During the Friday event, the signing of the peace 'treaty' by both communities was complemented by sharing of a meal, joint participation in a friendly football match between mixed team of youth, traditional dance and music. The event, dubbed 'Umoja ni Nguvu' was attended by the Member of Parliament for Sotik constituency, Dr. Joyce Laboso, District Officer One from both Sotik and Borabu, as well as key members from ACORD and CGA, as well as an invited guest from Inter Pares , and was full of activity and enthusiasm as crowds checked in to witness the signing of the peace pact.

Community leaders from both Kisii and Kipsigis signed the social contract on behalf of their respective communities. In addition, Social Contract Committee members selected also signed the contract as witnesses with a clear mandate spelt out in the contract. Thus, leaders from each of the 3 areas of the project implementation, namely Kamukunji/Gelegele, memisi/Cheplelwa and Riontonyi/Tembwo have agreed to work closely with the selected Social Watch Committee members to ensure that peace prevails in the area and that both communities work towards reconciliation and recovery.

The Sotik area Member of Parliament, while addressing the crowd gathered to witness the signing said, 'I am grateful to ACORD and CGA for making the effort to implement the community social contract model aimed at promoting peaceful coexistence and ending inter-ethnic animosity. However, we all have a role to play in making peace with ourselves and our neighbours'. This appeal was echoed by the DO who stressed that 'peace begins with me' and praised the communities for their commitment to address the problem of cattle rustling and collaborate with the Anti Stock Theft Unit to track cattle and denounce thieves irrespective of their ethnic group.

Bonaventure Wakana, Programming Director of ACORD, said that as a son of Africa, he had been ashamed of the post-election violence, but that on this day, he was feeling proud of how far the communities had come. He urged international agencies and the Kenyan Government to look to the succesful experience in Sotik and Borabu and replicate the social contract methodology elsewhere.

The Community Social Contract Model is one of the peace building approaches being used at the grassroots level to bring together communities and negotiate their peaceful coexistence. The model essentially opens up dialogue spaces where affected members of the communities iron out their differences and agree on some basic principles for peaceful coexistence. It equally allows conflicting communities to own peace accords negotiated at the national level by top leadership and translate them into true commitments to peace and prevention of future violence or conflict within their communities. ACORD piloted this methodology in post-conflict Burundi and received the Entrepreneur Peace Change-Makers Innovation Award for this work in 2007 .

It is important to note that although the communities in Sotik and Borabu,which are neighbouring districts speak different languages, they still share common practices such as marriage from across ethnic lines and resources including water points, market places and schools. Dialogue and understanding is therefore necessary for these communities to coexist in peace and harmony, and it is every individual's responsibility to mend fences in order to reconcile feelings of being aggrieved and look out to members of the other commuity through acceptance in order to unite the social fabric.

In Kenya, violence and displacements have also been witnessed during past electioneering periods. In the run-up to multiparty elections in 1992 and 1997, hundreds of people perceived to be opposition supporters were killed and thousands more forced off their land in politically manipulated violence in Rift Valley and Coast provinces. The violence sparked off by the December 2007 elections took widespread proportions leaving more than 1,500 people dead, houses, agricultural fields and property destroyed and over 500,000 internally displaced persons, many of whom have not been able to return to their home areas to date.

ACORD has been working in some of Africa's poorest, most crisis prone and marginalised areas for 3 decades. ACORD's response to the challenges in Africa is informed by a belief that people themselves are agents of change and actors for their own development. Therefore, ACORD's work in conflict situations contributes to creating an enabling environment for communities to act on conflict, and improve their livelihoods. CGA is an association registered by farmers in 1996 to address the unfolding challenges in the sub-sector through a common direction.

For more information about the Sotik and Borabu experience and ACORD's work on Social Contract methodology elsewhere in Africa, write to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.