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1 1 (July 16, 2019)

handle is hein.crs/govbalt0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Cogesoa Reerh evc Updated July 16, 2019 Kenya The U.S. government considers Kenya to be a strategic partner and key regional actor in East Africa, and as critical to counterterrorism efforts in the region. Policymakers have valued Kenya's role as a peacemaker among its neighbors and as a historic host to refugees from across the troubled region. Kenya is presently sub-Saharan Africa's third largest economy, and it is a regional hub for transportation and finance and a top tourism destination. Its capital, Nairobi, is home to one of four major United Nations offices worldwide and serves as a base for regional humanitarian efforts. It also hosts the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in Africa. Kenya ranks among the top U.S. foreign aid recipients globally and is one of the largest African recipients of U.S. counterterrorism assistance. Kenya's reputation as an anchor state in a volatile region has been periodically threatened by electoral violence and ethnic tensions. Flawed election processes since 2007 have undermined public trust and strained the government's relations with some communities. Disputed elections in 2017 were marred by violence and allegations of rigging and police brutality, and subsequent government actions prompted questions about Kenya's democratic trajectory. Tensions have since lessened and political allegiances appear to be shifting ahead of the next elections, in 2022. Economic frustration and abuses of power have fueled grievances among the diverse population. Perceived impunity from justice has been a trigger for violence, and corruption has been a hindrance to greater economic development. Accountability shortfalls have also been a source of tension with donors, including the United States. The Somalia-based Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabaab poses a threat in Kenya. Its 2015 attack on a university was Kenya's deadliest terror attack since the Al Qaeda bombing of the U.S. embassy in 1998. The 2013 siege of a Nairobi mall and the January 2019 attack on a hotel in the city demonstrated Al Shabaab's reach. The group says attacks are, in part, retaliation for Kenyan military operations in Somalia. The Kenyan government has been accused of human rights abuses against its minority Muslim population as it seeks to counter terrorism and extremist recruitment. Background Kenya was essentially a one-party state from 1964 to 1991. Long-serving President Daniel arap Moi retained his party's dominance, in part through electoral manipulation and repression, until he retired under donor pressure in 2002. The elections that year were hailed as marking a shift in Kenya's democratic trajectory. For the first time, the country's fractious and primarily ethnically based opposition parties came together to defeat Moi's chosen successor, Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Kenya's first president, Jomo Kenyatta. That coalition slowly unraveled, however, and a political storm fueled by ethnic grievances was brewing as the next elections approached, in 2007. Figure I. Kenya Facts Source: Data from CIA World Factbook, IMF (2019). Kenya is home to more than 50 ethnic groups; no one group constitutes a majority. The largest group, the Kikuyu, which represents roughly 20% of the population, has been perceived historically as dominating the political class and business community. Under President Jomo Kenyatta, a Kikuyu, the group was seen to benefit disproportionately from the allocation of state resources, namely land and government jobs and contracts. When Moi, Kenyatta's vice president, assumed office after Kenyatta's death in 1978, many of these benefits shifted to his people, a smaller group of ethnicities collectively referred to as the Kalenjin. For almost 40 years, the heartlands of these communities- the central highlands for the Kikuyu and the central Rift Valley for the Kalenjin-received the greatest state investment in schools, roads, and health services. Other areas were marginalized and remain comparatively underdeveloped, such as the predominantly Muslim northeastern and coastal areas, and western Kenya, which is home to the second and third largest ethnic groups, the Luhya and Luo. Some Kenyans refer to the dynamic of ethnic favoritism, which reinforced a focus on tribe, with such colloquial phrases as It's our turn to eat. No ethnic group constitutes a large enough voting block for its political leaders to gain or maintain power alone; they must form alliances, which periodically shift. Many of today's politicians have moved in and out of government and opposition since the Moi era. Realignments prior to the December 2007 elections created a volatile ethnic dynamic, and when incumbent President Mwai Kibaki (a Kikuyu) was declared the winner of an extremely close presidential race amid charges of rigging, opposition protests turned violent. The violence largely followed ethnic lines in urban areas and parts of the country where Kikuyu had settled after independence. The Rift Valley saw some of the worst violence, between the Kikuyu and the Kalenjin, who had supported opposition candidate Raila Odinga, a Luo. Police were implicated in hundreds of deaths. In six weeks, some 1,300 people were killed and 600,000 were displaced. Kenya was paralyzed for months before Kibaki and Odinga reached a power-sharing deal, mediated by Kofi Annan, and ittps://crsreports.congress

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