East African Standard Kenya
Kenya (06/05)
Nairobi continues to be the primary communication and financial hub of East Africa. It enjoys the region's best transportation linkages, communications infrastructure, and trained personnel, although these advantages are less prominent than in past years. A wide range of foreign firms maintain regional branch or representative offices in the city. In March 1996, the Presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda re-established the East African Cooperation (EAC). The EAC's objectives include harmonizing tariffs and customs regimes, free movement of people, and improving regional infrastructures. In March 2004, the three East African countries signed a Customs Union Agreement. ... [Read More]
IV. Country Narratives: Africa
South Africa is a country of origin, destination, and transit for women, children, and men trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labor. Women and girls are trafficked to South Africa for forced prostitution, forced marriages, and forced labor. Mozambican women and street children from Lesotho, women from East Asia (Thailand and China) and South Asia (Pakistan), and women from the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe are all trafficked to South Africa for sexual exploitation. South Africans are trafficked internally for domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, and forced labor, and some are trafficked to Macau, Hong Kong, and the Middle East for similar purposes. ... [Read More]
Kenya
Various communities have instituted "no cut" initiation rites for girls as an alternative to FGM. The Family Planning Association of Kenya (FPAK) established such a rite called Ntanira na Kithomo (initiate me through education) in Nyambene in Meru; some Marakwet and Maasai communities also have instituted similar rites of passage. According to the FPAK, its program contributed to a 13 percent decline in the prevalence of FGM in Meru North District. However, in 2002, girls sought refuge at the Centre for Human Rights and Democracy (CHRD) in Eldoret to escape undergoing FGM. They were among a group of 350 girls who had participated in an alternative rite of passage in 2001 and were being threatened by family members with FGM. CHRD secured a court injunction against the girls' parents preventing them from forcing the girls to undergo FGM. Prostitution is illegal; however, it was a problem and was perpetuated by poverty. Prostitution has ... [Read More]
Kenya
There was no action taken against members of the security forces in the July 2001 killing of seven suspected bank robbers, and the July 2001 killing of a primary school teacher during a fight between Kisii and Maasai youths.The following cases were pending at year's end: The trial of a police officer in the 1997 killing of Catholic lay brother Larry Timmons; the trial of two police officers charged with manslaughter in 2001 for the May 2000 killings of two suspected carjackers; an inquest into the March 2000 killings of eight suspected carjackers; and an investigation into the January 2000 killing of 5-year-old Chesortich. Hundreds of prisoners died in custody due to life-threatening prison conditions, including inadequate food and medical treatment (see Section 1.c.). The Government recorded 536 deaths in prisons during the year, and the chief causes of death were attributed to pulmonary tuberculosis, gastroenteri ... [Read More]
US Department Of State Post Report
The National Museum sponsors the Kenya Museum Society (KMS). This society and Nature Kenya (the East African Natural History Society) host lectures and films; KMS also presents the popular “Know Kenya” course each year, a series of lectures, films, and day trips which offers an easy and pleasant way to get to know the area. They also organize other activities and trips to places of natural and historical interest. Specialized groups such as the East African Wildlife Society, the Mountain Club of Kenya, and the Nairobi Music Society offer other ways for people to involve themselves in life in Kenya. ... [Read More]
Kenya
There is widespread resentment among citizens of African ethnicity toward Asians living in the country. The Asian community constitutes between 0.5 and 1 percent of the total population and consists of second and third generation Asians with full citizenship and a smaller body of recent immigrants. Many African Kenyans resent persons of Asian descent for their affluence, and for their reluctance to assimilate African culture and to employ blacks, particularly in management positions. They also see Asians as taking jobs and commercial opportunities. The involvement of some Asians in corrupt activities with government officials further fuels popular resentment. Politicians, both opposition and ruling party, from time to time appeal to majority prejudices by attacking Asian citizens, accusing them of exploiting and usurping the natural inheritance of African citizens. Chenge Mbitiru, Democratic Party M.P. from Laikipia West, has called Asians "the great ... [Read More]
Kenya
Kenya is a republic dominated by a strong presidency. President Daniel Arap Moi, who has led the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) and served as President since 1978, was reelected most recently in 1997 in the country's second general election since the restoration of multiparty politics in 1991. Since independence in 1963, no president ever has left because of an electoral loss, and KANU has controlled both the presidency and the national legislature continuously, although other parties were illegal only from 1982 to 1991. KANU won a majority of the popular vote and a narrow majority of parliamentary seats in the 1997 general elections. While there were numerous flaws in the 1997 elections, observers concluded that the vot ... [Read More]
Kenya
In general, the media remained candid and independent. The mainstream print media included four daily newspapers that reported on national politics: The Nation, an independent daily that has long published articles generally critical of government policies; the East African Standard, which previously reflected KANU party views, but became more independent after the December 2002 elections; the People Daily, owned by an opposition politician and highly critical of the Government; and the Kenya Times, which generally reflected opposition KANU party views. There also were numerous independent tabloid periodicals, which appeared irregularly and were highly critical of the Government. Reporting in these tabloids ranged from revealing insider reports to unsubstantiated rumor mongering. ... [Read More]
Country Narratives -- Countries H through P
Pakistan is a country of origin, transit, and destination for women and children trafficked for purposes of sexual exploitation and bonded labor. Internal trafficking of women and girls from rural areas to cities for purposes of sexual exploitation and labor also occurs. Pakistan is a source country for young boys who are trafficked to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar as camel jockeys. Pakistani men and women travel to the Middle East in search of work and are put into situations of coerced labor, slave-like conditions, and physical abuse. Pakistan is a destination for women and children trafficked from Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia for purposes of commercial sexual exploitation and labor. Women trafficked from East Asian countries and Bangladesh to the Middle East transit through Pakistan. ... [Read More]
Africa and the Middle East
South Africa is committed to fighting domestic and international drug trafficking, production, and abuse. The country is an important transit area for cocaine (from South America) and heroin (from the Far East) primarily destined for Southern African and European markets. South Africa is a large producer of cannabis (the world’s fourth largest according to Peter Gastrow of the South African Institute for Strategic Studies), most of which is consumed in the Southern African region. It also may be the world’s largest consumer of mandrax, a variant of methaqualone, an amphetamine-type stimulant. Mandrax is the preferred drug of abuse in South Africa; it is smuggled, primarily from India, but also from China and other sources. Mandrax is the single most important money-earner for indigenous South African organized crime. A study conducted by the South African Police Service (SAPS) found that in 2003/04 there were 341 organized criminal syndicates (gangs) active in a ... [Read More]
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