The Role of Language in Peacebuilding: The Case of the 2008 Kenyan Coalition Government

Conflicts arising out of disputed elections often result in the formation of coalition governments to secure peace and stability. Consequently, mechanisms such as mediation, arbitration, negotiation, and peacekeeping have been employed to restore peace in conflicting states of Africa. However, little attention has been paid to the role of language in the operation of a power-sharing government as a mechanism for conflict resolution and peacebuilding. This article examines lexicalization in the discourses of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga as principals in the 2008 Kenyan Coalition Government. Written texts were purposively sampled and accessed from the Internet and authenticated from the official websites of former President Kibaki and former Prime Minister Odinga. The study applied Norman Fairclough’s approach of critical discourse analysis to tease out the lexical choices. The textual analysis findings revealed lexical choices that were highly restrained, personalized, and mitigated.