This article discusses the construction of national identities by newspaper writers in times of political conflict. In Kenya, the period 2008-2013, was characterized by political strife due to a forced coalition government between the two major political parties, Party of National Unity (PNU) and Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) led by Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga respectively. The coalition came after a disputed election that led to post-election violence. National identities are more explicitly expressed during moments of conflict than other times. The privileged position of media in accessing and diffusing the discourses of the powerful makes it possible for the media to attempt to influence the thinking of the general populace towards certain ideological ends especially in matters political. The two main newspapers in Kenya �Daily Nation and The Standard informed by their ideological convictions, created certain identities of the nation, reflecting their own interests. Through extensive use of metaphor, lexicon and structure, the newspapers construct negative and largely exaggerated images of the nation, at times portraying Kenya as a completely failed country. This paper explores this phenomenon using the Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) framework which relates language use to social structure, emphasizing on the use of discourse in enactment of asymmetrical power relations.