Safeguarding Democratic Space in (SADES-K) January 1 –31, 2020 Monthly Update

Introduction During January 2020, SADES-K staff interacted with organizations representing youth and women to determine potential areas of collaboration on the BBI process. Furthermore, grantees continued with activity implementation. As a follow-up to a meeting held in December 2019 with USAID and FHI 360, grantees submitted concepts on how they could infuse BBI report findings into their ongoing work. The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at the (UoN) continued with media monitoring. FHI 360, USAID and IDS had preliminary discussions on the Political Economic Analysis (PEA) that culminated in the first joint analytical workshop that included stakeholders from the health, water and agriculture sectors. The proposed PEA methodology includes analytical workshops where participants will analyze the country’s socio-political and economic environment. This first joint workshop included health, water and agriculture officials, and the next workshops will be sector specific. Context Analysis Building Bridges to Unity Initiative (BBI)

In January, Kenya’s political environment was dominated by the BBI popularization rallies which were hosted by the county governors (Kakamega-; Mombasa- and Kisii-James Ongwae) and the county commissioners offices. The rallies have taken a political turn with politicians allied to Raila Odinga taking center-stage. Three BBI popularization rallies have been held in Kakamega, Mombasa and Kisii and others are on the horizon. Some leaders aligned to the Deputy President were concerned that the rallies were intended to isolate them, and some were roughed up at the meetings.1 The politicized process is a sign that citizens’ voices are being drowned out, making CSO dialogues even more crucial. Tana River County politicians were dissatisfied with organization of the Mombasa BBI rally. A group of political leaders from Tana River who were not selected to attend the meeting saw the process as an unfair advantage for those leaders (and their communities) who did attend. Those who attended the Mombasa meeting complained of less allowances in comparison to their peers from Lamu, Taita Taveta and Kilifi counties. These factors created a negative perception of the BBI, leading some people to pledge not to support the process. Others raised concerns such as the government’s unwillingness to publish and share the report directly with local communities, since Internet access is limited in some areas.

The BBI Advisory Taskforce received an extension of their term which was formalized through a gazette notice dated January 10. The Taskforce is now referred to as the Steering Committee, and their mandate is to develop an implementation roadmap of the BBI report. The Steering Committee will now facilitate further national consultations and transform the initial BBI recommendations into actionable tasks. As a public body supported with public resources, there were concerns that since it was gazetted, the Taskforce had been operating in secrecy and was almost overshadowed by the BBI popularization rallies. Although the committee had issued two

1 https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2020-02-03-regional-leaders-battle-to-control-bbi-campaigns/

press statements by the end of January inviting different groups for consultations, it was evident that most Kenyans were still unaware of the contents of the BBI report. Other Issues

The change in weather patterns resulted in heavy rains in some parts of the country in January. The locust invasion in Northern Kenya may affect livelihoods and resources in the region which may in turn compromise peace efforts, especially in Isiolo where Merti Integrated Development Programme (MID-P) is working.

The county government of Isiolo signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the U.S. government through USAID on January 29. The USAID team was led by Mission Director Mark Meassick. The MID-P Executive Director was invited to attend by the governor and participated in the event. He updated the USAID mission on MIDP’s work supported by SADES-K to improve peace efforts in Isiolo County.

In January 2020, Kisumu County has been peaceful following the elections of the County Assembly speaker. Tension and fights had taken the center stage in the Kisumu assembly after the former speaker Ongango Oloo was ousted from office due to alleged corruption in the Lake Basin Mall. However, with the BBI report process taking shape, tension has risen along the borders of Kisumu. In January, insecurity has been on the rise as reported through the toll-free line as well as the weekly reports gathered by SADES-K grantee KASH. There have been abductions along the Koru-Nandu borders, cattle rustling in Nyakach leading to deaths as well as land conflicts along the Tinderet –Muhoroni border. The project team has partnered with both Deputy County Commissioners from Muhoroni and Tinderet by planning an inter-county forum between the two counties to help address the rising insecurity in the region.

