Kenya has come a very long way in terms of cohesion and tolerance as history shows.
The situation was so bad in 2007 that ODM leader, Raila Odinga, once got kicked out of a hotel in Nyeri.
In his biography The Flame of Freedom, Odinga narrates the events of that unfortunate incident.
His team was waiting to be served lunch at the hotel when a woman stormed in and ordered the hotel security guards to evict the opposition politicians from her establishment.
"We had just completed a successful tour of Mathira and had gone into the hotel for refreshments, when the proprietor came into the dining room and began shouting at us," Raila recounted.
"Who brought you here? We do not want ODM here. Can you please leave now? We do not want your money,” the woman roared.
“Waambie watoke. Na hata akiwa rais asinisaidie (Tell them to get out and even if he becomes president I do not want his assistance),” the angry businesswoman told the guards.
"We got up and left but it was an unfortunate incident that made national headlines and which even the local MP condemned," the ODM leader explained.
The incident should have raised a concern about the nature of the political climate that existed at that time.
Many Kenyans are of the opinion that if the heated campaigns that pitted communities against each other would have been toned down early enough, it was likely that the post-election skirmishes, which erupted after the polls, would not have degenerated to the levels they did.
