Preventing Violence in Kenya

Apr 27, 2009

Letter to Key Members of Congress

This letter was sent to leadership on the Africa Subcommittee as well as the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee in the House and Senate.

April 17, 2009

Dear Member of Congress:

We write to urge your support for efforts to strengthen a fragile peace in Kenya and prevent a renewal of violence. Specifically, we hope you will support the administration’s request of $38 million in funding to foster peace and reconciliation in Kenya in the FY 2009 emergency supplemental.

As you know, last year ethnic violence threatened to engulf Kenya. Fortunately, preventive diplomacy efforts led by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, helped secure a political settlement before the violence became entrenched. However, we fear, Kenya is again at risk of another round of violence.

A recent U.N. report found that “leading politicians, notably those representing constituencies in the Rift Valley, which bore the brunt of the violence last year, maintain armed and trained militia units.” The organization and scale of militias suggests preparation for armed conflict, according to a security analyst inside Kenya.

Meanwhile, little progress has been made to implement a range of reforms set out by the National Accord, the power sharing agreement President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga signed last spring. The Kenyan government has delayed setting up a special tribunal to hold organizers of the post-election violence accountable – as recommended by the independent Waki Commission which investigated Kenya’s violence last year. These trends are alarming and, if not addressed, threaten Kenya’s shaky peace.

Fortunately, President Obama – in his FY 09 supplemental request – has included $38 million in development assistance to “support peace and reconciliation, governance and economic growth programs in Kenya.” These programs would strategically focus assistance on “reforms emanating from the National Accord,” as well as address development, reconciliation, and unemployment issues.

As a Quaker organization, FCNL opposes all war funding and believes the supplemental bill is already heavily misbalanced toward war fighting. Yet, some Members of Congress and outside analysts are urging appropriators to cut funding from the supplemental that would go to urgent humanitarian, development, and reconstruction needs.

Kenya hosts the largest population of members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in the world, and Kenyan Quakers are actively working with their communities to promote alternatives to violence and reconciliation. We know from their experience that the threat of violence is still very real and that support for rebuilding communities and consolidating the political agreement is urgently needed.

Too often, the international community’s attention to a crisis is sparked only after the killing begins. The hard work of resolving the underlying political, economic, and ethnic conflicts in Kenya and ensuring a durable peace has only just begun. Small investments in peace and reconciliation in Kenya now, including the $38 million in supplemental funds requested by the administration, could help avert another crisis and save countless lives.

We urge your support for these relatively small but critical programs that will promote peace and stability in Kenya. Spending just $38 million to resolve the root causes of violence now will help prevent the need to spend far more in the future.

Thank you very much for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Bridget Moix
Friends Committee on National Legislation
Washington DC