[Congressional Bills 110th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Con. Res. 283 Introduced in House (IH)]







110th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. CON. RES. 283

 Calling for a peaceful resolution to the current electoral crisis in 
                                 Kenya.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 23, 2008

  Mr. Payne submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was 
              referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                         CONCURRENT RESOLUTION


 
 Calling for a peaceful resolution to the current electoral crisis in 
                                 Kenya.

Whereas in 1991, President Daniel arap Moi agreed to move to multi-party 
        politics, eight years after his government had amended the constitution 
        to legalize one-party rule. The move to a multi-party state came after 
        two years of an anti-government political campaign by opposition groups 
        and persistent pressure by donor governments;
Whereas in 1992, Kenyans voted in record numbers in the country's first multi-
        party election in almost 26 years. President Moi defeated opposition 
        candidates by a small margin. His party, the Kenya African National 
        Union (KANU), won a majority in the 210-seat parliament, despite the 
        defeat of several senior KANU officials by opposition candidates;
Whereas in 1997, Kenya held its second multi-party elections, at the height of 
        tensions between the opposition and the ruling party. President Moi was 
        re-elected with 40 percent of the votes cast, while his nearest rival, 
        Mwai Kibaki, won 31 percent;
Whereas in 2002, the opposition succeeded in forming and holding together a 
        coalition, known as NARC (National Rainbow Coalition), that ousted KANU 
        from power by wide margins. NARC won 132 seats in parliament, compared 
        with KANU's 67, while Kibaki defeated Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Jomo 
        Kenyatta, for the presidency with a 62 percent majority;
Whereas the 2002 had a positive impact in Kenya as well as in Africa generally. 
        The smooth transfer of power and the transparency in the conduct of the 
        elections indicated that democracy can flourish in Africa. The power of 
        incumbency and the entrenched clout of a ruling party did not stop an 
        opposition victory in Kenya;
Whereas Kenya has been a valuable U.S. ally since independence, providing the 
        United States with access to its military facilities and political 
        support in the United Nations. Washington once considered Kenya a model 
        developing country with shared democratic values in a continent where 
        civil wars raged and military and authoritarian governments reigned;
Whereas Kenya has been an important ally in the war against terrorism, 
        especially since the U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 
        1998. Kenya has been one of the major recipients of U.S. foreign 
        assistance in Sub-Saharan Africa for decades, and is an important 
        trading partner with the United States;
Whereas on December 27, 2007, the citizens of Kenya went peacefully to the polls 
        to elect a new parliament and a new President and signaled their 
        commitment to democracy by turning out in large numbers and, in some 
        instances, waiting in long lines to vote;
Whereas on December 29, 2007, the opposition presidential candidate, Raila 
        Odinga, was reportedly over 300,000 votes ahead of the incumbent with 90 
        percent of the precincts reporting;
Whereas on December 30, 2007, the head of the Electoral Commission of Kenya 
        (ECK) declared that Mwai Kibaki won the presidential election by 197,000 
        votes;
Whereas Mr. Kibaki was sworn in as President within an hour of the announcement 
        of the election results, despite serious concerns raised about the 
        legitimacy of the election results by domestic and international 
        observers;
Whereas the lack of transparency in vote tallying, serious irregularities 
        reported by election observers, the implausibility of the margin of 
        victory, and the swearing in of the Party of National Unity presidential 
        candidate with undue haste, all serve to undermine the credibility of 
        the presidential election results;
Whereas the Government of Kenya imposed a ban on live media that day, and 
        shortly after the election results were announced, in contravention of 
        Kenyan law, the Government also announced a blanket ban on public 
        assembly and gave police the authority to use lethal force;
Whereas on January 1, 2008, four commissioners on the ECK issued a statement 
        which called into question the election results announced by the 
        Commission and for a judicial review;
Whereas the head of the European Union Election Observation Mission stated that 
        ``Lack of transparency as well as a number of verified irregularities 
        ... cast doubt on the accuracy of the results of the presidential 
        election as announced by the ECK'' and called for an international audit 
        of the results;
Whereas observers from the East African Community have called for an 
        investigation into irregularities during the tallying process and for 
        those responsible for such irregularities to be held accountable;
Whereas more than 700 people have died and an estimated 250,000 have been 
        displaced as a result of the violence;
Whereas the instability in Kenya is not rooted in tribal violence but in a 
        struggle for democracy and concerns that the gains of the past decade 
        may be lost;
Whereas the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs has stated that 
        ``serious flaws in the vote tallying process damaged the credibility of 
        the process'' and that the United States should not ``conduct business 
        as usual'' in Kenya; and
Whereas the political instability in Kenya could have serious political, 
        economic, and security implications for the entire region: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), 
That the Congress--
            (1) commends the Kenyan people for their commitment to 
        democracy and respect for the democratic process as evidenced 
        by the high voter turnout and peaceful voting on election day;
            (2) strongly condemns the ongoing violence in Kenya and 
        urges all parties concerned to immediately end use of violence 
        as a means to achieve their political objectives;
            (3) calls for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of the 
        conflict in Kenya;
            (4) calls on the two leading presidential candidates to 
        accept offers of external and internal assistance to help find 
        a solution to the current crisis which has the support of the 
        people of Kenya;
            (5) calls on Kenyan security forces to refrain from use of 
        excessive force and respect the human rights of Kenyan 
        citizens;
            (6) calls for those who are found guilty of committing 
        human rights violations to be held accountable for their 
        actions;
            (7) calls for an immediate end to the restrictions on the 
        media, and on the rights of peaceful assembly and association;
            (8) condemns threats to civil society groups, journalists, 
        religious leaders, human rights activists, who are making every 
        effort towards a peaceful, just, and equitable political 
        solution to the current electoral crisis;
            (9) calls on the international community, United Nations 
        aid organizations, and all neighboring countries to provide 
        assistance to those affected by violence and encourages to use 
        all the diplomatic means at their disposal to persuade relevant 
        political actors to commit to a peaceful resolution to the 
        current crisis; and
            (10) urges the President of the United States to--
                    (A) support diplomatic efforts to facilitate a 
                dialogue between leaders of the Party of National 
                Unity, the Orange Democratic Movement, and other 
                relevant actors;
                    (B) consider the imposition of targeted sanctions, 
                including a travel ban and asset freeze, on leaders in 
                the Party of National Unity, the Orange Democratic 
                Movement, and other relevant actors who refuse to 
                engage in meaningful dialogue to end the current 
                crisis; and
                    (C) conduct a review of current U.S. aid to Kenya 
                for the purposes of restricting all non-humanitarian 
                assistance to Kenya unless the parties are able to 
                establish a peaceful political resolution to the 
                current crisis which is credible to the Kenyan people.
                                 <all>