KENYA

Reports on Ethnic Relations  /  Rapports sur les relations éthniques

The following section is consisted of part, full or summaries of articles from diverses sources (newspapers, newsletters, etc...).
La section suivante est constituée d'exraits, de la totalité ou de résumés d'articles provenant d'origines diverses (journaux,bulletins, etc..).

06 / 30 / 2003

IRIN

The Article: "World Bank denies possibility of withdrawing AIDS funding"

The World Bank has denied that it threatened to withdraw funding for HIV/AIDS projects in Kenya because of allegations of corruption within the National AIDS Control Council (NACC).

"I was disappointed to see the totally false assertion that the Bank had threatened to cut off its assistance to fight HIV/AIDS due to concerns about corruption," said World Bank Country Director Makhtar Diop.

In a statement, Diop said the Bank welcomed an internal investigation, currently being undertaken by the Office of the President, into allegations of corruption within the NACC. "We welcome this, as a sign that the government is taking seriously the general issue of the proper use of funds."

He said the Bank was confident that the government would take whatever actions may be necessary following the review.

Since 2001, the Bank had been financing two HIV/AIDS operations in Kenya - one through the Ministry of Health and the other through the NACC - each worth US $50 million, a spokesman for the Bank, Peter Warutere, told IRIN. To date US $15 million has been handed over to the NACC.

NACC has denied the allegations of corruption.

Speaking generally about corruption in Kenya, Diop added that the "signs are very good that Kenya is turning the corner on fighting corruption". He said this had led to a "marked strengthening" of relations between the Bank and the government.

Among the positive steps taken by the government, he said, were the enactment of the governance and ethics laws and the cabinet's approval of legislation aimed at increasing accountability and transparency in the management of public finances.

The international watchdog, Transparency International, ranked Kenya 96 out of 102 countries on its 2002 Corruption Perceptions Index, stating that corruption was perceived to be "rampant".

06 / 27 / 2003

IRIN

The Article: "Turkana man killed in shoot-out with police"

A Turkana man was killed on Thursday evening in skirmishes with anti-riot police just outside the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said.

Local Turkana had reportedly been trying to loot a shop outside the camp, when the shoot-out occurred, UNHCR spokesman Emmanuel Nyabera told IRIN. Another man was arrested and two AK-47 rifles seized.

Fighting between the Turkana and Sudanese refugees in the camp erupted last week, following a cattle rustling incident, which led to the deaths of 12 people. About 90 regular police and 27 anti-riot police were sent by the Kenyan government to help restore law and order in the camp.

About 36,000 have been displaced within the camp due to the unrest. The numbers of people overnighting in public buildings such as schools and churches had risen to about 14,000 by Friday, as they were drawn by distributions of free food rations, Nyabera told IRIN.

Some of the Sudanese had begun to return to their homes in the northern section of Kakuma camp on Thursday, but had stopped due to the shoot-out, he said, adding that the atmosphere camp remained "tense".

The Article: "AIDS money not threatened by corruption allegations"

Allegations of corruption within the Kenya National AIDS Control Council (NACC) will not affect grants due to be given to the Kenyan government by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria.

"The Global Fund is not involved at all in any kind of discussion with regard to this matter," Dr Elhadj Sy, Africa Director for the fund, told IRIN on Friday. "We have not issued any threats or any statement on this."

On 18 June, the fund and the government of Kenya signed an agreement for grants worth US $52 million to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, US $37 million of which has been earmarked to fight HIV/AIDS. The money has not yet been handed over to the government to start implementing programmes.

A police task force from the Kenyan anti-corruption unit began an investigation into the NACC last month, following persistent allegations of mismanagement. The force had begun interviews with employees and will make its findings public in a report, said Kassim Mambo, NACC's public relations manager.

"There has been no misappropriation of funds or corruption at any time within the NACC," he told IRIN. "We have nothing to hide."

Mambo said there were no "fresh allegations" of corruption within the NACC, but that doubts had remained in the mind of the public after allegations surfaced regarding the misappropriation of 19 million ksh (over US $257,000) in the run-up to World AIDS Day in 2001.

In May 2002 an investigation was undertaken by the government inspectorate, part of the ministry of finance, which found that there were some irregularities regarding the procurement of items for that event, he said. These included not sending official letters to companies asking for quotations, and not receiving official quotation forms from the companies in return.

