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161. Political Islam in Kenya

Author:
Bjørn Moller
Publication Date:
08-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
In the paper, commissioned by Hussein Solomon and Akeem Fadare for their forthcoming anthology on Political Islam and the State in Africa, the focus placed on the political role of Islam in Kenyan politics. Prevalent fears (e.g. in the United States) of the country becoming a hotbed of Islamist radicalism and terrorism are critically examined against the background of the various categories of Kenyan Muslims, their general position in Kenyan society, their grievances, organisation and occasional role in various conflicts. This is all set against a background of Kenyan history, where the role of other religions (Christianity and traditional religion) is also highlighted. The paper concludes with some tentative recommendations for how the (mainly latent) conflicts might be defused.
Topic:
Civil Society, Politics, and Religion
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, and United States

162. Religion and conflict in Africa with a special focus on East Africa

Author:
Bjørn Moller
Publication Date:
06-2006
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The report provides a brief overview of the religious landscape of Africa with a special focus on the role of religion in the continent's several conflicts. It then proceeds to look at East Africa, where the three religious “families” of traditional religion, Islam and Christianity are all present in large numbers. It does not find any significant correlation between conflict propensity or terrorism and religion, neither in the sense that religious diversity gives rise to any “clash of civilizations” nor in the sense that the predominance of any one religion (e.g. Islam) make a country more prone to conflict or terrorism. It then proceeds to country case studies of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, providing a brief overview of the history of religion and conflict and an assessment of the present situation and the prospects for the future.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, International Relations, and Religion
Political Geography:
Uganda, Kenya, Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Somalia, Eritrea, and East Africa

163. Africa Action Talking Points on North-South Peace Agreement in Sudan

Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
On Sunday, January 9, African leaders and world diplomats will gather in Nairobi, Kenya to witness the signing of an historic peace deal intended to end Africa's longest-running civil war. This conflict between the Sudanese government in the north and the Sudan People's Liberation Army /Movement (SPLA/M) in southern Sudan has raged for m o re than two decades. Sunday's signing ceremony marks the culmination of two years of form al peace talks and many years of periodic negotiations, sustained by regional and international diplomacy. The signing of this peace deal could mark an historic moment for Sudan, by bringing to an end decades of violence and devastation in Africa's largest country. It could similarly mark an important moment for the entire African continent. However, this peace agreement does not cover the ongoing conflict in Darfur, western Sudan, where the Sudanese government continues to wage a campaign of genocide against civilians from three ethnic groups. Over the past two years, up to 400,000 people have died, and 2 million more have been made homeless in Darfur as a consequence resulting in what the UN has called the world's worst humanitarian crisis.
Topic:
Human Welfare and Peace Studies
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, United States, Sudan, and Nairobi

164. Norway's Fredskorpset Youth Program: Study of Selected Exchange Projects

Author:
Axel Borchgrevink and Torild Skard
Publication Date:
01-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Norwegian Institute of International Affairs
Abstract:
The Fredskorpset Youth program is a North-South exchange program facilitating the exchange of young people between partner organizations or institutions of Norway and countries of the South. The present study was commissioned in order to assess the degree to which stated goals of the exchanges were realized. Four exchanges were selected to be studied: between a Norwegian and Kenyan student organization (AIESEC); between a Norwegian missionary organization (NMS) and its counterpart church in Madagascar (FLM); between local Red Cross organizations in Norway and Uganda; and between a Norwegian (VUC) and two Malawian teacher training institutions (CC, LTTC). Objectives of the programs included acquiring new knowledge, attitudes and commitment at the level of individual participants, organizational strengthening and development of international contacts at the institutional level, and dissemination of information. As goals were mostly quite loosely formulated, it was difficult to assess the degree to which they were realized with any precision. Findings varied between the exchanges, but in general individual objectives were reached to some extent, while results might have been even stronger with more systematic attention to them. Institutional goals were achieved in most of the cases. In terms of information dissemination, this could be strengthened in most of the exchange programs.
Topic:
Development, Human Welfare, and International Organization
Political Geography:
Uganda, Kenya, Europe, Norway, and Madagascar

165. The Tax Reform Experience of Kenya

Author:
Stephen Njuguna Karingi and Bernadette Wanjal
Publication Date:
12-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
In evaluating tax reform in the developing countries, one first needs to determine what is the unique role of the tax system in each particular country. One of the key reasons for undertaking tax reforms in Kenya was to ad dress issues of in equality and to create a sustainable tax system that could generate adequate revenue to finance public expenditures. In this respect, the tax modernization programme introduced in the country was to achieve a tax system that was sustainable in the face of changing conditions domestically and internationally. Policy was shifted towards greater reliance on indirect taxes as opposed to direct taxes. Consumption taxes were seen to be more favourable to investments and hence growth. Trade taxes, instead of being used for protection or revenue-maximization purposes, were viewed more as instruments to foster export-led industrialization. Trade taxes were therefore used to create a competitive exports sector rather than protect the import-competing manufacturing sector, as had been done in the past.
Topic:
International Relations, Development, and Economics
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

166. Trade in the Small-and Micro-Enterprise Sector in Kenya and other Countries in Eastern and Southern Africa

Author:
Poul Ove Pedersen
Publication Date:
04-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Since the famous ILO report on the informal sector in Kenya was published in 1972 the smallscale enterprises have been recognised to play an important role in the Kenyan economy as in other African countries. However, although often more than half of all the small enterprises are traders. Most small enterprise policies have focussed almost entirely on the small scale producers. The small-scale traders have generally been seen as unproductive activities with no positive role to play in development, a sign of poverty, although they are responsible for a large share of the national distribution system. The paper attempts to look at this paradox and investigate the role of the small scale traders in the small enterprise sector and in the development process.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Third World
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

167. Development of African Freight Transport - the Case of Kenya

Author:
Patrick O. Alila, Meleckidzedeck Khayesi, Walter Odhiambo, and Poul Ove Pederson
Publication Date:
02-2005
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
The Kenyan transport system is still to a large extent structured by physical infrastructure, legislation and institutions developed during the colonial period, and by import-substitution policies which during the first decades after independence to a large extent allowed the transport system to deteriorate. However, since the late 1980s the structural adjustment policies have led to a renewed interest both from the government and the donors in developing the transport infrastructure. At the same time trade liberalisation, deregulation of domestic trade and privatisation of the parastatals have since the mid-1990s led to a reshaping of both trade and transport which is still ongoing. The so-called logistical revolution, which since the early 1970s has revolutionised transport in the industrialised and industrialising world, has with a delay of two decades also reached Africa. This is resulting in much closer integration of transport into production and trade which tend to shift the focus away from the physical transport infrastructure to the institutional structures and organisations which support and exploit the infrastructures. This paper tries to describe the resulting transformation of the Kenyan transport system.
Topic:
Development, Economics, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

168. In Limbo: Dependency, Insecurity, and Identity amongst Somali Refugees in Dadaab Camps

Author:
Awa M. Abdi
Publication Date:
07-2005
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies
Institution:
Macalester College
Abstract:
Somalia is still in a protracted political limbo as it enters its fifteenth year of “statelessness.” Despite the precarious situation of Somali refugees scattered across many parts of the world, both the country and the plight of its refugees remain off the radar of the world media. The atrocities committed in the process of the overthrow of Siyaad Barre's regime in 1991, and the clanistic power struggles that followed, led to the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Somalis. The refugees initially fled to the neighboring countries of Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya, subsequently moving on to countries near and far. Those who were fortunate enough to escape the trials and tribulations inherent in exile in countries such as Kenya, where existing resources are barely able to meet the basic needs of the native population and where most refugees still remain in closed camps, moved on to more prosperous countries where they obtained refugee status. Most were not so fortunate, however.
Political Geography:
Kenya and Somalia

169. Darfur Rising: Sudan's New Crisis

Publication Date:
03-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Sudan, where prospects for peace had looked so promising for much of 2003, has become a potential horror story in 2004. The rapid onset of war in its western region of Darfur has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises -- thousands dead and some 830,000 uprooted from homes. Meanwhile, the IGAD (Intergovernmental Authority for Development) peace talks in Naivasha, Kenya between the government and the insurgent Sudan People's Liberation Movement/Army (SPLA) threaten to deadlock. It is urgent that these talks succeed and that, simultaneously, a parallel process begins to address both the humanitarian and political crises in Darfur.
Topic:
Civil War, Human Rights, and United Nations
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, and Sudan

170. Africa's Discontent: Coping with Human and Natural Disasters

Author:
Robert I. Rotberg
Publication Date:
04-2003
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
The inhabitants of tropical Africa in 2003 demand higher levels of performance from their governments than they could, or dared to do, in the 1970s and 1980s, a decade or two after independence from colonial rule. Nowadays they suffer despots reluctantly, as in Zimbabwe, deny them unconstitutional third terms, as in Malawi and Zambia (but not in Togo), gleefully vote for more promising rulers, as in Ghana and Kenya, or insist al- most everywhere on improved governing and government.
Topic:
Civil War, Environment, and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, Zambia, and Ghana