US plan aims to prevent Kenya poll violence
A group of youths brandish crude weapons during protests in Nairobi December 31, 2007 following the announcement of the disputed results of the presidential elections. Kenya is among four countries in which the US State Department is focusing its efforts to prevent election-related violence November 30, 2012
Kenya is among four countries in which the US State Department is focusing its efforts to prevent organised violence, the official in charge of the initiatives said Friday.
Kenya was chosen for a US-funded programme to help ensure a peaceful election in March because it is "an anchor in the neighbourhood," said Assistant Secretary of State Rick Barton. He also noted that it is the site of the largest US diplomatic mission in Africa.
Syria, Honduras and Burma are the other countries where the department's Bureau of Conflict and Stabilisation Operations is concentrating its work.
Called "Champions for Peace," the initiative employs Kenyans active in broad social networks to "expand the message that hate speech and employing idle youth to disrupt the election process is not a good thing," Mr Barton said in an interview.
The effort is underway in Rift Valley and Coast provinces, with hopes of expanding it to other parts of the country.
"The model is definitely one that can spread," Mr Barton said.
The State Department is currently allocating "a couple of million dollars" for the programme, which will employ at least 50 Kenyans for the next six months, Mr Barton noted.
Kenyans hired for violence-prevention work are key figures in groups, such as horticultural societies, not normally involved in political activities, the assistant secretary said. The US programme aims to give these individuals the capacity to help "reduce the space that negative political players have to work in," Mr Barton added.
Local religious leaders with moderate views are also being mobilised to help avert a repeat of the cataclysm that followed the 2007 election.
Mr Barton echoed acting US Ambassador Robert Godec's comment in Washington on Wednesday that a peaceful election in March is not assured.
Many Kenyans say tribal animosities are "artificially created" and driven by political leaders for their own purposes, Mr Barton noted.
"The reform movement has the upper hand," he continued, adding, however, that its concerns are diffuse and lacking a single focal point.
"By and large," he said, "people are trying to do their best".