The Poverty Eradication Network (PEN) consortium held a panel discussion on “Creating and Maintaining an Enabling Environment for CSOs through the commencement and implementation of the PBOs Act (2013)” during the Pwani NGO Week. Though supported by SADES-K, this event enabled PEN and its partners to engage various stakeholders based in Mombasa on the PBO Act. During this event, the BBI report recommendations were discussed. The role that PBOs could play in enhancing civic understanding and participation in governance reform were discussed. The Pwani-based PBOs agreed to take the lead in the citizen engagement. During the Nairobi NGO Week, the cabinet Secretary for Interior and Coordination of National Government underscored the very important role that PBOs play in the development of the country. He further challenged PBOs to go to the grassroots and help facilitate the participation of citizens in the BBI process. In a tweet after the event, the Cabinet Secretary stated that the ministry will soon gazette a commencement date for the PBO Act, a move taken with measured optimism due to similar past promises that were unfulfilled.

Result Area I: Kenya’s Governance Architecture Revisited and Strengthened The Building Bridges to Unity Initiative Process The SADES-K team held meetings with the office of the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Youth and Gender which resulted in a proposed joint initiative called the “Common Women Agenda” that would amplify women’s voices on the BBI process. A similar meeting was held

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with Siasa Place and Tribeless Youth, both organizations which aim to engage the youth online and offline to ensure the youth agenda is prioritized within the governance reform process. Following the BBI strategy meeting, held with SADES-K partners in December, grantees submitted concepts on how their projects would incorporate elements of the BBI report recommendations into their current activities. At a subsequent meeting, a SADES-K consultant presented an in-depth analysis of the BBI report’s recommendations, including areas of administrative, legislative and constitutional reforms and possible outcomes to the USAID mission, including representatives from DRG, Resilience and Health offices. SADES-K finalized the pre-award due diligence to issue a grant to the Poverty Eradication Network (PEN) consortium. PEN will leverage its networks to convene dialogue sessions in eight regions with civil society actors. The forums will focus on discussing salient issues with a view to enhancing understanding, broadening support and building consensus around the BBI report recommendations. SADES-K anticipates seeking final USAID approval for the grant in February 2020. Anti-Corruption The Request for Proposals for the anti-corruption intervention was formally advertised on January 15 in the Daily Nation and is set to close on February 14. Promote Institutional and Legal Reforms CMD-Kenya concentrated on aligning its project activities with the political realities in the country following the release of the BBI report. CMD-Kenya proposed to re-align its activities by convening national level interventions that will target key political leaders towards consensus building on governance reforms as captured in the BBI report. CMD plans to combine the National Leaders Forum in Nairobi and the People’s Dialogue Festival (PDF) initially proposed for Nyeri County into a larger event in Nairobi to engage national political elites with citizens in an open and informal environment. The PDF provides a unique opportunity for citizens to express their concerns and make their voices and ideas heard.

Result Area II: Social and Ethnic Cohesion Strengthened Locally Driven Social Inclusion Strategies MID-P held a review meeting with peace champions where it emerged that the champions had more confidence in handling the community dialogue processes and had strengthened networks with key stakeholders. This is key to ensuring that all stakeholders attending the community dialogue sessions are working towards building consensus. ADS Kenya coordinated an inter-religious dialogue session in Transmara which revealed the lack of coordination (and advocacy skills) amongst leaders. The meeting was attended by 43 (4F/39M) participants mostly drawn from evangelical churches in Transmara East. The religious leaders noted that they have influence over their congregations and lead communities in various engagements in the peace process. Strengthening Social and Ethnic Cohesion RWPL held two peace dialogues for a total of 60 participants (12F/48M). The first was between different clans of the Sabaot community, the Ogiek and Dorobo, which identified that lack of

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trust and miscommunication have contributed to hostilities and disagreements over land. They agreed to work as one and adopted the name “Mosop”. The Mosop held a second meeting with the Soy clan and some of the resolutions coming from the meeting included: increased consultations and cooperation in their appeals to government and the selection of a delegation to take lead in deliberations with government.

