Jakaya Kikwete's role in saving Kenya from election chaos

Outgoing Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete. (Photo: Boniface Okendo/Standard)

Early this month, President Uhuru Kenyatta acknowledged that Kenya’s history might have turned out differently after the disputed 2007 presidential vote that plunged the country in violence, had it not been for the intervention of outgoing Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete.

“Let me begin by saying that President Kikwete is an old friend of Kenya.  It is no exaggeration to say that had it not been for his help in the past, especially after the disputed 2007 elections, Kenya’s history might have been very different.