Kenya's President Mwai Kibaki, whose disputed re-election triggered violence that damaged his country's reputation for stability, has appointed a commission of inquiry to investigate the December 27 vote. A statement sent from Kibaki's office on Thursday said the panel would "inquire into all aspects of the General Election ... with particular emphasis on the Presidential Election".

The days of people who killed others and destroyed property during the post-election violence are numbered, Attorney General Amos Wako has warned. "Kenyans feel that the culture of impunity is going on. But let me assure you that we must now ensure that this culture is dealt with once and for all," he told the annual Law Society of Kenya dinner at the weekend.

While there is optimism for permanent peace in Kenya due to the power-sharing pact signed between the Party of National Unity (PNU) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), a new row is brewing over the powers of the president, vice president, prime minister and deputy prime ministers.

A reconciliation meeting held on February 29, 2008 in Kachibora, Trans-zoia district between the Marakwet and the Kisii communities saw the first batch of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the area return home on Monday March 3, 2008.

On Thursday our members of parliament will be formally called to national duty to bring to life the Harambee House Accord. Our members of parliament should not be left alone in that duty. As citizens we are also called to national duty.

First is to be informed. The mediators of Kenya's political crisis have set up a web site with links to all the agreements so far, statements and other material that is informative.

The web site is

Many of us publicly celebrated the signing of the Harambee House Accord, but our members of parliament have been uncharacteristically silent. Between now and when debate on the Harambee House Accord begins they will need encouragement to avoid selfishness, narrow party interests and visualise the national interest. As citizens, it is our national duty to provide that encourage, remind our parliamentary leaders that this is not just about them. It is about all of us.

For instance, the Serena Accord of 1st February, 2008 calls for politicians of different persuasions to hold joint rallies to advocate peace. A few were held the day and weekend that accord was announced. Then what happened?

The Serena Accord also states that militias need to be demobilised and disarmed. But it does not say who should do this or when this should begin or end.

But our focus as citizens should not be limited to the Annan-mediated accords.

For example, under the arrangement elaborated in the accords, there is not going to be a significant opposition in parliament. So who will act as a check on the government? Ensure that what the politicians have agreed to is implemented? As citizens we will be required to be more vigilant than before.

In the months to voting day, lots of questions were raised about the type of political parties we have. The chaotic nominations of parliamentary and civic candidates prompted many of those questions. The general sense was, "Well, that is politics for you". It doesn't have to be that way. And there's a possible answer: the Political Parties Bill.

It was passed by parliament in November and is waiting for the assent of President Mwai Kibaki. The importance of this bill is it proposes to steer our political parties to become mature organizations that are responsive to their members and have a national agenda.

For a detailed analysis of the bill you can go to http://www.capf.or.ke/document/Political_Parties_Bill_2007.pdf

The East African sub-regional women's collective calls for a comprehensive peace plan that is cognizant of how violence affects women.

We, members of the regional women’s voices for peace initiative from Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda gathered here in Nairobi on the 15th February 2008 bring women’s voices and solidarity messages to the people of Kenya. We take cognizance of the exceptional suffering that has been meted out on the most vulnerable members of the population especially women and children. We know what war can do to a country and its people, and we urge Kenyans to stop the actions that will take the country down that road.

We renounce the violence that erupted across Kenya following the election in December 2007. As women many of us have suffered with different experiences of violence and war in various countries in the region. We are aware that in Kenya women have been widowed, buried children, been raped and witnessed the rape of daughters. As women of the region, we express our deep pain, grief and shock at the unfortunate retrogression in the political situation in Kenya. As mothers we are tired of violence and war, Africa is suffering. Enough is enough!

We also recognize that the youth who are paying the ultimate sacrifice are our children and the future hope of the nation and continent. We also recognize that large numbers of people are now displaced from their homes and land. Many of these are women who have endured gender based violence and lost access to basic care, medicines and food supplies.

We appreciate the on-going mediation processes and urge the parties involved to look beyond the immediate political interests and take into consideration the interests of all Kenyans.

The regional women’s voices for peace initiative is concerned that while the broad issues of democratization, human rights and business interests may be addressed in ongoing efforts to finding a solution to the crisis; it is important to articulate women’s voices on the effect and impact of the crisis and the search for solutions.

Recommendations:

We hereby call for:

1. A total end to the violence, including addressing the underlying and deep rooted causes of the conflict,

2. Medical, humanitarian and psychosocial support to female victims of sexual and gender based violence,

3. Speedy political settlement including the active implementation of UNSCR Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, the AU Peace and Security Protocol, the EAC Treaty provisions on peace and security and the Great Lakes Conference on Peace and Security,

4. Political and legal reforms that will bring on board women in political leadership and other high-level positions of governance,

5. Truth, justice and reconciliation mechanisms and other national healing processes,

6. Retributive justice including compensation that pays attention to the special circumstances of women.

7. East African Community and other regional blocs to seriously address the Kenya issue which has the potential to jeopardize the regional integration process.

We call upon the people of Kenya, to desist from acts of violence, promote tolerance and peaceful co-existence. The instruments of peace will be the people of Kenya themselves.

*Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Kenyan women assert their right to be heard and included in the Kenyan peace process

Women’s Coalition on Peace Memorandum to The National Dialogue & Reconciliation Committee’s Eminent Persons Serena Hotel, Nairobi March 1, 2008

Your Excellency Kofi Annan
Your Excellency Graça Machel
Your Excellency Benjamin Mkapa

We congratulate you, the Eminent Persons and the mediation teams and their principals on the breakthrough achieved with regards to Agenda Item Number 3 of the Kenya National Dialogue on Reconciliation: the “Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government”. We thank you for the immense work that has been undertaken by yourselves in the past five weeks in Kenya. The Women’s Coalition for Sustainable Peace, are aware that women and children have experienced the brunt of the post-electoral violence that has occurred in Kenya since 30th December, 2007.

We commend the work of the Panel of Eminent Persons, which marks a watershed and milestone in the history of Africa. The African peoples represented through the African Union which mandated the Panel of Eminent Persons, stood together and refused to allow Kenya to become another failed state. We are humbled by the generosity of the international community represented through the UN, AU, EU, UK, US and others. The immediate impact of the resolution of Agenda Item 3 has already been felt as you may have observed in the reactions of ordinary Kenyans as they began to release the anxiety which they have lived with for the past two months. Yesterday (29th February, 2008), for the first time in two months, Kenyans were able to walk again in their beloved Uhuru Park a clear sign of the return of hope.

The speeches of the principals His Excellency Mwai Kibaki and Honourable Raila Odinga, were reassuring to the Kenyan people. We trust that they will uphold the promises and commitments that they made. We as citizens will be holding them accountable. Given the leadership demonstrated by the Kenya 2 National Dialogue on Reconciliation it behoves the Kenyan people to guard, sustain, uphold and nurture the new and fragile return to peace.

Kenya is now embarking on a reconstruction. Some of the key factors that precipitated and exacerbated the Kenyan post-electoral crisis were the lack of a sound foundation. We believe that the following are some of the necessary elements of a vibrant, prosperous, just and peaceful state: inclusion, equality, integrity, justice, transparency, accountability, professionalism, tolerance and strong institutions that respect, can sustain and protect these values

The Women’s Coalition recognises that ensuring the sustainability of the agreements reached is dependent on the vigilance of Kenyan citizens. To this end, Kenyan women believe the following are imperative:

1. Accountability and monitoring mechanisms for the agreements made to date namely:

- The disbanding and demobilisation of all illegal armed and militia groups

- The holding of joint rallies to promote peace and tranquillity

- The impartial effective and expeditious investigation into all cases of crime and police brutality and use of excessive force

- Protection and assistance for internally displaced persons especially women and the safe return to their homes and places of work

- The establishment of a Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission

- The establishment of an Independent Review Commission to investigate all aspects of the 2007 Elections

- The Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government and its implementing mechanism the National Accord and Reconciliation Act [2008]

2. Implementing mechanisms for the agreements made.

Participation mechanisms that will ensure that all citizens own, are aware of, accountable for and participate in the implementation of the agreements made. Recognising that the “Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government” is a contract between the Kenyan people and will 3 constitute the foundation of the future Kenyan nation it is particularly important that the citizens participate in and are fully informed of the processes. Kenya has a legacy of secrecy, with regards to its governance mechanisms and systems, the “Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government” presents an opportunity to break with this past and create a true culture of constitutionalism and participatory democracy.

3. Gender parity and equality: As women we are also particularly concerned about Kenya’s legacy of inequality – especially gender inequality. The majority of Kenya’s poor are women. Kenya’s Constitution still does not grant women full citizenship and legalises gender based discrimination – women are therefore under-represented in all of the country’s decision-making institutions. The country has a high incidence of gender based violence and it has been observed during the post-electoral crisis that one of its manifestations has been an increase in sexual and gender based violence.

Given this legacy of deeply entrenched gender inequality, it is therefore imperative that there be mechanisms for the inclusion and participation of women in and at all decision-making levels and processes. It is therefore imperative that the team drafting the National Accord and Reconciliation Act [2008] include women and make provision for women’s participation and representation in all processes.

Women are therefore concerned that they are represented and participate in:

- The formation of the new cabinet, senior positions in the public service and at all other levels of representation in ALL public institutions, decision making mechanisms, political parties, technical and advisory bodies.

- The Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission

- The Independent Review Commission on the Conduct of the 2007 Elections

- All implementation mechanisms of the “Agreement on the Principles of Partnership of the Coalition Government” and the National Accord and Reconciliation Act [2008]

- Addressing the subject matter of Agenda Item 4 – “Long-term Issues and Solutions” which is intended to address the fundamental root causes of recurrent conflict in Kenya (namely constitutional reform, judicial reform, land ownership and reform, institutional reform, poverty, inequality).

4. The special condition of internally displaced women: We wish to bring to the attention of the Kenya National Dialogue on Reconciliation, that many of the internally displaced persons are women and children. Given the gender and cultural biases in land ownership practises, most of the women who had been culturally displaced from their own homes and had sought refuge in urban areas away are now in double-jeopardy and require special and urgent measures to settle them.

5. Women peace builders and peacemakers: Women have always been historically engaged in peace processes. Many women were on the forefront in this crisis providing humanitarian support and have been part of the peace-building process. This expertise has been engaged in our own situation and we commend the role of all the Kenyan women who have chosen to and remained committed to working for a peaceful resolution of the Kenyan crisis at all levels. We recommend that role of these women be acknowledged and appreciated at all levels.

