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141. Kenya's Great Rift

Author:
Joel D. Barkan
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
The violence that has engulfed Kenya since the disputed December 27 election has deep historical roots and it will take more than a recount or the formation of a national unity government to resolve the crisis. Although December 27 was billed as the crowning event of the country's two-decade struggle for democratic rule, all of the ingredients for violence were present prior to the election. Public opinion polls indicated that the race between incumbent president Mwai Kibaki and his principal challenger, Raila Odinga, was too close to call; outbreaks of violence had occurred in the run-up to previous elections in 1992 and 1997; and many Kenyans, especially civil society leaders, worried that unless the Election Commission of Kenya (ECK) conducted the December elections in a manner that was free, fair, and universally regarded as legitimate, the losers would not accept the verdict. Sadly, their fears were correct. Between 500 and 1,000 people have died in post-election violence while an estimated 250,000 Kenyans, mainly Kikuyu settlers in the western Rift Valley, have been displaced from their homes.
Political Geography:
Kenya

142. Kenya and Zimbabwe: Democratic Challenges and Opportunities

Author:
Briggs Bomba
Publication Date:
01-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Africa Policy Information Center
Abstract:
The world's attention has been riveted in 2008, by election crises in Africa, first Kenya, and now Zimbabwe. In both cases, challenges remain in converting electoral victory to political power. Can a victorious opposition come to power in the face of an obstinate incumbent? This question is particularly relevant when the incumbent regime controls the coercive apparatus of the state and the opposition only has the ballot in its corner. In the battle of the ballot vs. the bullet, can there ever be a fair match?
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Political Economy, and Post Colonialism
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, and Zimbabwe

143. Kenya Inquiry Commission Adopts IFES Recommendations

Author:
Moses Owuor, Dong Nguyen, and Anthony Kuria
Publication Date:
08-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Academy of Political Science
Abstract:
In this report, the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES), an international, nonpartisan democracy development organization, presents its review of the Kenyan electoral process and makes recommendations for reform. The intent of this report is to have its findings presented to the Independent Review Committee (IREC) to consider in its examination of the electoral process, and the development of its recommendations for comprehensive measures to be taken to improve the conduct of future elections.
Topic:
Civil Society, Democratization, Development, Government, and Politics
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

144. Eastern Africa: Security and the Legacy of Fragility

Author:
Gilbert M. Khadiagala
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Peace Institute
Abstract:
“Eastern Africa” denotes the geographical area comprising the seven member states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD): Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Uganda. Tanzania is also included because it has had long historical and political interactions with Kenya and Uganda within the rubric of the East African Cooperation (EAC). The main challenges to human security in this region have originated from political and state fragility, resource scarcities, and environmental degradation. All these factors have contributed to a regional context that is characterized by intrastate conflicts, interstate wars, and political extremism. Raging civil wars and interstate conflicts have, in turn, produced forms of statelessness and marginality that have deepened societal insecurities and strained human livelihoods. Consequently, in addition to profound political instability and economic destitution, human security is arrayed against escalating communal violence, small arms proliferation, and massive movements of people within and beyond the region.
Topic:
Development, Environment, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Uganda, Kenya, Africa, Sudan, Ethiopia, and East Africa

145. Assessing Infrastructure Constraints on Business Activity in Kisumu, Kenya

Author:
Jacob Winiecki
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
The success of commercial activities in any city depends in great part upon the quality of infrastructure services available to businesses including (but not limited to) reliable electricity and liquid fuel supplies to power engines, sufficient supplies of clean water for irrigation and industrial processes, and reliable roads for obtaining raw materials and transporting finished goods in a timely and cost efficient manner. Poor quality infrastructure can drive up the cost of doing business and constrain economic growth in any city.
Topic:
Development, Infrastructure, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

