When the Narc Government came to power in 2003, it set up an 18-member taskforce to find out if Kenya needed a truth and reconciliation commission to look into abuses and crimes committed since independence. It recommended the setting up of the commission to inquire into human rights violations between December 12, 1963 and December 31, 2002.

However, it was established at the time. But it came to pass in 2008 after the 2007 disputed presidential elections. Parliament enacted the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Act, which provides for the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission.

In 2009, President Kibaki appointed commissioners to serve in the nine-member TJRC — six local and three foreign experts. They were Bethuel Kiplagat (chairman for a tribunal has been appointed to investigate his conduct), Tecla Namachanja (vice-chairperson), Tom Ojienda, Margaret Wambui Ngugi Shava, and Ahmed Sheikh Farah. The international experts are Gertrude Chawatama (Zambia), Berhanu Dinka (Ethiopia) and Ronald Slye (US), who has since resigned.