NAIROBI — A month ago, Kenya fell prey to a sudden burst of post-electoral violence that has left over 1,000 dead and hundreds of thousands displaced. The violence has stunned the world.

Of course, Kenya had lived through tense electoral periods before, and few people who know Africa were blind to the many difficulties the country continued to face. But things seemed to be going well recently. This year's campaign was exceptionally peaceful, and millions of citizens voted Dec. 27 — at times walking and lining up for hours to cast their ballot.

Kenya was unanimously seen as the "good student" of development, sometimes referred to as a symbol of an African renaissance. The "Kenya vision 2030 framework," a set of ambitious macroeconomic, legal, and constitutional reforms, was being implemented in close partnership with the World Bank.