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15 December 2010
Last updated at 06:17 ET
The prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has named six Kenyans he accuses of being behind the violence that followed the disputed 2007 elections.
Deputy PM and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta was one of those named.
Some 1,200 people died and more than 500,000 fled homes in the violence.
In the peace deal that followed it was agreed that the perpetrators of the violence would face justice either in Kenya or at the ICC in the Hague.
Kenyan MPs have so far blocked moves to set up a local tribunal.
On Monday, President Mwai Kibaki announced the government would launch its own investigation - a move his critics have denounced as an attempt to prevent suspects being sent to The Hague.
The violence broke out after Mr Kibaki's supporters were accused of trying to rig the presidential election.
It ended when Mr Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga agreed to share power, with Mr Odinga becoming prime minister.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has focused on two cases of post-election violence, which spread throughout the country after protests by Mr Odinga's supporters.
Minister for Industrialisation Henry Kosgey was another of those named by Mr Ocampo.
Suspended education minister William Ruto, radio executive Joshua Arap Sang, secretary to the cabinet Francis Kirimi Muthaura and former police chief Mohammed Hussein Ali are the others summoned.
Kenyan police have been put on alert in case the announcement sparks renewed clashes.
Each of the six will be served with a court summons, but if they fail to turn up or if they attempt to hinder the investigation - for example by intimidating witnesses - Mr Ocampo says he will request arrest warrants.
BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says in recent days there has been a degree of panic among some members of the usually untouchable political elite.
Most Kenyans feel these prosecutions are vital in order to undermine the deeply rooted culture of impunity, our correspondent says.
The key question now is whether those accused will hand themselves over or be shielded by politicians and evade justice, he says.
Church atrocity Kenya has had a series of violent elections, but the disputed poll in 2007 saw the country taken to the brink of civil war.
There were revenge attacks, with long-standing ethnic and economic rivalries ignited by political divisions.
Communities turned on each other with crude weapons as they were encouraged, and even paid, by power-hungry politicians, our correspondent says.
One of the worst incidents saw a church where about 100 people had sought sanctuary set on fire, killing dozens of people inside.
The police used excessive force and carried out extra-judicial killings, he says.
The weapons were put down only after former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan brokered a peace deal between the two presidential rivals.
As the ICC investigation has gathered pace in recent months, several witnesses have been threatened, and the ICC has moved some out of the country.
Are you in Kenya? Did you witness any of the violence after the 2007 elections? Should these cases be dealt with in Kenya or by the International Criminal Court? Send us your comments using the form below:
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Deputy PM and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta was one of those named.
Some 1,200 people died and more than 500,000 fled homes in the violence.
In the peace deal that followed it was agreed that the perpetrators of the violence would face justice either in Kenya or at the ICC in the Hague.
Kenyan MPs have so far blocked moves to set up a local tribunal.
On Monday, President Mwai Kibaki announced the government would launch its own investigation - a move his critics have denounced as an attempt to prevent suspects being sent to The Hague.
The violence broke out after Mr Kibaki's supporters were accused of trying to rig the presidential election.
It ended when Mr Kibaki and his rival Raila Odinga agreed to share power, with Mr Odinga becoming prime minister.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo has focused on two cases of post-election violence, which spread throughout the country after protests by Mr Odinga's supporters.
Minister for Industrialisation Henry Kosgey was another of those named by Mr Ocampo.
Suspended education minister William Ruto, radio executive Joshua Arap Sang, secretary to the cabinet Francis Kirimi Muthaura and former police chief Mohammed Hussein Ali are the others summoned.
Kenyan police have been put on alert in case the announcement sparks renewed clashes.
Each of the six will be served with a court summons, but if they fail to turn up or if they attempt to hinder the investigation - for example by intimidating witnesses - Mr Ocampo says he will request arrest warrants.
BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says in recent days there has been a degree of panic among some members of the usually untouchable political elite.
Most Kenyans feel these prosecutions are vital in order to undermine the deeply rooted culture of impunity, our correspondent says.
The key question now is whether those accused will hand themselves over or be shielded by politicians and evade justice, he says.
Church atrocity Kenya has had a series of violent elections, but the disputed poll in 2007 saw the country taken to the brink of civil war.
There were revenge attacks, with long-standing ethnic and economic rivalries ignited by political divisions.
Communities turned on each other with crude weapons as they were encouraged, and even paid, by power-hungry politicians, our correspondent says.
One of the worst incidents saw a church where about 100 people had sought sanctuary set on fire, killing dozens of people inside.
The police used excessive force and carried out extra-judicial killings, he says.
The weapons were put down only after former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan brokered a peace deal between the two presidential rivals.
As the ICC investigation has gathered pace in recent months, several witnesses have been threatened, and the ICC has moved some out of the country.
Are you in Kenya? Did you witness any of the violence after the 2007 elections? Should these cases be dealt with in Kenya or by the International Criminal Court? Send us your comments using the form below:
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