6. Benchmarks, measurable outcomes and timeframes for the achievement of key agreements. There is need to develop a monitoring framework for the agreements that incorporates key benchmarks, measurable outcomes and timeframes for the achievement of the key agreements.

In conclusion, we as the women of Kenya will continue engaging with our Parliament as the organ with the first implementing responsibility and urge them to be instructed and guided by the values and principles identified upon by you. We will also continue engaging at all other levels to play whatever role we can to ensure that all the agreements are kept.

*Signed & Dated 1 March 2008 On behalf of the Women’s Coalition.

**Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

One of the greatest challenges following the post-election violence in Kenya is to restore the physical and mental wellbeing of 150,000 displaced children, many of whom have witnessed atrocities and lost contact, in many cases permanently, with their families, humanitarian workers told IRIN.

Kenyan leaders have agreed to work in a coalition government starting Thursday evening, chief mediator Kofi Annan has announced. The leaders are expected to sign documents of the historic agreement. This is the long awaited goods news after a period of uncertainty. Kenya sighed with relief as the two key protagonists President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga finally settled to a coalition government with a pledge to build a stronger country.

Kenya's children run increasing risk of physical and sexual assault and face worsening food shortages in the aftermath of recent bloodshed, aid agency Save the Children said on Thursday. A disputed December 27 election sparked widespread violence that killed 1,000 people and displaced some 300,000. The aid group said over half of those were likely to be children, who were by far the most vulnerable.

Kenyan elders demanded an apology from Washington on Thursday ahead of a planned protest over a controversial photo of U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama in traditional Somali dress. The picture, which appeared on a U.S. Web site, showed the Democratic frontrunner donning a white headdress and robes during a visit in 2006 to the remote northeastern town of Wajir.

Pambazuka News spoke with Wangui Wa Goro, a public intellectual, writer, translator and academic and an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Human Rights and Social Justice at London Metropolitan University about the power sharing agreement reached by Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga on February 28, 2008. Pambazuka News readers will remember her for her incisive commentary on Kenya pre and post the crisis. We spoke about the implications of the peace-deal on the larger questions of peace and justice, the meaning of democracy itself, the continuing role of Civil Society Organizations and lessons for other African countries.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: The power sharing deal has Raila Odinga as the Prime Minister and Mwai Kibaki remaining the President. We are not yet clear on exact day-to-day functioning of each – but what are your initial thoughts?

WANGUI WA GORO: I am glad that the parties have come to some agreement at the moment because it will ease the tension in the country. I am however wary because of the way in which we have witnessed the mediation process. I think that many Kenyans are skeptical about the goodwill of some in the process. As Kenyans, we are also aware of our capacity for duplicity and doubletalk ("ujanja").

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Both Kibaki and Raila formed a coalition government shortly after the 2002 elections that collapsed and in way, the violence we saw was a direct result of their inability to get along – do you a see a difference this time? Will it hold?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think the fact that the process is being witnessed nationally and internationally by all will place a huge burden on those who want to cheat unlike before when “Memorandums of Understanding” were agreed behind closed doors. This is a significant difference between 2002 and 2008.

I am however still concerned that the Kenyan people should know the outcome of the election that just took place. These agreements could undermine our confidence in the mechanisms of democracy and the institutions for this. We are bowing to the will of individuals rather than to the will of our nation and this is wrong. I hope, therefore, that this arrangement is a transitional one. We are rolling back our attainment of multipartism which should provide checks and balances.

I think the loss of life and displacements we have witnessed should act as a wake up call for all of us and the world and if the two leaders are serious and actually work together, this may work. I still believe that the civil society, other political players and the international community should continue pressing for the delivery of the agreement in order for the transitional process and justice to take place. The hard work now has a framework as does the chance for a new constitution. Kenyans will have to work hard to heal the nation and to continue to seek peace, truth and justice. I hope that these processes can heal the nation. I pray that for this alone, that peace will hold.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Do you see a continuing role for the international community? Should there be a difference between African and Western pressure?

WANGUI WA GORO: No. I think that what should matter the most is what Kenyans want and the African and international pressure should reflect that will of the Kenyan people. I see a continued role of the international community in "supervising" the agreement and ensuring that Kenya does not slide into anarchy. This they can do by using the agreement to hold individuals and their parties to account.

I hope that The Kofi Annan Team remains with Kenyans for the duration of the Transitional Period in an advisory or consultative role to ensure that we remain within the spirit and letter of the agreements. I hope that Parliament will also take responsibility for running the affairs of the country and that Kenyans find mechanisms for engaging constructively with their leaders, particularly the civil society in an organized form. We have never been here in our history.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: The civil society organizations have been agitating for an arrangement that would make peace possible. What should their role be in the post-peace deal period?

WANGUI WA GORO: The role of the civil society is now more crucial than ever. They will have to be the domestic monitors of the agreement and further, because of their knowledge and the way in which they have conducted themselves over the last two months, they will find an important role as a lobby which is not entrenched in the processes. They can engage constructively and this will be very important for the country. We have also seen the importance of their vanguard role in this process. There are many lessons to be learned here and I hope that unlike 2002, they do not let up.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: A short question- Where are the people in this deal?