The KASH-led consortium, on January 30th, facilitated an Inter-County dialogue forum between bouncers and people from Ahero, Kisumu County (where six people were killed in Busia County while providing security as bouncers during the burial of a businessman, Johannes Okoth who was murdered on October 31st, 2019) and people from Butula, Busia County (where the killing of the bouncers happened). The session was attended by representatives from the national government, the bouncers community, religious leaders and peace committee members from Kisumu County. This incident exacerbated the tensions in the region, and it was vital to have the dialogue before working on other conflict issues.

The KASH consortium continued to receive calls through the toll-free line and continued running its Facebook and Twitter accounts. The Early Warning/Early Response system that involves the ToTs identified tension signs such as youth grouping at the Muhorini and Tinderet border and increased cattle rustling at the Nyakach and Kericho border following the launch of the BBI report. KASH conducted a radio show to engage the communities on their perceptions of the newly released BBI final report.

KECOSCE held an inter-ethnic dialogue forum on January 29 in Tarasaa town. It drew the participation of 54 (16F/38M) community leaders that included youth, women, religious leaders, and Gassa and Matadeda administration officers. The event served as the first community engagement forum on the BBI process and report. KECOSCE facilitated a site visit to the Kajisteni region on January 30 to follow up the Kajisteni land conflict between the Orma/Wardei and Pokomo communities. The two communities were in conflict over a parcel of land that was demarcated as cemetery for the Pokomo community. However, due to increased land needs the Orma/Wardei community are said to have encroached on the Pokomo ancestral burial site resulting in numerous episodes of conflict. The visit established an agreement between the communities and the Deputy County Commissioner for the Tana Delta to prevent conflict.

Result Area III: Civic and Democratic Space Protected Protecting Civic Space and Press Freedom The PEN consortium planned for the upcoming county roundtable meetings where the agenda will include civic and democratic space issues and issues of governance reform, especially on how to get PBOs and residents to participate in the sensitization of the BBI process when the steering committee begins their regional meetings. Journalists and bloggers trained by MUHURI on human rights reporting and documentation began reporting on human rights violations. Such violations included land injustices, police brutality and skewed allocation of natural resources. For instance, a water shortage allegedly caused by blockage from a farm linked to Deputy President William Ruto’s farm in Taita Taveta caused an uproar. Locals claimed the farm had diverted a main water pipe for private use. The