146. Sugar in Kisumu,kenya

Publication Date:
11-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment
Abstract:
An investor, seeking to financially benefit from producing sugar as a commodity in Kisumu, Kenya, needs to consider the entire investment environment before making a decision. Since Kenya is a net importer of sugar, domestic demand cannot be satisfied by domestic production, which creates a potential opportunity for an investor looking to bridge the gap. As a result, an opportunity may exist for an investor who wants to play a significant role in the future of the industry. Sugar, produced as a commodity within Kisumu, may have the ability to compete on a global scale if time, investment, and governmental support align.
Topic:
Agriculture, Development, Globalization, Markets, and Foreign Direct Investment
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

147. Changing Patterns of Flight: Refugees in the 21st Century

Author:
Samuel M. Witten
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Council of American Ambassadors
Abstract:
This summer I visited Somali refugees at Dadaab camp in Kenya. Conditions were rough, and familiar from the news coverage we have all seen: people lined up for food rations in the blistering heat; very rudimentary housing, health clinics and latrines; and an atmosphere pervading the camp that had components of both restlessness and relief at finding safe haven.
Political Geography:
Kenya

148. Kenya in Crisis

Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Crisis Group
Abstract:
Since the announcement of the contested presidential election results on 30 December 2007 giving a second term to Mwai Kibaki, Kenya has been in its worst political crisis since independence. Over 1,000 people have died and 300,000 have been displaced in violence with a serious ethnic character. As former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan conducts negotiations for a political settlement, calm has partly returned, but the situation remains highly volatile. To address the causes of the crisis, it will not be enough for the Annan team to broker a deal on the mechanics of a transitional arrangement between political opponents and schedule negotiations on a reform agenda. A sustainable settlement must address in detail a program of power sharing, constitutional and legal reform and economic policies that convinces the drivers of violence to disarm. For negotiations to succeed, the international community must enhance its pressure, including aid conditionality and threats and application of targeted sanctions against spoilers.
Topic:
Conflict Resolution, Democratization, and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Kenya, Africa, and United Nations

149. Localizing Private Social Standards: Standard Initiatives in Kenyan Cut Flowers

Author:
Lone Riisgaard
Publication Date:
09-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies
Abstract:
Since the mid-1990s a range of Southern social standard initiatives have emerged, including in the African horticultural industry. In this paper I analyse two Kenyan standard initiatives in the cut flower sector – a business initiative and a multistakeholder initiative. I investigate how inter-national social standard requirements are 'localized', and how standards are played in different ways by different stakeholders in order to gain influence and to further specific goals. The analysis shows that when the standards are negotiated and performed, the power relations that exist both between local stakeholders and along the global value chain (GVC) for cut flowers are reflected and reproduced. The analysis further reveals a general tension between a focus on private social standards (PSSs) as a technical tool to achieve social compliance based on outcome standards, and a focus on PSSs as a means of enhancing the process through which workers claim their rights. This tension is clearly reflected in the fact that when the multistakeholder standard is endorsed by other local standard initiatives, it is to the exclusion of the multistakeholder institution and to the exclusion of the participatory auditing methodology – the main vehicle through which process rights are promoted. Placing the local standard initiatives in the context of GVC governance, this paper also illustrates how local standard initiatives can be seen as indirectly playing into the governance agenda of retail buyers, because local standards (particularly multistakeholder standards) offer better insurance against conflict and create necessary consensus and 'back-up' from critical voices, both locally and in buyer markets.
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

150. Seeking Opportunities: Migration as an Income Diversification Strategy of Households in Kakamega District in Kenya

Author:
Lena Giesbert
Publication Date:
09-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Migration and remittances are widely seen as major components of diversification strategies aimed at coping with risky environments in developing countries. The debate in the literature mainly concentrates on effects of and access to the strategy of migration. Against this background, the paper investigates patterns, determinants and the impact of internal migration on households based on data from a densely populated rural area in Western Kenya. The motivation behind migration is largely economic in kind. Accordingly, remittances account for a substantial share of household incomes. Results derived from a probit model estimation indicate that the likelihood of migration is independent from the wealth position of households. Instead, demographic household factors, education-related variables and migrant networks are of central importance. Migration and remittances are obviously more easily accessible than other opportunities of income diversification beyond farming for households across all levels of wealth, including the poorest households. JEL classification:
Topic:
Economics, Migration, and Regional Cooperation
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa