According to David Bucura, coordinator of the African Great Lakes Initiative, “Kenya is in tension and is hot in some places now. There is big tension before the elections.” AGLI is a project of the Friends Peace Teams which supports peace activities in the Great Lakes region of Africa.
Friend David noted that there are elections in both Rwanda and Kenya this August, and in both countries pre-election tensions are already leading to some violence. Friends in Kenya working with the African Great Lakes Initiative are setting up civic education programs and other early warning systems to help prevent violence. This work is vitally important.
In 2007, election-related violence left more than 1,000 people dead and spurred efforts to prevent a recurrence. In advance of the 2013 national elections, FCNL encouraged U.S. support for Kenyan peacebuilders who were monitoring potential flash points in their communities. This focus contributed to relatively peaceful elections.
The U.S. government’s positive support for violence prevention efforts in Kenya helped local groups do their work.
Kenyan national elections will take place again in 2017. Kenyan Quakers tell us that what happens before these elections will have a big impact on whether and how much violence occurs during the elections. More needs to be done in advance of the 2017 elections to support peacebuilding efforts in Kenya.
The African Great Lakes Initiative (AGLI) of the Friends Peace Teams strengthens, supports, and promotes peace activities at the grassroots level in the Great Lakes region of Africa (Burundi, Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda). To this end, AGLI responds to requests from local religious and non-governmental organizations that focus on conflict management, peace building, trauma healing, and reconciliation. AGLI sponsors Peace Teams composed of members from local partners and the international community. We are a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization.