APCJ_1528_Win2010_00i_122_4 12/30/10 3:22 PM Page 85 Violence as a Bargaining Tool: The Role of Youths in the 2007 Kenyan Elections 85 never went beyond the second form in high school, pointing toward a strong correlation between levels of education and youth involvement in violence. Organizers of the Youth Constituency Youth leaders acting as power brokers to the financiers of mayhem mobilized their constituents, fanning expectations within their community while pushing the agenda of their financial backers. Some of these youths, following orders, blocked roads, transported weapons, gang raped women, set houses on fire, and maimed and killed perceived enemies. The youths in the focus groups who had taken part in the violence indicated that their actions made them feel that they had a certain measure of power over their victims, including people older than they were, and groups. According to one of the youths, ‘We were so powerful during the mayhem and operated above the law. Even the police who often harass us in the streets and villages, arresting us for petty offenses, had no power over us. They even ran away on noticing that we were around. We have never been so powerful before’. Change Agents through the Vote The violence perpetrated by youths following the 2007 elections points to a systematically organized social movement for change by the ballot or the bullet. As leaders of tomorrow—according to the rhetoric of politicians—youths had to be aggressive in toppling the incumbent government through the vote or by any other means, justified or not. Laurie Nathan argues that when the political playing field is skewed and favors the incumbent, and in the end excludes opponents, violence is likely to occur.37 While the nature of the political landscape, which left some candidates advantaged and others disadvantaged, was evident during the campaign, the prospect of losing through the ballot motivated some to find alternative means of wresting political power from their opponents. When the ballot failed to provide the desired change in some quarters, violence emerged as the alternative, and youths participated zealously because the elections represented to them the best opportunity for a way out of poverty and better lives. Peacemakers Despite the violence that occurred, the post-election period also presented an opportunity for a critical minority among youths to emerge as peacemakers. Some youthled civil society organizations, such as the Youth Agenda Consortium in Eldoret, and initiatives in Nairobi were involved in transformative negotiating within their constituencies across gender, age, and ethnic boundaries. They presented themselves as change agents through peaceful means, a notable departure from the violence of youths affiliated with certain politicians and parties. John Paul Lederach argues that youths can be transformed through strategies aimed at improving their long-term relationships and attitudes toward conflicting parties and developing systems that pro- 37. Nathan, ‘The four horsemen of the Apocalypse’.