VZCZCXRO6180
PP RUEHROV
DE RUEHNR #5338/01 3560914
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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