"But there is a difference between not following procedures and the misappropriation of funds," he said, adding that the body did have receipts for all the purchased items, which included t-shirts and posters.

Mambo said that in its first year of operation, 2000-2001, only 6 percent of the NACC's funds were used in AIDS programmes. He said that the council's initial funding had been used to "put up structures", such as the secretariat, the AIDS control committees which were launched nationwide, and also used for salaries. "There were no major activities that year," he said.

In 2002, an estimated 700 people died of AIDS-related illnesses every day in Kenya. Over 3 million people are living with HIV, half of whom are under 30 years of age, while almost one million children have been orphaned due to the virus.

06 / 25 / 2003

IRIN

The Article: "Thousands of refugees displaced by unrest at camp"

About 30,000 Sudanese refugees have been displaced from their homes within the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya, due to fighting with the local Turkana people which has claimed 11 lives.

By early Tuesday morning, eight Sudanese, two Turkana and one Ethiopian (caught in crossfire) had died due to the fighting, which erupted last week when the Turkana found a missing cow in the refugee camp, Emmanuel Nyabera, spokesman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told IRIN.

Since then gangs of Turkana, some of them armed with AK-47 rifles, had attacked the camp leading to escalated fighting with the refugees who defended themselves using crude weapons.

About 22,000 of the displaced refugees were staying with friends and family on Wednesday, while 8,000 were camped in schools, churches and public buildings, Nyabera said.

UNHCR was providing food and water to the displaced, many of whose food stocks had been looted in the unrest, he said. Two mobile health clinics were also tending to the sick, as the main hospital in Kakuma had been forced to close.

Turkana and refugee leaders, who met on Tuesday, stressed they would try and contain the violence. The Turkana complained that the UN and aid agencies operating in the area were all catering for the Sudanese instead of the local people, while the refugees said their women were being raped outside the camp while searching for firewood, as well as having their food rations stolen during raids.

The population in the refugee camp is almost double that of the local Turkana community, which had led to periodic skirmishes since the camp was built in 1992. The main source of friction is competition for scarce resources, especially grazing land in the extremely arid region.

Nyabera described the atmosphere in the camp as "tense" on Wednesday, but said no further killings had taken place since the Tuesday meeting. By Wednesday, 25 police had been brought in to control the situation and more were expected, he added.

Further unrest was also reported in the town of Lokichokkio on Tuesday, as a spill-over from the Kakuma violence. UNHCR was forced to close its refugee transit camp in the town, where asylum seekers report on arrival in Kenya. The 335 Sudanese at the centre could not be moved, said Nyabera, because it was feared they might be attacked by the local people.

06 / 24 / 2003

IRIN

The Article: "Seven killed in clashes between Sudanese refugees and Turkana"

Seven people have been killed in ongoing clashes between Sudanese refugees and the local Turkana in northwestern Kenya, which erupted last week over a cattle-rustling incident.

Sudanese refugees living in the Kakuma refugee camp had stolen a cow from the Turkana and this led to escalated fighting between the two groups, Emmanuel Nyabera, a spokesman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), told IRIN. Five refugees and two Turkana were killed.

To escape the fighting, over 2,000 people have relocated from the north of Kakuma camp (known as Kakuma 3) to a central area (Kakuma 1), which is considered more secure but has led to overcrowding and sanitation problems.

The UN and implementing partners have also been unable to give out food rations since Friday as it was impossible to mobilise the refugees to go to the distribution points due to their "anxiety and fear", Nyabera said.

A team of five government, police and UNHCR officials went to Kakuma on Tuesday morning "to try to reorganise security arrangements in the camp", he said. They planned to hold negotiations with local refugee and Turkana leaders as well as local officials to find a way of restoring order.

Describing the situation in the camp as "very tense" on Tuesday, he said the fighting had "become personal", and it was now based on a desire for revenge.

UNHCR estimates that there are currently about 65,000 Sudanese refugees living in Kakuma camp.

Meanwhile, the violence has reportedly had a spill-over effect into the town of Lokichokio, the launch-pad for much of the humanitarian effort into south Sudan. On Tuesday, a person thought to be Sudanese, threw a grenade into a group of local Turkanas in the town, humanitarian sources said. Several people were injured in the incident.