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story was captured by Lucy Mkanyika, a Daily Nation journalist, who benefited from the media training.2 MUHURI facilitated the formation of several networks to advocate for human rights in Tana River, Garissa, Lamu, and Taita Taveta counties. These groups handled rapid response cases which mostly involved police brutality and gender-based violence. The group in Lamu has been recruiting human rights defenders and now are 15 in number. Each member is working in a given area on handling human rights violations. In Tana River, the group is sharing reports relating to security with police. This team is also against Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). They have created awareness on the harmful effects of FGM. In Garissa, the group monitors and reports on police killings and enforced disappearances and FGM. During the month of January, MUHURI was an interested party in a petition to the High Court of Kenya, Constitutional and Human Rights Division, which challenged: i) the constitutional and legal validity for the president’s decision to initiate a government-sponsored move to amend the Constitution through a popular initiative; and ii) the legal validity of BBI Taskforce. USAID expressed concern as to whether MUHURI would be able to facilitate nonpartisan dialogue around the BBI recommendations in line with the December directive from USAID. FHI 360 shared this concern and discussed this issue with MUHURI. In their subsequent written response, MUHURI requested to be excused from BBI-related activities as this would be in contravention of their mandate to promote and protect human rights, democracy, the rule of law and constitutionalism. They requested instead to continue executing their grant as originally approved and signed under the title: “To Enhance CSOs, Government and Media Relationships in Human Rights and the Rule of Law.” FHI 360 supports MUHURI’s request as we are keenly conscious of the need to promote civil society’s freedom of expression, especially since protecting civic and democratic space is one of SADES-K’s objectives. Further discussions on this issue will be held during the planned monitoring visit in February. The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) worked on the successful publication of three issues of the Media Observer3. The BBI process was among the topics analyzed during the reporting period (including titles such as “Quipping BBI” and “Why a Parrot Might Make a Better Journalist”). This latter topic presented a critical look at how media is practicing “Parrot Journalism” by echoing what politicians have said instead of engaging in critical analyses and dissemination of the actual report. MCK conducted a media literacy (MIL) forum in Kitui on January 17. The MIL forum was attended by 29 participants (8F/21M), including journalists, civil society and county government staff from the communications department drawn from Mwingi and Kitui towns. The discussions focused on: defining and contextualizing media literacy and information literacy; BBI in the context of media information literacy; and combating fake news online. Internews’ Media Specialist supported the MCK in facilitating a training on debunking fake news. The MCK consortium held a town hall meeting on January 31 in Uasin Gishu. The meeting had two sessions, one with journalists, and the major session in the afternoon where members of the public participated. The event was attended by 41 participants (9F/32M). The discussions centered on the role of the media in promoting democracy and improving the media’s understanding of the BBI. Journalists noted that there is a strained working relationship with the

2 https://www.nation.co.ke/news/MD-of-farm-linked-to-Ruto-arrested-for-diverting-water/1056-5439698-d28o6tz/index.html 3 http://mediaobserver.co.ke/

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county government and assemblies that denied them access to county assembly sittings. Journalists requested more training on safety and protection of journalists, especially the Eldoret based journalists. Internews signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Bloggers Association of (BAKE) that underpins the relationship between the two organizations over the next year. The Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) advertised for consultants who will work on the court reporting guidebook. Applications will be reviewed in February. The organizational development consultant contracted by Internews commenced support to AMWIK, KUJ, BAKE and KEG, following the assessment conducted in April 2019. The consultant met with the grantees, reflected on the assessment, and they agreed on focus areas. The focus areas include: work planning and budgeting; change management; finance management; resource mobilization framework; program capacity development and leadership.

Result Area IV: National Conversation and Implementation of Outcomes Monitored for Accountability, Learning and Scale-up The Institute of Development Studies (IDS) continued its media monitoring. FHI 360, USAID and IDS had preliminary discussions on the Political Economic Analysis (PEA) terms of reference and the SADES-K team worked on the contract. IDS facilitated the first workshop which included stakeholders from the health, water and agriculture sector on January 27. The participants discussed key governance challenges in the country and probable next steps that will assist in future programming. The remaining workshops will be sector specific. Rapid Response The team received four applications (listed below) for rapid response grants, all of which were geared towards facilitating dialogue fora with various group on the BBI final report.

1. Citizens for Peace & Development (CIPAD) with a focus on Meru and Tharaka Nithi 2. Common Women Agenda (COWA) with a national focus 3. Siasa Place based in Nairobi but focused on five counties 4. Wumweri CBO focused on Taita Taveta

Project Management Activities

SADES-K followed up on requested exemptions on the Branding Strategy and Marking Plan (BSMP) which were approved by USAID in January. SADES-K participated in the USAID Implementing Partner Monthly Chief of Party and communication meetings at the Trademark Hotel. USAID will be running a communication campaign from January 2020 to September 2020 with the theme of democracy. Implementing partners will be required to share content, including program photos and success stories from their respective projects for USAID to amplify on social media. The content is expected to be around the following themes: justice and rule of law, inclusion, independent media, democracy and governance, human rights and civic engagement.

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