WANGUI WA GORO: That is precisely the point! I believe that the discussions with Dr. Kofi Annan are continuing on the longer-term issues this coming Friday. We should wait and see what is agreed then.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Moving forward - The Kenyan society has been divided in ways we have not seen before- probably not since the end of British colonialism. More than 1,500 dead, hundreds of thousands of refugees, not to speak of an economy in tatters – how do we repair the torn fabric?

WANGUI WA GORO: On the Kenyan society being divided for the first time, this is not correct. Divide and rule tactics were part of British colonial rule. Kenya has also had very difficult moments in its history such as the assassination of Tom Mboya when the so called differences amongst ethnicities were supposed to be very high. People were very hurt then.

And many other terrible things have happened to people like Pio Gama Pinto, Bishop Muge, JM Kariuki, Robert Ouko etc. and Kenyans can see patterns here which are not ethnically driven. Some of these leaders were asking fundamental questions about injustice and inequality. We have also had a coup d'etat in 1982 when many people died, and in 1984 many Kenyans were killed in the Wagalla Massacre. In 1992 many Kenyans were displaced from the Rift Valley and many were also killed - over 1500. And between 1982 to 1990 many Kenyans were jailed, tortured, killed and exiled. These traumas have continued since independence. I hope that this disregard for life and for Kenyans stops for once and for all. All of us are important and our lives are precious in equal measure.

You will also know that those who fought for freedom have died in abject poverty and without recognition until recently. We have to have a broader understanding of our history and not allow the distortions of "ethnicism" to blind us to the class dimension, corruption, poverty and disenfranchisement of the majority Kenyans of all ethnicities, cultures and religions.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Can we reflect on the role of Western democracy on historical legacies? Does the Kenya crisis suggest there is something wrong with Western democracy? What does African democracy look like?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think that there is a difference between the cultures of practice of "democracy" and what we understand as democratic principals. Democracies are built over time through good practice over years. There must be some of the values of what is called a "good society" which people seem to understand to be in the contract for democracy such as accountability, representation, transparency and the institutions and mechanism for delivering these such as the rule of law, independent institutions such as Parliament and the Judiciary which remove entrenched power from parties or individuals..

Now, I don't think we have seen African Democracy working at its best in Kenya or much of Africa because of the kinds of legacies and traditions and practices we adopted after Independence. You will know we inherited the Constitution and some of the practices from colonial rule, in our case from Britain. For instance, the police force was used to defend the state from the people and this culture has continued. We did not have a moment of reflection of the kind of nation state we might want for ourselves. This question of regional representation and distribution of resources for instance is one;, it was raised for debate but then shelved and ignored, and is at the heart of some of the difficulties we have today.

The philosophy of forgive and forget is another. Another is the power of the presidency which grew and grew since Kenyatta and became entrenched in the constitution because people became so frightened of him and the Presidency. This continued under Moi and in 1982, Kenya moved from a de facto one party state to a de jure one party state which really entrenched Moi's dictatorship.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Is it all about what the rulers want, not what citizens want…So we need constitutional reforms that speaks to the Kenyan political reality, for example?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think that is what has come out as a most over riding desire of the Kenyan people. But as you know, fine constitutions can be written, and in fact, the first Kenyan one was not that bad. It is having it implemented that is a problem. Britain for instance does not have a written tradition but it evolves rules and values through Acts of Parliament and the law. Kenyans can use this opportunity to enshrine the kind of nation they want and BOMAS began to address this issue. I think a new constitution will be very good for Kenya because KENYANS will feel that they own it.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: What does equality mean to democracy? It is a word that is assumed to be already contained in democracy, yet we see nations with vicious inequalities call themselves democratic - your thoughts?

WANGUI WA GORO: On paper, Kenya has a Bill of Rights which recognises equality. But in reality, we have seen the day to day treatment of women, people with disabilities, people of "other" religions or "ethnicities" treated badly. In public, it is difficult to pass bills against violence against women such as rape. There are no policies on the aged and it is only recently that the rights of the child have come on board.

Words are meaningless if people do not feel protected from their historic and cultural vulnerabilities. Our laws have been couched in ambiguous terms such as both recognising civil law and common law. We are not aware of what these issues mean in a diverse nation state of different ethnicities and religious persuasions so you will have one Kenyan treated differently than another because of common law which recognises the different cultures. We also do not know about each others cultures so we are limited in our arguments for Kenyan universal values. Our democracy will be most tested and beneficial when we address these issues because they lie at the heart of our current disquiet over disenfranchisement from power and lack of self-determination.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Wangui, the question of whether Kenya should be a federal state has come up quite a bit - those for it argue that resources will be distributed better - those against it that it will entrench ethnic tension. Your take?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think that a federal state would be premature. I think that if local government was strong and there was less corruption, such a system could work. As it is now, some regions have been marginalised eternally in punitive ways and naturally they will want to have federal states. Our local government has also not been representative in the political sense or professional enough, similar to the public institutions which remain in a colonial and postcolonial time warp. They need to modernize to reflect the modern Kenyan and global world. Then we have this parallel system of administration of Provincial and District Officers who are powerful but not locally accountable. I think that these arrangements cannot foster democratic engagement when power is distributed through patronage. Appointment to senior positions has also been problematic as has been corruption and the allocation of resources.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: How do we develop and implement a people's agenda?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think that the local issues matter a great deal to people. Their day-to-day lives. Having power and control over their own immediate destiny -which cannot be done by some centralized remote, and often middleclass or bourgeois administration. There needs to be genuine engagement with governance by the people, ways of holding their elected leaders to account and ways for having their voices heard and acted upon. As we have lived in Kenya, it has been hard in the past to have access to your elected leader and people are frightened of these people whom they elected. That is my recollection of Kenya as I knew it then.

