The violence characterizing the aftermath of Kenya's elections is putting in peril the future of a country that, until now, has been one of Africa's better performers.

The East African nation of Kenya, population 36 million, held presidential and parliamentary elections last week. The two principal candidates for the presidency were incumbent Mwai Kibaki, 76, who was seeking a second term, and Raila Odinga, 62, the son of a prominent independence-era politician.

The government declared that Mr. Kibaki had won, by a couple of hundred thousand votes, and he took the oath of office Sunday. Mr. Odinga's supporters claim that the election was rigged, and that he had won. The European observer team agreed with the opposition assessment that the elections had been below standard. The United States congratulated Mr. Kibaki on his victory.

Then the trouble started -- demonstrations, rioting, looting and killing, with deaths estimated at more than 250 across the country. Worse for Kenya, the conflict seems to be occurring along tribal lines. Mr. Kibaki is Kikuyu, a minority in the population but one that has always played a prominent role in the country's affairs. Founding President Jomo Kenyatta, for instance, was Kikuyu. As a group they are successful politically and economically. Mr. Odinga is Luo, representative of an important, also minority, tribe that has never held the presidency.

Since its independence in 1963 Kenya has prided itself on stability, in spite of the diversity of its population, eschewing the violence that has troubled neighboring Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia and Uganda.

There is a distinct possibility that its people can hang together in the face of this adversity, but the violence and the fact that it is taking place along tribal lines points up Kenya's vulnerability to the fate that has befallen other African states such as Cote d'Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Somalia.

Kenya's leaders, starting with Mr. Kibaki and Mr. Odinga, need to talk with each other on an urgent basis about preserving their nation. Outsiders, including the United States, need to urge that course of action strongly, staying out of the argument about who won the election. A recount may be in order, but that should be left up to the Kenyans.