VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNR #0339/01 0311341
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 311341Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4512

UNCLAS NAIROBI 000339 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/ES-O/CMS, AF/E, AF/EX, CA/OCS/ACS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ASEC AMGT CASC PGOV EAID ECON PHUM PREL KE
SUBJECT: KENYA - JANUARY 31 SITREP 
 
SENSITIVE-BUT-UNCLASSIFIED.  NOT FOR RELEASE OUTSIDE USG CHANNELS. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS: Orange Democratic Movement (ODM - 
opposition) Member of Parliament for Ainamoi (Kericho District) 
David Kimutai Too (ethnic Kalenjin) was shot dead in Eldoret by 
Police Constable Andrew Moache (ethnic Kissi).  Moache was arrested 
and will be transferred to Nakuru for arraignment, according to the 
Police Commissioner.  Too was in his vehicle at the time parked 
along a road in the West Indies Estate (other reports put him in a 
hotel room or a house).  A traffic policewoman named Eunice Chepkony 
was in the vehicle with him.  She was shot in the legs and stomach 
and has since died in hospital. The police maintain this was a 
"crime of passion," with Chepkony the subject of mutual affection 
beween Too and Moache. In any event, this incident comes one week 
after the killing of another opposition MP, Merlitus Were, and has 
greatly increased already high tensions.  Senior ODM figures are 
convinced that the government is whittling down the ODM majority in 
parliament through murder.  Their supporters fervently believe this 
is the case.  We have again offered the Commissioner of Police and 
the Minister of Internal Security the investigatory services of the 
Federal Bureau of Investigation. On the political front, formal 
talks between the two sides continue today. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) SECURITY SITUATION: All of Kenya was calm until violent 
outbreaks were experienced in Kisumu, Kericho, and Eldoret as a 
result of the killing of ODM MP of Parliament (MP) for Kericho, 
David Kimutai Too, in Eldoret.  He is the second ODM MP to be slain 
within a week. Crowds looted the former Foreign Minister's private 
office in Kisumu before police being dispersed by police. As a 
result of the killings, all areas of Kenya remain tense and police 
are preparing for additional protests and violence. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) U.S. MISSION POSTURE: The Department approved In-Country 
Authorized Departure for Kisumu and environs.  Personnel and family 
members have arrived in Nairobi.  A total of four emergency USDH are 
in Kisumu and Kericho.  Post is in the process of organizing the 
withdrawal of these four to Nairobi, which will occur either this 
afternoon/evening or tomorrow.  Ambassador conducted Town Hall 
Meeting for Mission personnel and family members at the Embassy 
Compound today, and announced two policies regarding travel to and 
within Kenya.  First, all Country Clearance Requests must be 
submitted in writing to the DCM for consideration.  Second, all 
travel, official and personal, outside of Nairobi must be cleared by 
the RSO and approved in advance by the DCM.  Special restrictions 
regarding travel to Kisumu and environs have been explained to all 
agency and section chiefs.  In Nairobi, all Embassy Offices are 
open, including the warehouse (which had been closed on Tuesday 
following disturbances in that area).  The International School of 
Kenya and Rosslyn Academy are open and buses are running normally. 
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is open, flights are 
operating normally, and access roads are unobstructed.  Office and 
residential electricity and water systems are operational, and fuel 
tanks for generators and vehicles are topped up.  Communication 
circuits, IVG lines, E&E radio net, cellphones/SMS, and Blackberries 
are fully operational.  Mission Kenya actual staffing on board today 
is: Total USDH/USPSC - 254; total LES/FSN/PSA 682; total long-term 
TDY -- 178; total short-term TDY - 43; PCVs -- 62.  Total USDH in 
Kisumu and environs - 4.  Post is in the process of informing the 
GOK that the Peace Corps program will be temporarily suspended. 
Peace Corps has already begun moving PCVs from their sites back to 
Nairobi for out-processing and return to CONUS next week. 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) HUMANITARIAN SITUATION: USAID staff have received multiple 
reports of local officials attempting to close temporary settlement 
sites currently hosting internally displaced persons, without 
establishing an alternate settlement option, providing transport out 
of the area, or giving advance notice to the humanitarian relief 
community.  In addition, relief agencies are noting threats against 
displaced populations who are sheltering at police stations, 
churches, schools, or other public facilities.  The Kenya Red Cross 
Society and the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees 
are leading efforts to establish an inventory of existing settlement 
sites in order to address issues related to camp closures, 
evictions, and threats from hostile communities.  In addition, USAID 
staff are engaging with U.N. and international relief organizations 
to share information on reported threats against displaced 
populations and discuss possible relocation plans. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) U.S. CITIZENS: The Consular Section has daily contact with 
our Amcit wardens in Kisumu, Nakuru, Eldoret and Kitale and 
Naivasha.  Kisumu reported that the situation is calm today and 
activity is getting back to normal, although schools are still 
closed.  The warden in Kisumu reached out to the 100 plus Amcits in 
his region and none are planning to leave.  He noted that part of 
the Amcit population is a Mennonite compound of 50 plus members. 
The Mennonites have their own evacuation plan in place, should the 
situation require it.  Another group of Amcits lives on a farm with 
an airstrip, and has its own evacuation plan as well.  Nakuru 
reported calm overnight and the roads clear.  The warden there spoke 
with other Amcits in his area (30 plus) and none are planning to 
leave.  Eldoret has about 50 plus Amcits.  Today's murder of an 
Eldoret MP (see above) has caused panic in the city.  The warden is 
advising all Amcits to stay inside and avoid all travel.  The warden 
reports that the airport in Eldoret is operating and commerical 
flights are going out (most full).  Kitale (just north of Eldoret) 
has about 20 plus Amcits.  The warden there noted that the situation 
is mostly calm, although there have been sporadic roadblocks on the 
outskirts of Eldoret.  The Naivasha warden reports a calm but tense 
situation.  She noted that Americans and Europeans are not being 
targeted.  She has reached out to the 15 plus Amcits in her area and 
none are planning to leave.  Since last sitrep, Consular has fielded 
about 5 phone calls from private Amcits looking for consular 
information.  Consular will release the revised Travel Alert as a 
warden message, as soon as it is posted by Consular Affairs. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) OTHER DEVELOPMENTS - UN STATUS: Our Perm Rep to the UN 
programs with their global headquarters in Nairobi heard today at 
the UN that SyG Ban Ki Moon will arrive this evening to speak with 
Kibaki and Odinga.  The UN wants to add extra wattage to Kofi 
Annan's efforts.  He will then meet the Executive Director for the 
UN Office Nairobi (UNON) and other senior UN officials in Nairobi. 
UNON is the administrative and security umbrella for the many UN 
offices serving Kenya and the region from Nairobi.  UN Front Office 
interlocutors told Perm Rep that the UN will likely relocate some of 
its operations as it has become too difficult to work around Kenya 
and in Nairobi.  UN Security remains at Level 2: essential staff 
required to some to work, others work from home. They are reluctant 
to go to Level 3 which requires relocation.  Current think would 
relocate the Somalia Office and the Iraq Office, probably to Geneva. 
 The Executive Director offices for UNON, UN Habitat, and UNEP would 
remain.  Again per Perm Rep's interlocutors, the Government of Kenya 
has not/not been lobbying the UN to remain, perhaps taking it for 
granted that they will. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) ECONOMIC IMPACT: Shaken by the upsurge in violence, on 
Tuesday the Nairobi Stock Exchange lost $571 million (5%) in value, 
the NSE-20 share index also fell 5%, and the shilling dropped to a 
three year low during trading.  As of January 30, the shilling has 
fallen 16.3% since December 24 and the NSE-20 Index has fallen 
14.3%.  Based on an informal survey of its members, the influential 
Federation of Kenyan Employers (FKE) estimated its 2,500 members had 
already lost $832 million and will have to lay off about 90,000 
people.  According to the FKE, if there is no political settlement 
within two weeks, businesses will lose $3.3 billion in the first 
half of 2008, and lay off 240,000 workers.  Roadblocks make the 
Nairobi-Uganda highway dangerous and difficult, requiring busses and 
trucks to run in guarded convoys, and protesters tore up two 
kilometers of the Mombasa-Kampala railroad. There is also a credible 
report of a bridge being blown up on the road between Kisumu and 
Kitale near Soi.  Critical Kenyan agricultural export sectors are 
greatly restricted, and could lead to shortages in Uganda, Rwanda, 
Burundi, South Sudan and the DR Congo. 
Rannenberger