Shadow of Kenya's election violence hangs over Nairobi slum

Many residents of Nairobi's biggest slum, Kibera, are heading out of town before Kenya's 4 March elections. The violence that followed 2007's election claimed 140 lives there and 1,000  nationwide. Residents speak to RFI

Reuters/Thomas Mukoya

Kibera is home to between 200,000 and 300,000 people, the majority of whom are from the Kikuyu or Luo ethnic groups, which are historically rivals.

It's a stronghold of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a Luo, who is running for the presidency in next week's elections.

The latest opinion polls show Odinga is locked in a dead-heat with Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, a Kikuyu.

Kenyatta is due to go on trial at the International Criminal Court in July, accused of instigating crimes against humanity during the aftermath of the 2007 elections.

Violence has already broken out this year in Kibera.

Protests erupted following the party candidate nominations in January.

In the third of our special Kenyan elections five-part series, Kibera residents explain that they are planning on leaving for the election period.