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DE RUEHNR #5338/01 3560914
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P 220914Z DEC 06 ZDK AS PER REUHLO 2267
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6139
INFO RUCNIAD/IGAD COLLECTIVE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHMFIUU/CDR USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RUEKJCS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NAIROBI 005338 
 
SIPDIS 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (CAPTION, PARA MARKINGS) 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR S/CT BRIAN PHIPPS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PTER PREL XW YM ASEC KE
SUBJECT: OTHER PARTNER CT EFFORTS IN KENYA 
 
REF: STATE 186255 
 
NAIROBI 00005338  001.5 OF 002 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: The U.S. is by far the most significant 
player among donor countries seeking to assist Kenya in 
counterterrorism (CT) training and capacity-building.  Next 
comes the UK, followed by Denmark, which is funding a joint 
UNDP/UNODC project that has the potential to produce very useful 
results.  Other donors come far behind.  The UN Office on Drugs 
and Crime (UNODC) is working with UNDP to assist the Kenyans to 
draft acceptable CT legislation, a hopeful development.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
UK CT Efforts 
 
¶2. (SBU) The U.S. is by far the most significant player among 
donor countries seeking to assist Kenya in counterterrorism (CT) 
training and capacity-building.  Next in line is the UK. 
According to Col. Rob Andrews, Counterterrorism Coordinator at 
the British High Commission, the UK has done 20 projects in the 
CT field in the past two and a half years.  The High Commission 
attempted to work with the Joint Terrorism Task Force to assist 
with capacity-building for prosecutors and investigators, but ran 
into insurmountable personality conflicts with the current police 
commissioner.  Through the Commonwealth Secretariat and UNDP, the 
British have supported efforts to write CT and anti-money 
laundering legislation.  Kenya's Ministry of Defense, according to 
the British, do not understand the big picture of CT, and have no 
coherent strategy for it.  As a result, British efforts to assist 
MOD are modest and sharply focused on assisting with disaster 
management training and "stirring debate."  Aviation security is a 
huge issue for the UK, with British Airways flying ten times a week 
into Kenya, in addition to charters to Mombasa.  The High Commission 
is applying increasing pressure on the GoK to improve security at 
Kenya's airports, especially Wilson. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The UK's major effort currently is a project to assist 
the Administrative Police (who do not come under the police 
commissioner) with a border security project.  As Col. Andrews 
explained it, this project began with a U.S. idea to increase 
military capability to patrol Kenya's porous borders with 
Somalia (and Ethiopia as far west as Moyale).  The British 
assessed that the military's mission in Northeastern Province is 
to be available in bases removed from the border.  However, the 
administrative police have local language skills, work close to 
the border, mix with local people, and can gather intelligence 
from them.  The "UK-Kenya Administrative Police Border Security 
Project" has been putting radios into the hands of local units 
of administrative police along the border, training the police 
in their use, and working to set up an operational center in 
Nairobi.  According to Col. Andrews, reports of armed banditry 
in one area near Mandera have dropped sharply since the project 
became operational, and a number of former bandits now reside 
in a Mandera jail. 
 
UN CT Efforts 
 
¶4. (SBU) The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) works 
 
NAIROBI 00005338  002.4 OF 002 
 
 
closely with the GOK on drug control, crime, and CT issues. 
On CT, it is tasked with promoting ratification of the UN's 13 
CT "instruments," working with governments to help them ratify 
these international conventions and then codify in local law 
through appropriate legislation.  Since Kenya has ratified the 13 
instruments, UNODC is focusing here on assisting with legislation. 
CT legislation is a highly controversial and politicized topic in 
Kenya.  UNODC's new joint project with UNDP in this field will 
begin in January.  The first step will be to organize a "drafting" 
workshop.  A workshop convened this year by UNDP "had a lot of MPs 
and NGOs" in attendance, according to UNODC,s Karolina Gudmundsson, 
and the mix led to an overly politicized discussion.  This year's 
working group will focus on the technical side, and will include 
more prosecutors and law school professors.  Gudmundsson and her 
boss, Carsten Hyttel, noted that with 2007 an election year, "in 
the worst case scenario, no CT bill will be passed until 2008." 
 
¶5. (SBU) Hyttel said UNODC is also helping to organize a regional 
East Africa CT workshop in mid-2007.  Kenya will host the 
workshop, which will include Kenya, Ethiopia, and Uganda. The 
UNODC is working with Kenya,s Ministry of Justice on this project. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Post will report in more detail on these efforts as 
well as those of the G-8 CTAG (Counter-Terrorist Action Group) 
septel. 
 
¶7. (SBU) Comment: Both the U.S. and the UK, for different reasons, 
carry historical baggage when it comes to assisting Kenya on the 
CT front.  The UN does not.  This makes the UNDP/UNODC push for CT 
legislation more likely to succeed.  Post will track these efforts 
closely and report any progress achieved. 
RANNEBERGER