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1 1 (August 29, 2023)

handle is hein.crs/govemrl0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congr ssianaIlResearch Seri informing Ih leri aive deb)ate sice 1914 Updated August 29, 2023 Kenya Successive U.S. Administrations have viewed Kenya as a strategic partner and critical to counterterrorism efforts in East Africa. The country is sub-Saharan Africa's fourth- largest economy, a regional finance and transportation hub, and a top tourism destination known for its biodiversity and conservation efforts. It is a regional leader in clean energy, drawing over 90% of its electricity from renewable sources. Kenya is home to one of four major UN offices worldwide. It hosts the largest U.S. embassy in sub-Saharan Africa and U.S. forces supporting counterterrorism efforts in Somalia. Kenya regularly ranks among the top U.S. foreign aid recipients globally. Congressional interests in Kenya are wide-ranging; legislative action has focused predominately on democracy, human rights, and terrorism concerns. Election-related violence has threatened Kenya's reputation as an anchor state in a volatile region on several occasions. Economic frustration, historical land disputes, corruption, and other abuses have fueled grievances. Perceived impunity has been a trigger for protests and violence, and a source of tension with donors. Freedom House ranks Kenya Partly Free in its Freedom in the World index, noting that despite regular elections, pervasive corruption and police brutality are serious problems, and journalists and human rights defenders face restrictive laws and intimidation. Kenya's August 2022 elections were the most recent polls to test its democratic institutions. With President Uhuru Kenyatta term limited, the race was a close contest between his deputy, William Ruto, and longtime opposition leader and five-time presidential candidate Raila Odinga. In a twist, Kenyatta backed his formal rival over Ruto. When Ruto-who waged a populist, anti-establishment campaign -was declared the winner with just over 50% of the vote, Odinga challenged the result in court, alleging fraud. The court upheld Ruto's victory. Election observer reviews were mixed: they described the polls as more peaceful and transparent than the three preceding, but marred by rigging allegations and other controversies. Tax hikes and the cost of living have driven anti-government protests in 2023. The Somalia-based Al Qaeda affiliate Al Shabaab poses a persistent threat in Kenya, which contributes troops to the African Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), the UN- backed regional stabilization operation previously known as AMISOM. While attacks near the border with Somalia are more common, high-profile attacks in Nairobi-on a mall in 2013 and a hotel in 2019-underscore Al Shabaab's reach in the country. In 2020, a U.S. servicemember and two U.S. contractors were killed in an attack on Manda Bay Airfield, a Kenyan base used by the U.S. military near the Somali border. Al Shabaab says its attacks are retaliation for Kenya's intervention in Somalia; it labels Kenyan and U.S. military operations there as part of a Western crusade against Muslims. Studies suggest that security force abuses in Kenya have contributed to radicalization and extremist recruitment. See also CRS In Focus IF10170, Al Shabaab. Figure I. Kenya Facts Sources: CRS, with data from CIA and IMF reference databases. Polital Context & Backgroun d Kenya was essentially a one-party state from 1964 to 1991. After the transition to a multiparty system, ethnic identity, rather than ideology, became the primary line of political cleavage. No ethnic group has a large enough voting bloc for its political leaders to gain or maintain power alone, so they form cross-ethnic alliances, which periodically shift. For almost 40 years after independence, the ethnic groups of Kenya's first and second presidents-the Kikuyu and Kalenjin-were seen to benefit disproportionately from the allocation of state resources, namely land, government jobs, and contracts. The heartlands of these communities, the central highlands and Rift Valley, received greater state investment in schools, roads, and health services. Western Kenya and the predominately Muslim coast and northeast remained comparatively underdeveloped. The disparities and perception of ethnic favoritism fostered divisions. Daniel arap Moi, Kenya's long-ruling second president (1978-2002), dominated politics through repression, patronage, and electoral manipulation until he retired, under donor pressure. Opposition parties came together, briefly, to defeat his chosen successor, Uhuru Kenyatta (son of Moi's predecessor, Jomo Kenyatta), in the historic 2002 elections. The crisis that followed the 2007 elections is relevant to understanding Kenya today. Political realignments created a volatile ethnic dynamic, and when the incumbent president, Mwai Kibaki (a Kikuyu), was named the winner of a close race amid rigging charges, protests led to violence, largely along ethnic lines. Some of the worst violence was between Kikuyu and Kalenjin, whose political leaders backed Kibaki's leading opponent, Odinga (a Luo). In six weeks, 1,300 people were killed and 600,000 displaced. Kenya was paralyzed for months, until a power-sharing deal was brokered, with U.S. support, between Kibaki and Odinga. An International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into the post-election violence led to charges of crimes against humanity against four people, including then-Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Kalenjin politician William Ruto, both proteges of Moi who were on opposing sides in 2007. The ICC cases were prominent in the 2013 elections,

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