PAMBAZUKA NEWS: Finally Wangui, what can countries like Zimbabwe and South Africa learn from Kenya? Or countries like Uganda or Ethiopia where Museveni or Meles might point to Kenya as a warning for playing around with the fire of democracy? Are there lessons to be gleaned across the board?

WANGUI WA GORO: I think we need to start thinking outside the box. I think the whole of Africa can learn from itself. There are lessons that point to the failures of the post colonial states from the North to the South. You can see the upheaval everywhere. There are particularities about each of our countries, such as the resilience of the pro-people cultures and their continuities. There are also longer traditions of institutionalization in some places like South Africa and the economic power of Apartheid is very deeply entrenched.

So we need to learn from all our cultures and see how we can improve on the particular. The cultures we cultivate are also important, such as the cultures of struggle, the cultures of fear, the cultures of solidarity. What has amazed me in these last few weeks is the strength of individuals and organizations in the civil society and the pro-people movements and their willingness to defend "the good of society".

I hope that Kenyans and our leaders are willing to give peace, truth, justice and reconciliation a try. It will be very difficult to heal our nation now that blood has flown. There is no turning back the clock and these hurts remain for a very long time. We must learn from the holocausts in our continent and elsewhere. Kenya is and can be a wonderful place.

*Wangui Wa Goro, a public intellectual, writer, translator and academic and an Associate Fellow at the Institute of Human Rights and Social Justice at London Metropolitan University.

**Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

www.pambazuka.org

The full text of the agreement signed by Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga is available at the link below.

February 25, 2008, is exactly 24 years since the horrific massacre that took place when the Kenyan security killed over 400 Somali men. Today, we are submitting a memo to the Kenya High Commission in Ottawa at 415 Laurier Avenue East Street from 11:00 am - 12:00 pm. This is to mark the 24th anniversary of the Wajir Massacre. This act of genocide occurred in 1984 in Wagala near Wajir. The massacre itself occurred following the rounding up of five thousand Somali men and their removal to the Wagala air strip, while their homes were being burnt to the ground. The men were detained within a barbed wire enclosure over a four day period, forced to strip and denied food and water. The massacre has been devastating to the morale of Somalis, the majority of whom are too intimidated to take any action in case of further reprisals.

To the Somalis, the Wajir Massacre is one of the gravest in a sad history of brutal massacres, including Malkameri in 1996, Garissa in 1980, Madogashe in 1982 and Bagala in 1989. Since none of these massacres has ever been investigated, the pattern of repression of the Kenyan Somali people continues. 

Hundreds of families of victims of the Wajir Massacre are in the Bula Jogoo area of Wajir and are still in a state of destitution depending solely on relief aid. They have never been compensated for the massacre by the Kenyan government. At the time of the Wajir Massacre there was an international outcry and many western countries showed their concern and protested to the Kenyan government. Among them were Canada, Britain, United States of America, Sweden, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, Finland, Australia, Austria, Ireland, Switzerland, Netherlands and Belgium. The Kenyan government has, for the first time, admitted that the horrific Wajir Massacre occurred sixteen years ago and that hundreds of ethnic Somalis were killed in the Wajir district in the northeastern province of Kenya during this massacre.

We, the Kenyan Somali Community of North America, are calling on the Kenyan Government to take the following actions immediately:

- Appoint an independent commission of inquiry into the Wajir, Garissa and Malkameri Massacres. - Compensate the bereaved families of the 381 people that the Kenyan government admitted had been massacred by its security forces.

- Immediately bring to justice those who were responsible for these heinous crimes

For more information contact Abdi Omar Chairperson Kenya Somali Community of North America   (613) 728 2355 or (613) 736 1789 - Email: [email][email protected] 

The present void as exists in Kenya, says Annar Cassam, is very dangerous for it renders both the elections and the observer missions irrelevant and robs the voters of their democratic rights twice.

Nearly two months after Kenya's rigged elections and Kibaki's "victory" claim set the country on fire, there is one question that has been on everybody's lips and it has still to be answered.

How can it be that this "model" African country,this island of stability, democracy, good governance, economic excellence and humanitarian solidarity in an otherwise chaotic, conflict-ridden and backward part of the continent, can so quickly collapse into tragedy? And this as a result of rigged elections which take place all the time and all over the world, but seldom with such horrendous consequences?

This perception of Kenya being the exception, the model, is widespread, among Kenyans especially and in the outside world but is it really justified, is it not more fiction than fact?

It is difficult to square this image with one simple truth universally acknowledged, that, Kenya is one of Africa's most corrupt countries. Its history of state corruption is not a secret, nor is it complicated to understand, thanks to the country's vibrant and vigilant press and to well-documented investigation reports of major financial scandals, such as the Goldenberg scam (under Moi) and the recent AngloLeasing scam (under Kibaki).

