KENYA - FEBRUARY 1 SITREP

UNCLAS NAIROBI 000354 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR S/ES-O/CMS, AF/E, AF/EX, CA/OCS/ACS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ASEC AMGT CASC PGOV EAID ECON PHUM PREL KE SUBJECT: KENYA - FEBRUARY 1 SITREP SENSITIVE-BUT-UNCLASSIFIED. NOT FOR RELEASE OUTSIDE USG CHANNELS. ¶1. (SBU) POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS: The talks continue, but there are signs that the PNU continues to search for means of peeling away ODM members of parliament, encouraging ODM schisms and otherwise finding a way out that does not involve actual power sharing with Raila Odinga. The ODM tried unsuccessfully to challenge the sitting at the AU Summit of the GoK delegation led by Kibaki. The UN Secretary General came to Nairobi on a 12 hour visit, mainly to coordinate with his predecessor, Kofi Annan. In addition to Annan, he met with Raila Odinga and VP Musyoka. ¶2. (SBU) SECURITY SITUATION: No major reports of violence were received today for all parts of Kenya. All areas affected throughout the past week continue to be tense and threats of evictions and attacks by rival tribes remain active. RSO continues to be laden with rumors of activity outside Nairobi, but to date, no Mission facilities or U.S. personnel have fallen victim to the violence. Personnel working in the Center for Disease Control (CDC) office located inside the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) facility bordering Kibera, a High Density/Low Income (HD/LI) suburb outside Nairobi, have witnessed violence in the area, but to date, have not felt threatened or concerned that such violence would turn toward their office. A visit by an ARSO on 30 January 2008 confirmed that the CDC/KEMRI facility and personnel are not presently affected by the violence, but constant monitoring of this area continues. Additional guards have been added at the request of CDC and a review of the facility's physical security assets is currently taking place. ¶3. (SBU) U.S. MISSION POSTURE: The last four USDH have been successfully withdrawn from Kisumu and Kericho. Dr. Shaffer departed Kericho Thursday evening aboard the Tea Plantation shuttle flight. Col. Walsh, LtC. Polhemus, and Capt. Hicks flew to Nairobi on commercial air Friday morning. All Kisumu and Kericho USDH and family members are now in Nairobi or outside Kenya. Administrative issues, temporary lodging, medical care, and transportation issues are being addressed for them. CDC operations in Kisumu are tended by their remaining FSN staff and the KEMRI Cooperative Agreement personnel, who can maintain administrative operations to the extent 
security conditions allow but will not have the benefit of technical guidance from the USDH staff that have been withdrawn. Similarly, MRU projects in Kisumu and Kericho are essentially in caretaker status until USDH personnel can return. In Nairobi, all Embassy offices are open. In-country travel clearance procedures have been published requiring RSO and DCM approval of all official and personal travel outside Nairobi. Schools are open and operating normally. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is open, flights are operating normally, and access roads are unobstructed. Office and residential electricity and water systems are operational, and fuel tanks for generators and vehicles are topped up. A scheduled outage of the official communication circuits for Friday evening has been postponed. Communication circuits, IVG lines, E&E radio net, cellphones/SMS, and Blackberries are fully operational. Mission Kenya actual staffing on board today is: Total USDH/USPSC - 254; total EFM - 352; total LES/FSN/PSA 682; total long-term TDY -- 178; total short-term TDY - 43; PCVs -- 62. Total USDH in Kisumu and environs - 0 (zero). ¶4. (SBU) HUMANITARIAN SITUATION: USAID staff report that despite strong early efforts by the Government of Kenya's Ministry of Health (MoH) to address emergency health needs in the current crisis, services are declining and current demands are beyond MoH's capacity to respond. An increased number of hospital admissions, including rape, trauma, and surgical cases are overwhelming the capacity of some hospitals, particularly in Nairobi and Nakuru. In addition, some hospitals and clinics are closing intermittently since health staff are unable to travel to work due to security concerns. The UN World Health Organization has provided approximately USD 127,290 to the MoH to support basic emergency health services in 20 districts. In addition, USAID health staff recommend drawing on support from community and faith-based organizations to provide logistics, financial, and other assistance to maintain basic health services. USAID's Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance is funding the UN Children's Fund to provide additional emergency health services to populations affected by the crisis. ¶5. (SBU) U.S. CITIZENS: Yesterday's murder in Eldoret of a member of parliament triggered rioting in several cities. Post's warden in Eldoret reported that Kericho experienced rioting, some of which was in the neighborhood of the Walter Reed medical research facility. The facility was not harmed and Amcits were not targeted. In fact, a Walter Reed employee stationed in Kericho noted that the local population is very respectful of Walter Reed facilities and employees. The Eldoret warden stated that Eldoret city itself was quiet last night and this morning, although he experienced some burnt cars and downed wires on the road from Eldoret to Turbo, a small town approximately 25 km northwest from Eldoret. Nakuru warden reported calm and quiet, although he stated that he passed some burning houses on the road north from Nakuru to Baringo. Some of his colleagues traveled from Nakuru to Nairobi (south bound) by road and reported no problems. Kisumu reported that events were tumultuous yesterday after the announcement of the MP's murder, but that by nightfall all was calm, which carried over to today. Kisumu did report that one Amcit left on a commercial flight this morning and is headed back to the U.S. Naivasha reported all calm and quiet. The Consular Section has received no reports of clashes in other parts of the country nor have we received requests for assistance from Amcits. Post issued an updated Travel Alert today via the warden system, as well as a warden message asking all Amcits in need of assistance to contact the Consular Section. Specific contact information was provided in this warden message. Post is planning a Town Hall meeting for private American citizens on Feb 5 at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. ¶6. (SBU) OTHER DEVELOPMENTS: UN SyG Ban Ki Moon arrived at about 11:00 at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. The SyG will proceed to a meeting with ODM leader Odinga. Yesterday, he met with Kibaki who is attending the African Union heads of state meeting in Addis Ababa. After speaking with Odinga, the SyG will proceed to the UN campus (across the street from the Embassy) for an informal lunch with the top UN staff. The topic of keen interest will be the security situation and UN contingency planning for UNON as well as the UN Environmental Program (UNEP) and the UN Human Settlements Program (UN Habitat) as the global headquarters of the latter two are located in Nairobi. Rannenberger