Nairobi , Kenya ( CNN ) -- Kenya will hold a general election on March 4 next year , the country 's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Chairman Issak Hassan announced Saturday . The vote will be the first since ethnic violence followed disputed elections four years ago and left more than 1,000 people dead and 350,000 displaced , according to the Kenya Red Cross . In that election , both Mwai Kibaki , the incumbent , and challenger Raila Odinga claimed to have won . The post-election chaos escalated into ethnic violence with members of the president 's tribe , the Kikuyu , fighting members of Odinga 's Luo tribe and other groups . The two later entered into a power-sharing agreement , with Odinga named prime minister and Kibaki named president . Setting the date for new elections has been a contentious process . Under the old constitution , the president had the power to dissolve parliament after which the electoral body would announce the election date . But under the new constitution , agreed in 2010 , the election date is already set -- it 's in August , every five years . However , because Kenya is in a unique situation -- it has a coalition government following the 2007 disputed elections -- the president and prime minister have to agree on when to dissolve the coalition parliament to pave way for the electoral body to set an election date . This scenario generated ambiguity as to when the next general election would be held , which led a group of Kenyans to move to the high court . The court ruling gave two options . One was that the president and prime minister agree on a date to dissolve the coalition , allowing the election to be called . The second was to wait for the lapse of the current parliamentary term , which is January 14 , 2013 , and then hold the election within 60 days after that , as set out in the law . Since the president and prime minister could not reach agreement , with the president favoring the second option and the prime minister keen to see a 2012 election , the IEBC opted to take the second option . Odinga 's political party , the Orange Democratic Movement , had urged the commission to set a date in December this year . The commission `` should avoid any temptation of serving any sectarian interests through extension of the life of the coalition government , '' the party said in a statement . A December date was the preferred option of the majority of the Kenyan people and would be in line with the high court ruling and a recommendation by the Cabinet , the party said . Kenyans will be keen to avoid any repeat of the violence that swept the country four years ago . In January , the International Criminal Court ruled that four Kenyan officials , including Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta , will stand trial on human rights violations that are alleged to have occurred after the 2007 election . Kenyatta and Cabinet Secretary Francis Muthaura are accused of crimes against humanity . Former Agriculture Minister William Ruto and radio journalist Joshua Arap Sang face similar charges . The men named by the ICC come from opposite sides of the disputed 2007 election . They deny wrongdoing .
The general election will be the first since a disputed vote in 2007 resulted in ethnic violence . Kenya is currently run by a coalition government after a power-sharing deal . Kenya 's prime minister wanted an earlier election date .