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May 1-24, 2015

Media Monitoring Report for Kenya
Posted on June 3, 2015
1. Terrorism - Aftermath of Garissa attack
State Owned Media

UN: No deadlines for refugee camp closure (Daily Nation News, May 6 2015)

  • President Kenyatta told the UNHCR boss that Kenya will continue to honour its obligation of caring for refugees.
  • The German government has given Sh500 million (€5 million) for the repatriation programme.
  • The camp, which currently hosts 352,558 refugees and asylum seekers, has been suspected to be a breeding ground for terrorists affiliated to Somalia-based militant group Al-Shabaab.

KDF, police on alert after fresh attacks in Garissa County (Daily Nation News, May 15, 2015)

  • Security has been beefed up in Garissa County after two separate attacks that left a police officer dead and 17 others injured.
  • Two terrorists were also shot dead in one of the attacks that lasted for hours in Hamey patrol base in Dadaab, Garissa County.
  • In another attack on Tuesday at 11pm in Hamey, around 15 med armed with rifles and six grenades attacked the Hamey patrol base.
  • Security agencies have, since then, been mobilized.

KDF, border police unit on the spot after Al-Shabaab hijack MIRAA vehicle in Mandera (Daily Nation News, May 9 2015)

  • Armed gunmen from neighbouring Somalia attacked a Kenyan military vehicle.
  • Gunmen numbering more than twenty waylaid it and drove it towards Kenya-Somalia border.
  • The leaders decried the slow response by government officials anytime there is an attack in the area from suspected Al-Shabaab militants.
  • Attacks have been increasing inrecent months in that part of the country.They demanded the re-deployment of the military and the border police unit saying "they are doing nothing."

UK terrorist Samantha Lewthwaite blamed for Garissa killings (Daily Nation, May 18 2015)

  • A British terrorist widely known as the “White Widow” was behind the Garissa University College terrorist attack
  • According to the Mirror, Samantha Lewthwaite, 32, masterminded the slaughter of 148 Kenyans, the majority of whom were university students.
  • The report quotes top Somalia intelligence chiefs, who now say they are working closely with their British counterparts to catch Ms Lewthwaite, “dead or alive.”

Kenyan security forces avert planned terrorist attack on a village in Garissa (Standard News, May 23 2015)

  • Kenyan security forces thwarted a planned attack by Al Shabaab gunmen on a village in Fafi constituency at the Kenya-Somalia border
  • This comes two days after al Shabaab crossed into Kenya from Somalia, and went to "preach" for two hours in a Mosque in Ijara warning the Mosque leaders from exposing sympathisers.
2. Kenya and the ICC
State-owned media

Uhuru Kenyatta used his powers to kill case, say victims (Daily Nation, May 17 2015) 

  • Uhuru Kenyatta used his powers to kill case, say victims (Daily Nation, May 17 2015)
  • Victims of the 2007 post-election violence have sensationally claimed President Uhuru Kenyatta used his powers to ensure the case against him at the International Criminal Court (ICC) collapsed.
  • The Trial Chamber terminated the case against President Kenyatta in March, although the case facing his deputy William Ruto and journalist Joshua arap Sang is going on.
Independent media

Kenya: Ruto Left Out of Kerry Visit Over ICC Case (All Africa News, May 6, 2015) 

  • Deputy President William Ruto is the only top government official and political leader in this country who was excluded from meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry.
  • He is also unlikely to meet US President Barack Obama when he visits the homeland of his late father, due to the crimes against humanity charges facing him at the International Criminal Court.
  • It is also good to remember that Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta’s trial  at the ICC ended in December 2014

ICC: A silent killer in Kenya (The Hague Trials Kenya, May 12 2015) 

  • As journalists in Kenya were getting ready to celebrate World Press Freedom Day this year, their colleague was attacked and killed in Eldoret, an incident which has since been linked to one of the country’s ICC cases in The Hague.
  • The death of John Kituyi, the editor and publisher of The Mirror Weekly is the second of this kind in less than six months.
  • "If you want to die easily in Kenya, just show interest in the ICC cases." That's what one Kenyan said on social media when the news about Kituyi's death broke.
  • Earlier this year, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda released a pre-trial brief in the withdrawn case against President Uhuru Kenyatta. In it, she named at least eight Mungiki members who had either forcefully disappeared or had been killed
  • The killings were all suspiciously similar
3. Insecurity in Northern Kenya
Privately-owned and/or independent media

Human rights group expresses concern over escalating insecurity in Northern Kenya (Standard Media, May 18 2015)

  • The Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has raised concern over escalating insecurity that has led to numerous deaths and massive destruction of property in Northern Kenya.
  • Over 20,000 civilians including vulnerable women and children have been displaced as a result of conflicts witnessed in the recent past.

Deputy President William Ruto seeks help to stem rebellion (Standard Media, May 19 2015) 

  • Deputy President William Ruto has turned to veteran politicians from the Rift Valley (Northern Kenya) and Kalenjin Council of Elders to help stem rebellion in the region.
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