For those who wish to know more about Kenya's endemic culture of corruption at the highest level,a seminar with John Githongo would be useful. Githongo is the former head of the country's anti-corruption unit, now living in exile in London, having fled Kenya in fear for his life in 2005. The myth about Kenya's economic status has long been promoted by representatives of the World Bank and IMF who imagine that Kenya, by virtue of its hosting the "most powerful economy" in East Africa and the UN Office in Nairobi, exists in some other parallel universe, far away from African realities.

However, the people of Kenya are now poorer than ever. According to the Financial Times, in 1990, 48% of the population lived below the poverty line. "Today, four decades after independence, 55% of Kenyans subsist on a couple od dollars a day"(FT.1/1/2008).

Since independence in 1963, the international donor community, led by the UK, has contributed some $16bn in aid. It is also under their watch that Kibera, so-called "the largest slum in Africa" has expanded and festered in the capital city where about 1.2mn people live without clean water and sanitation amenities, many of them without employment or adequate medical care. Vast amounts of Kenya's arable land are owned by the three ruling families,namely, Kenyatta,Moi and Kibaki. Half of the nation's wealth is in the hands of 10% of the population.

Kenyan MPs earn allowances amounting to tax-free salaries of more than $10,000 per month. This is a democratic model very few African countries can afford to emulate. The international community, so massively present in Kenya, has been complicit in fabricating the "model" country myth, to the detriment of the suffering of the Kenyans.The parallel universe complex referred to earlier afflicts the UN Office in Nairobi, the only UN HQ to be based in a developng country, the others being in New York, Geneva and Vienna.UNON is also the seat of two Specialised Agencies, UNEP (environmental programme) and HABITAT (human settlement) and to an ever-expanding network of international organisations, NGOs and commercial enterprises providing financial, policy and logistic support for the many conflict ad disaster-prone populations in the region.

But the plight of the ordinary citizens seems not to be in the mandate of the leadership of this privileged group of international experts who live in daily contact with Kenyans who look after their children, drive their cars, provide security for their property, etc. In the last 10 years, Kenya has become a major exporter of fresh vegetables and flowers to European markets. In the Lake Naivasha area, acres of land lie covered under green-houses where a water-intensive, high-tech industry produces millions of fresh roses to be flown to Holland (for very low prices). The environmental damage caused to local water resources and the hardship this means for the local rural population's ability to grow food crops is a case study for our experts.

Myths can take on a life of their own, unaffected by concrete realities which in Kenya are only too visible. The so-called economic success story should be seen in context. For, however impressive may be the gains on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, the tonnes of agricultural exports, the thousand of tourists, the millions of dollars in aid funds and the 6% growth rate since 2006, this cannot hide the misery and the humiliation of over half the population which used to live on $2 a day before the current breakdown.

It is time to re-consider the continued presence of the UN Office in a country whose government holds such a record of mismanagement and corruption ... and now of election fraud. Kenya's Central Bank, the main beneficiary of the money the UN and allied networks spend in the country will feel the loss,(the "UN business" is said to provide 20% of Kenya's annual forex earnings) but the UN's leadership must surely demand some basic standards of ethical behaviour from the host government, both for its own integrity and credibility and for the sake of the millions of Kenyans now in obvious distress and disarray.

As for the spread of democracy, the Kenyan debacle provides an opportunity for a fresh look at the role of observer missions which arrive in developing countries as watchdogs for the godess of free and fair elections. Is it really enough to fly in, observe, declare this or that and then vanish? Some serious attention needs to be paid to a code of ethics and follow-up mechanisms which can apply in situations where a mission's verdict on rigged elections is ignored and power is grabbed by the faudulent party.

The present void as exists in Kenya is very dangerous for it renders both the elections and the observer missions irrelevant and robs the voters of their democratic rights twice.

Finally, a word about the man who would be president for the second time. By having the elections rigged and then clinging to the trappings of power, Kibaki has shown an abysmal lack of moral principle and leadership. While the country self-destructs and his people turn on each other, while chldren are burnt to death, women and girls raped and many thousands become refugees in their own land, Kibaki has contributed strictly nothing by way of a solution. This is dereliction of duty and reponsibiity which is contemptible and which must be condemned. Kenya, after all is no man's personal property and elections, even when rigged, are not a passport to impunity.

* Annar Cassam is Tanzanian, former Consultant at UNESCO/PEER Nairobi and former Director, UNESCO Office, Geneva
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Kenya is at risk of plunging into a new wave of violence, despite progress in negotiations to end a political crisis, because several armed groups are mobilising on all sides of the country’s ethno-political divisions, according to the International Crisis Group (ICG) think-tank. Firearms are much less widely available in Kenya than in neighbouring countries. In the context of this article, “armed groups” include those using machetes, spears, poison arrows and clubs.

Blood donation drives held in Kenya in recent weeks to meet the need created by post-election violence have highlighted the shortage of regular blood donors and the problem this creates in public healthcare, say officials from the national blood transfusion service. "We realise people have a lack of confidence in their health status that generates the fear to donate blood," said Stranslaus Onyango, assistant programme officer at Hope Worldwide Kenya.

Africa's top diplomat pushed Kenya's feuding parties on Friday to reach a speedy deal after the government agreed in principle to create a prime minister's post to help end a deadly post-election crisis. "The weekend will be crucial. We hope that next week we'll have something which can be agreed," newly-elected African Union chairman Jean Ping told a news conference in Nairobi.

ICG warns that armed groups are mobilising on both sides, ODM is under pressure from its core constituencies, to demand nothing less than the presidency, and the Kibaki coalition is buying time to wear down both the opposition and the international community’s resolve.

Since the announcement of the contested presidential election results on 30 December 2007 giving a second term to Mwai Kibaki, Kenya has been in its worst political crisis since independence. Over 1,000 people have died and 300,000 have been displaced in violence with a serious ethnic character. As former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan conducts negotiations for a political settlement, calm has partly returned but the situation remains highly volatile. To address the causes of the crisis, it will not be enough for the Annan team to broker a deal on the mechanics of a transitional arrangement between political opponents and schedule negotiations on a reform agenda. A sustainable settlement must address in detail a program of power-sharing, constitutional and legal reform and economic policies that convinces the drivers of violence to disarm. For negotiations to succeed, the international community must enhance its pressure, including aid conditionality and threats and application of targeted sanctions against spoilers.

State authority collapsed in the political strongholds of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Supporters of its leader, Raila Odinga, took to the streets in violent protest against the theft of the presidency and to seek revenge on the Kikuyu and Kisii communities perceived to be loyal to Kibaki. The security forces reacted with great brutality and members of the communities supporting ODM were violently targeted by Kibaki supporters.

Kofi Annan and a distinguished team of other African leaders have been mandated by the African Union (AU) to mediate the crisis. Soon after their arrival on 22 January, they arranged a meeting between Odinga and Kibaki and obtained pledges to negotiate a settlement. The parties have conceded some ground and are discussing a transitional arrangement which could lead to new elections after two years, legal and constitutional reforms, and a truth, justice and reconciliation commission to assist in healing wounds.

Serious obstacles remain, however. Armed groups are still mobilising on both sides. ODM, which won a clear parliamentary plurality in December, has put on hold its calls for mass action and is using the talks to restore prestige it lost internationally in the violence. It is under pressure from its core constituencies, however, to demand nothing less than the presidency, and its supporters could easily renew violent confrontations if Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) coalition remains inflexible.

The Kibaki coalition is buying time to wear down both the opposition and the international community’s resolve. It benefits from the presidency’s extensive powers, including unlimited access to public resources. It insists the situation is under control and there is no power vacuum, tends to treat Annan’s mission as a side-show while sponsoring alternative reconciliation processes, seeks to have Kibaki’s election recognised by neighbouring countries and continues to resist genuine sharing of executive power.

While the mediation concentrates on a power-sharing agreement and a transitional arrangement leading to new elections, it has postponed equally important talks on the reform agenda and economic policy that an effective transitional government should adopt. A further year is envisaged for these talks. This is a risky approach. The Annan team should engage the two sides immediately on these topics.

Three complementary sets of issues must be addressed to finalise a detailed power-sharing agreement. The first are the legal and constitutional reforms needed during the transition period, including a complete overhaul of the electoral framework. The second are the economic policies to be implemented during the transition. The third are the concrete details of the process to be followed to end the violence and to deal with the humanitarian crisis, including the institutional framework and timelines. The ODM and PNU do not control the local violence. There is a chance to restore state authority and prevent renewed major fighting only if local leaders understand that their grievances are being addressed and concrete measures are being rapidly implemented. Civil society and economic stakeholders should also be associated with the negotiations on institutional reforms and economic policy.

International pressure is critical to achieving these objectives. The conditioning of multilateral and bilateral financial help for a negotiated settlement should be reinforced by a general travel ban and asset freeze policy against those who support and organise the violence or otherwise block the political process. Some hardliners in Kibaki’s camp depend on international credit-worthiness to keep their enterprises prosperous. The prospect of making individuals pariahs can be used to encourage concessions in the negotiations and good faith in implementation of an agreement.

The stakes go beyond Kenya, whose political and economic health is an essential ingredient for the security and prosperity of Eastern and Central Africa and indeed for how the entire continent’s future is assessed by investors. Kenya’s stability determines regional access to energy supplies and basic commodities and guarantees a relatively safe environment for hundreds of thousands of Somali and Sudanese refugees. But concentrating on a power-sharing arrangement between ODM and PNU will not be enough to restore the situation.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

To the Annan mediation team of eminent African personalities:

1. Propose to open three additional areas to be addressed immediately and urgently as detailed negotiations on the structure and composition of a power-sharing arrangement continue:

a) constitutional and legal reforms, including a complete overhaul of the electoral framework;

b) economic policies, including immediate land acquisition and redistribution and major job-creation programs; and

c) the framework and process for implementing commitments for ending the violence and resolving the humanitarian crisis, including institutions, timetables and international guarantees.

2. Involve additional stakeholders from civil society in the talks on legal and constitutional reforms and from the business community on economic policies.

To the Kenya Government and PNU coalition:

3. Engage constructively in the power-sharing negotiations and take the opportunity of discussions on constitutional reforms and economic policies to negotiate guarantees for the continuation of reforms started by the Kibaki administration.

4. Restore security in the IDP camps and suspend all resettlement and relocation policies until a framework has been agreed by the parties.

