VZCZCXYZ0006
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNR #3386/01 2350552
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 230552Z AUG 07
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1889
INFO RUEHLS/AMEMBASSY LUSAKA 4150
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA 8951
RUEHCO/AMEMBASSY COTONOU 0386

UNCLAS NAIROBI 003386 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR AF/E, INL/AEE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAID PGOV PHUM SOCI KE
SUBJECT: KENYA STATE OF PLAY - WOMEN'S JUSTICE AND EMPOWERMENT 
INITIATIVE (WJEI) 
 
 
Sensitive-but-unclassified.  Not for release outside USG channels. 
 
Ref: A) Meyers-Ranneberger e-mail dated 8-16-07, B) Nairobi 3279, C) 
State 112598, D) State 90007 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: At an August 21 meeting with the DCM, Kenya's 
primary interlocutors on the Women's Justice and Empowerment 
Initiative said they are receptive to moving forward with the 
program. At the same time, they want to ensure it meets their 
priorities, including help in developing a forensics capability, and 
that it does not duplicate or conflict with existing programs that 
address awareness raising and victim care and support.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2.  (U) As follow up to ref B and in response to ref C, DCM and 
Econ/C met August 21 with Dorothy Angote, Permanent Secretary (PS) 
in the Kenyan Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs 
(MOJCA).  The PS was joined by Dr. Gichira Kibara, Director of Legal 
Affairs at the Ministry. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The purpose of this meeting was to engage at a senior 
level with the designated Government of Kenya (GOK) lead ministry - 
the MOJCA - in a discussion on how to proceed to design and 
implement the proposed Women's Justice and Empowerment Initiative 
(WJEI) in Kenya.  The DCM outlined the history of the Initiative and 
the rationale for the selection of Kenya, and proposed that the next 
steps be to form a joint U.S.-GOK design team and to sign an LOA 
that would release funds necessary to assign an ICITIP technical 
expert to Nairobi to assist with the design and implementation of 
the law enforcement component.  Responding to Kibara's April 2007 
request for a read-out of the January 2006 USG assessment team's 
conclusions, DCM reviewed USG thinking.  Stressing that it was still 
at the conceptual stage and open to refinement and comments from the 
Kenya side, she summarized the three-pillared approach that focuses 
on strengthening the legal system, raising awareness, and caring 
for/supporting victims.  The DCM handed over a non-paper that 
summarized the conclusions of the January 2006 USG assessment team, 
drawing on information provided by Washington in para 3 of ref D. 
She also presented the draft Letter of Agreement on Law Enforcement 
and Criminal Justice (LOA) and urged Angote and Kibara to review 
these documents with a view to quickly establishing a joint design 
team for WJEI and signing the LOA. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Angote and Kibara agreed to review the documents, saying 
they would need to cross-check the draft U.S. proposal against the 
Ministry's own proposal, first provided to the USG in December, 
¶2005.  (Note: Kibara provided a copy of that proposal.  We will scan 
and e-mail it to relevant Washington offices.  End note). 
Collectively, Angote and Kibara made the following salient points: 
 
-- The broad principles and components identified for WJEI are 
"okay".  Implementation details, however, still remain unclear to 
the GOK in terms of how each of the three program components will be 
implemented, who will control the disbursal of funds and which 
government and non-governmental entities will be involved on both 
sides. To provide some idea of how one program component - awareness 
raising - was being designed and implemented in the three other WJEI 
candidate countries in Africa, the DCM handed over a copy of the 
July 2007 RFA circulated by USAID/Washington. 
 
-- Kenya's "main area of interest" remains assistance in developing 
a DNA forensics capability for the police.  Kenya needs a police 
forensics lab "yesterday," said a vehement Angote.  Training without 
the equipment to put it into practice is a waste.  Having a modern 
forensics capability -- including the capacity to test for DNA in 
the case of rape -- is a critical tool in prosecuting gender-based 
and all other forms of crime. 
 
-- The Ministry will also have to assess whether WJEI, in whatever 
final form, is coordinated properly with other ongoing programs 
being conducted to implement the Sexual Offenses Act (e.g., 
education/awareness raising, victim care, and legal reform).  Kenya 
wants "value addition" through harmonization of 
different-but-similar programs. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Addressing these points, the DCM emphasized the need to 
establish a joint program design team soonest so that the details of 
WJEI implementation can be developed to the mutual satisfaction of 
both sides and so the program can move forward.  Angote and Kibara 
took this on board and said they would study the U.S. proposal and 
respond shortly. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Comment: Kenya's December 2005 proposal touches on five 
broad objectives, three of which appear to dovetail neatly with the 
three pillars of the WJEI program.  We believe the rub will be the 
absence in the U.S. proposal of anything addressing a key element in 
 
the Kenyan one: forensic labs and other crime 
investigation/prosecution tools.  In this light, Mission Nairobi's 
Counter-Terrorism Working Group will be meeting later this week to 
consider the option presented in ref A to offer technical assistance 
to the GOK in assessing its forensic needs and capabilities. 
Ranneberger