VZCZCXRO0012
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHNR #4232/01 2990927
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 260927Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3139
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 004232 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM PHUMPREL KE
SUBJECT:  KENYA ELECTIONS:  WOMEN CANDIDATES INTIMIDATED 
BUT NOT DEFEATED 
 
REF: NAIROBI 03675 
     NAIROBI 03457 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary:  In the last two months, at least six 
women candidates for local office and Parliamentary seats 
have been physically attacked in attempts to intimidate 
them into dropping out of the race.  On October 7, Asha 
Ali became the latest victim of such an attack.  Ali, who 
is running for a civic council seat in the Nairobi suburb 
of Dandora, is still struggling to recover from the 
brutal beating she received, a beating that she believes 
was ordered by her MP in an attempt to silence her and 
shut doen her campaign.  Post continues to be outspoken 
in supporting Ali and other victims and to urge the GOK 
to prevent election-related violence and to investigate 
and punish those responsible for it.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Asha Ali, a single mother of five, lives in 
Dandora estate, notorious as one of Nairobi's roughest 
neighborhoods.  Home to the largest dump in Nairobi, it 
is listed as one of the most polluted places in the world 
and boasts a crime rate that is exceptionally high even 
by Nairobi standards.  Ali, who works for a local NGO, 
decided to run for a seat on the local civic council to 
address the problems of poverty, crime, and unemployment 
that plague her community and that fall particularly 
heavily on women and children.  On October 7, Ali became 
the latest in a series of women candidates who have been 
violently attacked in an effort to persuade them not to 
run for office (SEE REF a). 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ali's eyes filled with tears as she recounted 
the brutal beating and humiliation inflicted on her by 
three armed men in front of her house.  Thinking at first 
that the attack was a simple robbery, Ali handed over her 
valuables.  When the beating continued in full view of 
her children and her elderly mother, Ali pleaded with her 
attackers to stop.  "They told me not to stand for office 
in this constituency, and to go where 'my people' are in 
Kibera slum," said Ali.  Beating her with sticks, kicking 
her, brandishing machetes and in AK-47, and finally 
threatening her with rape, her attackers made clear that, 
if she continues her political campaign, her life is in 
danger.  When Poloff visited her in the hospital several 
days after the attack, Ali was still struggling with the 
resulting physical and emotional trauma, as well as the 
mounting medical bills.  However, she vowed to continue 
her candidacy. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Ali is an ethnic Kikuyu living in a Kikuyu- 
dominated area, but as a convert to Islam with a Muslim 
name, was assumed by her attackers to be "Nubian" and 
thus a minority in her neighbourhood. (Note: Nairobi's 
sprawling Kibera slum, home to some one million people, 
originated as a settlement for Muslim Nubian World War I 
veterans.  Today, their descendants own much of the 
property in Kibera and rent it, often illegally, to poor 
tenants from other ethnic groups.  Kibera has been the 
site of bitter, often violent, conflict over the legality 
of slum dwellings and the Kikuyu-dominated government's 
preferential treatment of Kikuyu.  End note.)  Ethnicity 
is only one element of the attack, however.  In standing 
for civic council without "permission" from area MP David 
Mwenje, Ali has challenged a man known for resorting to 
violence in order to stay in power.  Ali is known in 
Dandora as an activist for women's rights.  She has taken 
rape victims for medical treatment, encouraged women to 
leave abusive relationships, and supported girls in their 
efforts to finish secondary school. 
 
MP BEHIND THE ATTCK, VICTIM ALLEGES 
 
¶5. (SBU) Ali and Mwenge, her MP, are both ethnic Kikuyu, 
members of the pro-Kibaki NARC-Kenya party, and 
supporters of Kibaki's re-election campaign.  However, 
despite these superficial similarities, Ali claims Mwenge 
ordered the attack on her in order to punish her for 
daring to run for a civic council seat against the (male) 
candidate Mwenge supports.  Ali also cleaims that Mwenge 
put the fix on the recent election for the divisional 
leader of Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organization (MYWO), a 
national NGO focused on women's rights and gender equity 
issues, by ensuring that voters from outside the 
constituency supported his preferred candidate and not 
Ali who also ran for the position.  The holder of this 
position is considered to be very influential among women 
voters. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Mwenge, currently serving as an Assistant 
 
NAIROBI 00004232  002 OF 002 
 
 
Minister in the Ministry of Cooperative Development and 
Marketing, has been the MP for Embakasi constituency 
since 1983.  A man with a big ego and unpredictable 
temper, Mwenge presides over a constituency with the 
largest number of registered voters in Nairobi'a fact 
that his critics attribute to his ability to import 
additional Kikuyu voters from neighbouring districts.  In 
2003, Mwenge shocked colleagues when he publicly 
confessed to having used Jeshi la Embakasi, a banned 
violent youth group akin to the notorious Mungiki gang, 
to intimidate his political enemies.  Use of such 
vigilante groups by senior politicians was common under 
former President Daniel arap Moi's regime, but has waned 
following the election of President Kibaki in December 
¶2002.  Mwenge is also known for getting into a physical 
altercation with fellow MP in Parliament in 2001, which 
culminated in the other MP biting Mwenge in the back. 
Although Mwenge claims his violent tactics are a thing of 
the past, many observers in the constituency, including 
Ali, believe that he is up to his old tricks and will 
continue resorting to violence during the upcoming 
elections. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Unfortunately, violence against women candidates 
in both Parliamentary and local government races is on 
the rise in the last few months.  The brutal September 
attack against Parliamentary candidate Flora Tera, who 
has organized a "Tera Against Terror" campaign to bring 
attention to the issue of violence against women 
candidates, was the most publicized but by no means the 
only such attack (ref A).  The Ambassador visited Tera in 
the hospital and brought extensive media attention to the 
issue, calling for swift and appropriate government 
action to prevent future attacks.  The UNIFEM-supported 
Gender and Governance Programme in Kenya estimates that 
at least six women candidates have been physically 
attacked in the last two months.  Women candidates have 
huge hurdles to overcome in terms of cultural bias and 
securing campaign financing; violence and intimidation 
add another barrier to meaningful participation of women 
in the Kenyan electoral process (see ref B).  The 
recently launched Gender Rapid Response Unit (GRRU), 
supported by UNIDFEM and other donors, will provide 
another mechanism for women candidates to seek 
counselling, legal services and advocacy.  The GRRU is 
committed to working with the Kenyan Police, the 
Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) and the media to 
combat gender based political violence.  Post will 
continue to closely monitor the situation, to publicly 
support victims, and to pressure the GOK to ensure that 
women candidates can run for office without fear.  We are 
identifying key constituencies in which women are viable 
candidates and will follow these races particularly 
closely.  We are working closely with non-governmental 
groups involved in supporting women's rights. 
Ranneberger