:

As the referendum day approached, Cyrus Rotich, 26, was a worried man. He was in Naivasha three years ago when another electoral process triggered one of the most shocking ethnic conflicts in the town.

Naivasha means rough waters in Maasai. And after the disputed 2007 presidential election results, the waters of Naivasha turned rougher and red. According to the report by the Commission of Inquiry into the post-Election Violence, better known as the Waki report, 40 people were killed in a day in the area, among them members of Mr Rotich’s Kalenjin community.

Mr Rotich fled to a refugee camp on the outskirts of the town, as murderous gangs of youth moved from one estate to another, searching for members of his community.

And for the second time in less than three years, this waiter felt the weight of ethnicity bearing down on him in the days preceding the referendum. Naivasha was a pro-new Constitution zone, and Mr Rotich came from a community that was regarded as anti-constitution.

With the referendum approaching, his parents made frantic calls urging him to leave. He decided to stay put. A gamble that paid off, because there were no incidents of ethnic violence recorded in Naivasha during the referendum.

But why? Residents say the magical calm had little to do with heavy police presence in the town. On the contrary, peace was enforced by the very same people largely blamed for the violent scenes of 2008: the Mungiki. Samuel Ndung’u, 34, an official with the National Youth Movement, says the group was determined to ensure there would be no repeat of the grisly events of 2008.

The violence, he says, taught the youth a big lesson: they have to be their brother’s keeper, no matter his ethnic background.

“I think the biggest lesson was that if you attack someone from another community here, the same community might revenge by attacking your people living in their place,” says Mr Ndung’u. “So this time we said we will protect their people here, they will protect our own on their side.”

Once the youths were roped into numerous peace committees ahead of the referendum, they became sentries of peace. They even monitored the bus terminus to ensure nobody was fleeing the area.

“They were very active. Boda boda cyclists and taxi drivers were under instructions to look out for people planning to flee, touts were under instructions not to load personal effects of people who seemed like they were on the run before trying to convince them to stay,” said Mr Ndung’u.

The strategy worked, and both the opponents of the new Constitution and its opponents voted peacefully.

Kuresoi: