USAID/OTI Kenya Field Report
October - December 2008
Program Description
USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives (OTI) Kenya program was initiated following a March 2008 assessment. This report covers the second quarter of post-startup operations. Obligations for the program thus far total $8,522,151 in Transition Initiative funds.
OTI continues to support the key U.S. foreign policy objective of stability with unity. The program seeks to be a U.S. Government asset contributing to a stable Kenya centered on a national identity rather than ethnicity. In pursuit of this goal, the program will assist Kenyan state and non-state actors to more fully exercise their capacities and, thereby, support the following broad objectives:
- Enabling broad-based recovery from the 2007–08 election-related violence.
- Taking prompt steps to address the underlying causes of instability.
OTI has two implementing partners for the Kenya program: Development Alternatives Inc. (DAI), which is implementing a quick-impact small-grants program, and the State University of New York (SUNY), which is supporting the work of the Kenyan Parliament.
Country Situation
The Coalition Holds – December 27, 2008, marked the one-year anniversary of the 2007 elections that plunged the country into violent conflict and resulted in the creation of a new coalition government. Kenyans celebrated Christmas peacefully, content that the fragile coalition was holding together.
Release of CIPEV Report – The defining political development of this period was the release of the report of the Committee of Investigation into the Post-Election Violence (CIPEV), commonly known as the Waki Report. The committee, led by appeals-court justice Phillip Waki, examined the details of the violence following the elections and made a number of major recommendations to the Government of Kenya (GOK), including one to establish a tribunal to try those most directly responsible for the violence. To this end, Justice Waki delivered to former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan a sealed envelope with the names of government officials and businessmen to be investigated, with the understanding that, should the GOK fail to form the tribunal and adequately investigate the violence, the names should be turned over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
Debate over the report went on throughout the quarter, with members of both the Party of National Unity (PNU) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) agreeing with and condemning the findings and recommendations. The coalition government adopted a bill that gives the administration until February 2009 to form the tribunal; however, it is yet to be seen whether the GOK's pledge to handle issues of justice related to the violence will lead to the investigation and prosecution of high-level officials. While crucial to ending the culture of impunity and cycle of inter-ethnic tension surrounding elections in Kenya, the report's recommendations also threaten to reignite conflict between groups that may feel their leaders are being targeted. By signing the bill, President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga deflected attempts to have the suspects on Justice Waki's list tried by the ICC, but they have yet to prove their willingness, or ability, to address the difficult issues that local adjudication will raise.
Food Scarcity – Food prices in Kenya have skyrocketed, roughly doubling in four months. There are a number of causes, including the high cost of fuel as well as disruptions in the food production chain caused by the post-election violence and drought. Among Kenyans, however, there is a widespread belief that the food crisis is a result of political corruption and mismanagement. This conviction has led to substantial unrest, including demonstrations, and further erosion of public faith in the GOK.
Election Commission Blamed for Poll Chaos – Following the release of the report by the Independent Review Commission (also known as the Kriegler Commission), which investigated the conduct of the 2007 general election, calls for the resignation of the chairman and entire Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) have increased. However, while it is accepted that the election and vote-tabulation process were poorly administered, many observers say that various political actors are seeking to scapegoat the ECK for all the ills related to the election, including the subsequent violence. Nevertheless, the ECK's credibility is largely exhausted among Kenyans, and future elections would likely lack sufficient legitimacy if it remains in place.
OTI Highlights
A. Narrative Summary
The release of the Waki Report on October 15, 2008, generated a significant debate among Kenyan at all levels and dominated media coverage. The headline in the Daily Nation, the country's leading newspaper, on November 11, almost a month after the report was released, read "ODM Rejects MP's move against Waki." A related editorial was titled "Waki: Politicians must stop these games," and opinion columnists wrote "Time running out for the masterminds of violence" and "This entrenched culture of impunity has to end." The report has created fissures within the Grand Coalition and sparked localized violence that threatens to revive intercommunal animosities.
Nevertheless, the Waki Report has gained support because it seeks to end the cycle of impunity that has plagued Kenya. It also seeks to strengthen security-sector institutions that have been blamed for the post-election violence. The positive findings of the report have led many individuals, politicians, and parties—after initially criticizing the report—to call for its implementation.
The OTI team held a strategy session on November 6, 2008, using the USAID/OTI Rolling Assessment methodology and focusing solely on the Waki Report as the emerging issue. The team found that there is a need to reduce, mitigate, and prevent violence and that the middle road—which would seek a local solution and avoid ICC prosecution but would not abandon the Waki Report—appears to be the best alternative. It is imperative to demonstrate that violence will not be tolerated. In addition, implementation of the Waki Report recommendations will determine the extent to which Agenda 4* issues will be addressed.
The key question facing the administration is who participates in and implements the process (Government, including Parliament? Civil society? Citizens?). It is also critical that participants explore local as well as alternative justice mechanisms. Finally, the team determined that government decision making needs to be unlinked from ethnicity to avoid continued polarization and unilateral decisions.
* Agenda 4 – A section of the February peace agreement that identifies issues to be addressed over the long term, such as land rights and constitutional reform.
B. Project Activity
During the quarter, 22 new grants with a total value of $789,091 were cleared. Implementation has begun on all these grants, which are grouped by sector in the table below.
| Civic Education |
8 |
$402,538 |
| Livelihoods |
2 |
$24,854 |
| Media |
1 |
$77,000 |
| Policy |
2 |
$69,011 |
| Reconciliation - Dialogue |
7 |
$185,262 |
| Reconciliation - Infrastructure |
2 |
$30,426 |
| Total |
22 |
$789,091 |
C. Grant Activity Highlights
Strategic Focus on the Northern Rift and the Waki Report – Three OTI grants focused specifically on community leaders, including government and religious leaders. In Eldoret, Holistic United, a community-based organization, was awarded a grant to implement a series of caucuses and dialogue meetings with elected local leaders. The activity provided training in peace and reconciliation concepts and information on critical emerging issues affecting Kenya's political transition. Another grantee in Eldoret, the Crisis Response Group, is bringing together influential leaders from different religious and ethnic groups to prevent violence by voicing a responsible position when emergencies arise. At weekly meetings, the participants come to a consensus on important issues and choose a course of action. These leaders then attend church functions and other public forums officiated by religious and other opinion leaders to promote unity and peace.
A third grant was awarded to the Emo Society to lead meetings with roughly 600 Rift Valley councilors to reduce fears and misconceptions about the Waki Report in the Kalenjin community. This grant has helped bring about a shift in opinion regarding the report's recommendations among Kalenjin community leaders, who were generally opposed to implementation. The shift represents a significant achievement, as opposing viewpoints had been fueled by Kalenjin political leaders, who suggested that the report was based on hearsay and that it targeted the people of the Rift Valley. However, through the Emo Society's trainings, community leaders gained a more complete understanding of the report and are now voicing their support for implementing its recommendations.
Parliamentary Support – SUNY/Albany has finalized designs for the TV and radio systems that will allow the Kenyan Parliament to broadcast its proceedings. The grant enabling the purchase and assembly of the radio broadcast equipment has also been completed.
Business Training – OTI and its partners in Eldoret have expanded activities to include support for a number of inter-ethnic business-training projects in the Rift Valley. The activities are demonstrating tangible benefits stemming from the peace-building effort. The skills-training activities have proven extremely popular and are helping to knit communities back together by improving livelihoods.
Nakuru – OTI has started to clear grants in Nakuru, which was a major site of post-election violence and is the program's fourth major area of operations, following Nairobi, Eldoret, and Kisumu. Two initial grants in Nakuru focused on assisting local authorities to establish functional peace committees. The GOK is requiring all districts to establish peace committees to coordinate the large number of peace and reconciliation activities.
D. Indicators of Success
Process and Management Measures – OTI program staff has now established the ability to fully develop and manage a complete portfolio of grants based on available grant funds. Grant-making activity expanded rapidly during the quarter and the portfolio of new grants totaled more than $750,000.
Program Appraisal
OTI continues to operate in three distinct areas of the country, with program teams focusing on Nairobi, Eldoret, and Kisumu. However, coverage is expanding to other high-priority areas, specifically Nakuru and Naivasha.
While OTI continues to support reconciliation activities in the Rift Valley, the program has moved beyond this initial area of focus and is now working to effect broader impact through media linkages and by leveraging connections between its grassroots and national-level programming. The primary test of OTI's success will be how well it adjusts strategy to address national developments regarding justice and constitutional reform.
Next Steps/Immediate Priorities
In the coming quarter, OTI will continue to develop its strategy that reflects and responds to national-level political developments, particularly those surrounding the debate on forming a national tribunal to try those suspected of involvement in the post-election violence.
The GOK will soon finalize its approach for handling the recommendations of the Waki Report. The outcome is primary among emerging issues, as the choices could lead either to a tribunal that will try the alleged perpetrators of post-election violence or to efforts to send accused parties to stand before the ICC in The Hague.
In the next quarter, OTI will—
- Conduct a strategic review session, bringing together all program staff and professional facilitators to review the OTI program and its strategic direction, and
- Complete procurement of TV and radio equipment for the Parliament's Live Broadcast Committee and begin installation.
For further information, please contact:
OTI/Kenya Contact: Brendan Wilson-Barthes, Africa Program Manager, (202) 712-5072, bwilson-barthes@usaid.gov.
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