TJRC Update

UNCLAS NAIROBI 000106 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PHUM KE SUBJECT: TJRC Update ¶1. Summary: The Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) is still in the process of organizing itself and interviewing and hiring staff. On January 24 Commissioners will set off from Nairobi on a 60 day tour of the nation to inform Kenyans about the commission and its mandate; three weeks later "statement takers" will follow behind conducting interviews, a process that will take six months. As statements are taken the Commissioners will begin reviewing them, and they anticipate beginning to hold hearings in March based on the initial statements that are taken. End Summary. ¶2. The Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation Commission is still in the process of organizing itself and interviewing and hiring staff. On January 12 the commission met with officials from the Ministry of Finance to discuss the commission's proposed KES 2 billion (approximately USD $ 27 million) 18 month operational budget that would carry them through to the end of their mandate in July 2011. (Note: By way of comparison the South African process cost $56 million, while the exercise in Peru cost $28 million. End Note). A Commissioner told us that based on the meeting with the Ministry of Finance he anticipates the Commission will receive approximately 80 percent of its budget request, an amount fully sufficient for the Commission to complete its mandate given the overinflated initial budget. ¶3. On January 18 the Commission will interview the top seven candidates for the position of Executive Secretary, who will be the chief administrative officer in charge of actually running the commission. The commission has advertized for 25 top positions covering all administrative functions, from researchers to data analysts. Overall the Commission intends to hire approximately 130 full time staff, 300 "statement takers," and 50-60 temporary staff who will be mainly engaged during the hearing phase of the Commission's work. A Commissioner told us, "We are into business now in earnest." (Note: The TJRC was formally established August 5, 2009 for a period of two and a half years. Its recommendations are binding by law, and it has the authority to create a leave-behind organization to monitor implementation, which the GOK is legally required to do. End Note). ¶4. After working since December on administrative matters and hiring, the Commissioners plan to embark January 24 on a 60-day tour of the nation. They will hold open sessions for the purpose of explaining to the people their mandate, which is vast, and includes any wrongs, grievances, or illegal actions from independence through the period of post-election violence in early ¶2008. The Commission is not a tribunal and cannot dispense justice, but they can and will make recommendations for the purpose of victims achieving justice and reconciliation. They will begin holding open sessions in Coast Province, followed in order by North Eastern, Eastern, Rift Valley, Central, Nyanza, Western, and Nairobi. Beginning three weeks later (approximately mid-February), and following on the itinerary of the Commissioners, "statement takers" will start holding information gathering sessions and recording statements. It is expected to take the "statement takers" six months to complete their work. However, the Commission will begin reviewing statements as they are gathered, and beginning in March they will start holding hearings based on the initial statements they have reviewed. ¶5. Comment: As with its proposed budget, the TJRC's mandate is bloated and unfocused. The Commission has not resolved whether it will focus on justice (as many commissioners hope) or reconciliation (as Chairman Bethwel Kiplagat tends to emphasize). Revisiting all wrongs since independence is clearly unworkable, and Kiplagat's role as chairman has proven controversial given his past as a senior official in the notoriously abusive Moi regime. End comment. RANNEBERGER