OTHER PARTNER CT EFFORTS IN KENYA

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 005338 SIPDIS C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (CAPTION, PARA MARKINGS) SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED SIPDIS DEPT FOR S/CT BRIAN PHIPPS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PTER PREL XW YM ASEC KE SUBJECT: OTHER PARTNER CT EFFORTS IN KENYA REF: STATE 186255 NAIROBI 00005338 001.5 OF 002 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The U.S. is by far the most significant player among donor countries seeking to assist Kenya in counterterrorism (CT) training and capacity-building. Next comes the UK, followed by Denmark, which is funding a joint UNDP/UNODC project that has the potential to produce very useful results. Other donors come far behind. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is working with UNDP to assist the Kenyans to draft acceptable CT legislation, a hopeful development. END SUMMARY. UK CT Efforts ¶2. (SBU) The U.S. is by far the most significant player among donor countries seeking to assist Kenya in counterterrorism (CT) training and capacity-building. Next in line is the UK. According to Col. Rob Andrews, Counterterrorism Coordinator at the British High Commission, the UK has done 20 projects in the CT field in the past two and a half years. The High Commission attempted to work with the Joint Terrorism Task Force to assist with capacity-building for prosecutors and investigators, but ran into insurmountable personality conflicts with the current police commissioner. Through the Commonwealth Secretariat and UNDP, the British have supported efforts to write CT and anti-money laundering legislation. Kenya's Ministry of Defense, according to the British, do not understand the big picture of CT, and have no coherent strategy for it. As a result, British efforts to assist MOD are modest and sharply focused on assisting with disaster management training and "stirring debate." Aviation security is a huge issue for the UK, with British Airways flying ten times a week into Kenya, in addition to charters to Mombasa. The High Commission is applying increasing pressure on the GoK to improve security at Kenya's airports, especially Wilson. ¶3. (SBU) The UK's major effort currently is a project to assist the Administrative Police (who do not come under the police commissioner) with a border security project. As Col. Andrews explained it, this project began with a U.S. idea to increase military capability to patrol Kenya's porous borders with Somalia (and Ethiopia as far west as Moyale). The British assessed that the military's mission in Northeastern Province is to be available in bases removed from the border. However, the administrative police have local language skills, work close to the border, mix with local people, and can gather intelligence from them. The "UK-Kenya Administrative Police Border Security Project" has been putting radios into the hands of local units of administrative police along the border, training the police in their use, and working to set up an operational center in Nairobi. According to Col. Andrews, reports of armed banditry in one area near Mandera have dropped sharply since the project became operational, and a number of former bandits now reside in a Mandera jail. UN CT Efforts ¶4. (SBU) The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) works NAIROBI 00005338 002.4 OF 002 closely with the GOK on drug control, crime, and CT issues. On CT, it is tasked with promoting ratification of the UN's 13 CT "instruments," working with governments to help them ratify these international conventions and then codify in local law through appropriate legislation. Since Kenya has ratified the 13 instruments, UNODC is focusing here on assisting with legislation. CT legislation is a highly controversial and politicized topic in Kenya. UNODC's new joint project with UNDP in this field will begin in January. The first step will be to organize a "drafting" workshop. A workshop convened this year by UNDP "had a lot of MPs and NGOs" in attendance, according to UNODC,s Karolina Gudmundsson, and the mix led to an overly politicized discussion. This year's working group will focus on the technical side, and will include more prosecutors and law school professors. Gudmundsson and her boss, Carsten Hyttel, noted that with 2007 an election year, "in the worst case scenario, no CT bill will be passed until 2008." ¶5. (SBU) Hyttel said UNODC is also helping to organize a regional East Africa CT workshop in mid-2007. Kenya will host the workshop, which will include Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda. The UNODC is working with Kenya,s Ministry of Justice on this project. ¶6. (SBU) Post will report in more detail on these efforts as well as those of the G-8 CTAG (Counter-Terrorist Action Group) septel. ¶7. (SBU) Comment: Both the U.S. and the UK, for different reasons, carry historical baggage when it comes to assisting Kenya on the CT front. The UN does not. This makes the UNDP/UNODC push for CT legislation more likely to succeed. Post will track these efforts closely and report any progress achieved. RANNEBERGER