The Reform Agenda - Energizing Youth and Public Support

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 001295

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL KE
SUBJECT: The Reform Agenda - Energizing Youth and Public Support


1. Summary. The Ambassador and members of the Mission team used a
late May visit to Eldoret and Kisumu to support grassroots youth
organizations to press peacefully for implementation of the reform
agenda, and to energize other public support for this. The
three-day trip included inauguration of an inter-ethnic market
reconstructed with U.S. support, discussions with community leaders,
town hall meetings with youth, outreach through a call-in radio
program, and installation as a Wanga Kingdom elder. The three-day
visit was well-covered by the media. This message also includes
reporting on a previous visit the Ambassador and Mission team made
to Nakuru in Rift Valley also focused on outreach with respect to
the reform agenda. End summary.

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Eldoret in Rift Valley
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2. The visit was the Ambassador's tenth to Rift Valley since the
eruption of post-election violence last year. With Catholic Bishop
Korir (who just won a lifetime human rights achievement award for
his efforts to promote reconciliation),community leaders, and the
constituency Member of Parliament Margaret Kamar, the Ambassador
inaugurated the market at Burnt Forest, which was reconstructed by
USAID following the violence last year. The market is used by
Kalenjins and Kikuyus, and so plays both highly practical and
symbolic roles. In his remarks the Ambassador emphasized the
importance of reconciliation, and the relevance of implementation of
the reform agenda to achieve that as well as to achieve economic
growth. The Ambassador stopped at the Kiambaa church burial site to
pay his respects to the 35 people burnt in that church during the
post-election violence.


3. Following a meeting with community leaders, the Ambassador held a
town hall meeting with a couple of hundred youth involved in
grassroots non-political efforts to promote reconciliation and to
push for implementation of reforms. The Ambassador emphasized the
need for peaceful pressure across ethnic and political lines for
implementation of the reform agenda. The town hall discussion was
organized by the grassroots youth organizations Citizens Assembly
and Rift Valley Dialogue. (Caroline Ruto, the head of Citizens
Assembly, is a particularly dynamic leader and we have nominated her
for the International Visitors Program.) The Ambassador invited MP
Kamar to participate, and she held her own in the face of tough
comments from the youth regarding the lack of progress on reforms.
(Kamar is a member of PM Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement.)

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Nakuru in Rift Valley
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4. The visit to Eldoret followed another visit to Rift Valley in
April, to Ndeffo-Molo near Nakuru, to participate in a peace event
and town hall meeting organized by the grassroots youth organization
Citizens Assembly (see above). The event opened with a peace and
reconciliation ceremony and forum involving about 5,000 Kalenjins
and Kikuyus in a field between their respective living areas (the
first time those communities had met together since the
post-election violence). Religious leaders, community elders, local
officials, war veterans, and others were involved - and the
Administrative Police provided strong, positive support. The
Ambassador addressed the gathering to urge redoubled efforts to
promote reconciliation and to highlight the importance of
implementation of reforms in order to achieve democratic stability.
(The local Member of Parliament, who is not progressive and was
linked to post-election violence, attempted to crash and take over
the meeting, which the Ambassador refused to let happen.) The
Ambassador then held a town hall meeting with about 100 youth
leaders at Egerton University.

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Kisumu in Nyanza Province
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5. In Kisumu the Ambassador and his team met with progressive Mayor
Sam Okello, and accompanied the Mayor on visits to a local hospital
supported by the Centers for Disease Control, USAID, and PEPFAR.
(CDC operates a large facility in Kisumu; the Ambassador held a town
hall meeting there with the U.S. and local staff.) The Mayor and
Ambassador also visited an association of self-employed youths and
the public market, where an impromptu town hall meeting was held.


6. The Ambassador held discussions with an impressive group of
community leaders (religious, private sector and other young
professionals, elders, civil society, etc.) who have formed - with
support through USAID's Office of Transition Initiatives - the
Nyanza Strategic Recovery Forum. The Forum's objective is to serve

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as a platform for people to support the economic and political
recovery of Nyanza Province and the nation as a whole. The
participants said that people feel a sense of hopelessness due to
conflicting and unclear messages regarding the reform agenda that
they hear from their leaders (President Kibaki and Prime Minister
Odinga). The participants, though they operate on PM Odinga's home
turf in Nyanza, said that they are increasingly seeing Odinga and
their parliamentarians as part of the problem in Kenya, not as part
of the solution. They are determined to press across ethnic and
political lines to urge implementation of reforms.


7. The Ambassador held a town hall meeting with a group of 500
youth. The event was organized by the Nyanza Youth Coalition, a
grassroots youth organization formed with assistance from the Office
of Transition Initiatives. The Ambassador urged the youth to expand
their efforts to press peacefully for implementation of the reform
agenda, and to do so through coordinated efforts across ethnic and
political lines. Importantly, Caroline Ruto of Citizens Assembly and
the head of Kikuyus for Change (a similar grassroots youth
organization based in Central Province) were present and
participated in the town hall discussion. In addition to noting
President Obama's current interest in supporting reform in Kenya,
the Ambassador called attention to then Senator Obama's 2006 speech
in Nairobi in which he specifically challenged youth to support
reform. This was greeted with chants of "yes, we can." The two-hour
discussion explored additional steps youth can undertake,
particularly by expanding networking and coordinated action among
youth groups. (We followed up on this. The Ambassador participated
in a forum in late May near Nairobi which involved dozens of youth
groups representing more than 28 of the 42 ethnic groups of Kenya.
The forum resulted in an action plan to press for implementation of
reforms.) Other issues discussed included the need for the youth
groups to work to educate young people about political and economic
issues, particularly with respect to the fact that economic
development (and thus employment for the 50 percent of youth who are
unemployed) is linked to political reform. The youth also noted that
the political elite and other vested interests are putting pressure
on emerging youth groups because they fear their independence and
pressure for change.

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Wanga Kingdom
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8. The Ambassador used the occasion of his installation as a Wanga
Kingdom elder to give a presentation that focused on the need for
Kenya to harness its diversity to promote unity and economic and
political progress. The Ambassador discussed the challenges the U.S.
has faced in this regard, and noted that the considerable progress
we have made demonstrates what can be achieved. (The Wanga Kingdom
is located in Mumias in Western Province and dates back many
centuries. With the assistance of the huge Mumias Sugar Company
based there, the Wanga are preserving their rich heritage in an
impressive cultural center.)


9. These trips are part of continuing public and private diplomacy
outreach efforts to energize support for implementation of the
reform agenda, and to promote ongoing reconciliation efforts.
RANNEBERGER