Category: Kenya
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Gen Z Uprisings Underscore a Crisis of Legitimacy in African Democracies
From Antananarivo to Rabat, young demonstrators have taken to the streets carrying a message that the social contract has been broken and their patience has run out. Over the past 18 months, youth-led protests have rattled Morocco’s constitutional monarchy, forced Kenyan President William Ruto to withdraw a controversial tax hike, and toppled the government of Andry Rajoelina in Madagascar. Like their Asian Read.
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Kenya’s 2013 elections: Opportunities for change or opportunities for violence?
Dear Readers, I’ve been nocturnal of late, crashing on a paper I’m presenting on the post-conflict integration of armed groups into the SPLA at the African Studies Association conference on Saturday. My odd hours may, in part, explain my recollection of the phone call I received this morning from one of my contacts in Kenya. Read.
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With Al-Shabaab on the Run, Kenya Moves on Kismaayo
(Originally published on RUSI.org on September 5, 2012) In October 2011, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) invaded southern Somalia with the stated purpose of dismantling Al-Shabaab and seizing the port city of Kismaayo, from which the Islamist militant organisation earns the majority of its revenues. After an initially swift invasion, Kenyan forces languished in southern Read.
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Kenya’s Coast Province Could Be Flashpoint in Run-Up to Elections
(Originally published in World Politics Review on August 17, 2012) An ongoing standoff in Kenya’s Coast province between the central government and the secessionist Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) could make the region a flashpoint for next year’s elections. Formed in 1999 to address the region’s marginalization, the MRC was designated by the government as an Read.
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Key questions for African-initiated intervention force for eastern DRC
On August 7th and 8th, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) heads of state met to discuss the deployment of an international force to fight the M23 rebel movement that has been active in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) North Kivu region since April of this year. While they did not end Read.
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Ban on the Mombasa Republican Council Lifted
On Wednesday, the High Court in Mombasa ruled that the Kenyan government’s ban on the Mombasa Republican Council (MRC) was unconstitutional. Established in 1999 to address the issue of marginalization of the Coast region by the central government, the MRC began to call for secession of the Coast region in 2008. This objective, which is based on Read.
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East Africa’s Oil/Gas Rush Highlights Kenya-Somalia Maritime Border Dispute
If you’ve been following energy news in Africa, you are probably aware that East Africa is experiencing a bit of an oil and gas rush. In addition to the discoveries of oil deposits in Puntland and in the Lake Turkana region of Kenya, there have also been discoveries of about 100 trillion cubic feet (tcf) Read.
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My ‘Kenya’s invasion of Somalia’ paper and additional insights on Somalia (made by smarter people)
Earlier this month, my analysis of Kenya’s invasion of Somalia was published in Vol 3., No. 3 of PRISM Journal, which is put out by National Defense University. The abstract is as follows: For the past two decades, Kenya has pursued a multilateral and primarily diplomatic approach to Somalia’s instability. However, in October 2011, Kenya Read.
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Senate considers funding cuts to Kenyan security forces over human rights abuses (Part II)
In my last post, I wrote about how the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations had asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to submit a report to the Committee to verify that the U.S. government is not providing security assistance to Kenyan military or police personnel who may have been involved in human rights abuses in Mt. Elgon Read.
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Senate considers funding cuts to Kenyan security forces over human rights abuses (Part I)
Last month, the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations released a report of the Department of State Foreign Operations and Related Programs Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 2013. In the section of the report that discusses Foreign Military Financing (FMF), there is a paragraph about Kenya that reads as follows: “The Committee directs the Secretary of Read.
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The KDF (finally) takes Afmadow and Kenya to (officially) join AMISOM
More than seven months into its invasion of southern Somalia, Kenya has seized the city of Afmadow. The fall of Afmadow marks the second major blow for al-Shabaab this week, having lost the Afgoye corridor located west of Mogadishu to troops from the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). Having controlled much of south-central Somalia Read.
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Kenya: Moi Ave blast marks tactical shift for terrorists
Monday afternoon, there was an explosion on Moi Avenue in downtown Nairobi. Initially, Kenyan authorities suspected that the cause of this explosion was either an act of terrorism or was caused by an electrical fault. However, it now appears that the incident is being investigated as an act of terrorism – although as of yet, Read.
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From Diplomacy to Invasion: Will Kenya be the Next Country That Fails to Stabilize Somalia?
(Originally published in the Journal of International Peace Operations, Volume 7, Number 5 – March-April 2012) SINCE the fall of the Siad Barre regime in 1991, Kenya has opted to pursue a multilateral and primarily diplomatic approach to addressing the many problems in Somalia. Yet by the fall of 2011, the persistent instability emanating from Somalia Read.

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