5. Ensure equal access and distribution of humanitarian and reconstruction resources to all victims of the violence.

6. Arrest and prosecute the leaders of the Mungiki sect, as well as politicians supporting its activities, so as to redress concerns about possible state support for its resurgence.

7. Suspend immediately all police officers in charge of the areas where extra-judicial killings have occurred, including Nairobi, Kisumu, Kakamega, Nakuru, Naivasha, Sotik, and Kericho. ;

To the ODM leadership:

8. Engage constructively in the negotiations and support the immediate opening of detailed talks on constitutional reforms and the economic policies to be carried out during the transition, with a view to reassuring PNU hardliners over its economic policies as well as addressing the grievances of its own hardline constituencies;

9. Condemn publicly and threaten with sanctions any ODM leader inciting ethnic hatred, and express sympathy for the Kikuyu victims of the violence;

To the U.S., the EU and its member states, Canada, South Africa and other international partners:

10. Condition aid on the satisfactory conclusion of all the above-mentioned elements of the negotiation.

11. Implement and expand the travel bans already announced by the U.S., Canada, the UK and Switzerland by freezing the financial assets of individuals directly involved in or supporting violence or otherwise blocking the negotiation process and publicly blacklist their companies on financial markets.

To the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC):

12. Open a preliminary investigation into alleged atrocity crimes committed in Kenya and take into account the findings and recommendations of the fact-finding mission of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) once issued.

Nairobi/Brussels, 21 February 2007

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The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) urges the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) to "to adopt a specific resolution condemning intimidation of human rights defenders, and demand respect for the physical and moral integrity of human rights defenders" amongst other things.

MEMORANDUM TO THE ACHPR ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN KENYA

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), its member organisation, the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC), and the Kenyans For Peace, Truth and Justice (KPTJ – a coalition of Kenya's governance, human rights and legal organizations), welcome the decision of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) to examine the human rights situation in Kenya at the occasion of its 4th extraordinary session which will be held in Banjul, The Gambia, from 15 to 24 February 2008.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

FIDH, KHRC and KPTJ request the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights to:

1. Invite Kenyan, African and International NGOs to present an assessment of the state of human rights in Kenya at the occasion of the 4th extraordinary session.

2. Adopt a resolution at the occasion of the 4th extraordinary session to: a) Condemn the serious violations of the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and its Protocol on the Rights of Women;

b) Denounce the electoral irregularities that were committed during the presidential ballot of 27 December 2007 as blatant violation of the African Charter on Elections, Democracy and Governance;

c) Reaffirm support toward the efforts of the Mediation Team towards effective political solution to the crisis, based on peace, truth and justice ;

d) Request the Kenyan authorities and any other duty-bearers to: ? ensure unobstructed investigations on the alleged breach of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections Act and the Constitution of Kenya by the Electoral Commission of Kenya;

? ensure the protection of civilians, including human rights defenders; ? take all necessary measures to ensure the end of impunity of the authors, co-authors and instigators of post electoral inter-ethnic violence;

? ensure that all individuals responsible for directly inciting ethnic violence be investigated and prosecuted;

? ensure that all members of security forces responsible for disproportionate repression of peaceful demonstrators and other individuals be investigated and prosecuted; ? ensure the opening of investigations against militia members responsible for human rights violations;

? ensure unobstructed investigations on the murder of two opposition Members of Parliament; death threats pronounced against the human rights defenders;

? take all the necessary measures to ensure respect for the United Nations (UN) Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement;

? establish transitional justice mechanisms to address the underlying causes of the violence and provide justice addressing immediate and historical wrongs in Kenya;

? more generally, to take all necessary measures to settle the root causes of the crisis in Kenya, notably the issue of land and internally displaced persons, and to guarantee justice, respect for human rights and democratic governance.

3) Request, together with Kenyan and International NGOs, a meeting with the African Union Peace and Security Council, to present the human rights situation in the country so as to mitigate or prevent further or imminent violations

4) Invoke its inherent jurisdiction to draw the attention of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government the to existence of serious or massive violations of human rights in Kenya, and the trigger, namely the flawed presidential election

5) Urge the Member States to adopt the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. FIDH, KHRC and KPTJ request the Special Rapporteur of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights on the Human Rights Defenders in Africa:

? To adopt a specific resolution condemning intimidation of human rights defenders, and demand respect for the physical and moral integrity of human rights defenders, in conformity with the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights and the Declaration on the protection of Human Rights Defenders adopted in 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly.

*Signed by: International Federation for Human Rights Kenya Human Rights Commission Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice : ? Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG) ? Awaaz ? Centre for Law and Research International (CLARION) ? Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD) ? Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness for Women (CREAW) ? (CRADLE) ? Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO) ? East African Law Society (EALS) ? Haki Focus ? Hema la Katiba ? Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) ? Innovative Lawyering ? Institute for Economic Affairs (IEA) ? Institute for Education in Democracy (IED) ? International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya) ? Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) ? Kenya Leadership Institute (KLI) ? Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) ? Kituo cha Sheria ? Media Institute ? Muslim Human Rights Forum ? National Constitution Executive Council (NCEC) ? Regional Centre for Stability, Security and Peace in Africa ? Sankara Centre ? Society for International Development (SID) ? Urgent Action Fund (UAF)-Africa ? Youth Agenda.

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