The move comes amidst debate on how to deal with those implicated in the violence that broke out after the disputed elections in December 2007.
More than 1,500 people were killed and some 300,000 more fled their homes in the unrest.

President Mwai Kibaki and Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga, now prime minister, signed a power-sharing deal in February to bring an end to the crisis and formed a coalition government.
Culture of impunity

The setting up the TJRC was recommended by the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee which was formed to deliberate on the root causes of the post-election violence.
The clashes were blamed on unresolved historical injustices such as distribution of land and state resources, and alleged human rights violations by previous governments and political leaders.

The TJRC will investigate crimes committed since the country's independence in 1963 to February 2008, according to the BBC.

It will have nine commissioners - six Kenyans and three foreigners - appointed by the team of African Eminent Personalities which mediated the power-sharing deal along with former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The TJRC is separate from the international tribunal, which was the recommendation of a separate commission of inquiry set up after the violence, headed by Justice Phillip Waki. It found that politicians and businessmen on all sides had stirred up violence after the polls.

Philip Waki handed over a sealed list of suspects to Kofi Annan, the chief mediator of the power-sharing agreement.

It was agreed that if an international tribunal was not set up within 60 days, Kofi Annan would hand over the names to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

Politicians have clashed over the Waki report's recommendations, with some calling for unconditional amnesty for those implicated. Others insist that those involved should be prosecuted as amnesty would encourage impunity.

President Mwai Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) said that the report should be implemented fully within the framework of a new constitution.

Kofi Annan urged the Kenyan government to set up the tribunal, saying the long culture of impunity must end.