III 

115TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. RES. 228 

Calling for a credible, peaceful, free, and fair presidential election in Kenya 

in August 2017. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2017 

Mr. CARDIN (for himself, Mr. COONS, Mr. BOOKER, and Mr. MERKLEY) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Calling for a credible, peaceful, free, and fair presidential 

election in Kenya in August 2017. 

Whereas the United States has deep interests in Kenya’s 

democratic stability and regional leadership, and a free 

and fair election in Kenya holds regional significance as 

an example for other African countries with elections 

scheduled in the near future; 

Whereas Kenya has general elections scheduled for August 8, 

2017; 

Whereas electoral violence in 2007 and 2008 resulted in the 

deaths of at least 1,300 people and the displacement of 

600,000 in Kenya, effectively paralyzing the country and 

the wider region for more than two months before the 

creation of a power-sharing government; 


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Whereas the people of Kenya adopted a new constitution in 

2010 that sought to devolve power to 47 counties and 

their elected governors and local representatives; 

Whereas the public confidence in the electoral process is critical both to continued democratic progress in Kenya and 

to ensuring the transparency in electoral preparations 

that is vital for the success of the August 8, 2017, elections; 

Whereas, despite having a permissible legal environment, the 

Government of Kenya has taken actions to limit democratic space for civil society and media organizations, 

which could adversely affect their contributions to a credible, peaceful election and broader democratic consolidation; 

Whereas there have been deeply concerning instances of hate 

speech by all sides in Kenya, inciting supporters to ethnic 

violence as a means by which to gain electoral advantage, 

intimidate electoral rivals, or suppress voter turnout; and 

Whereas the political parties, monitoring groups, and the 

media in Kenya have the legal authority to record polling 

station results and tallies at the constituency and national levels in order to ensure that the process is perceived as honest and transparent: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) calls upon the Government of Kenya and 

3 opposition parties in Kenya— 

4 (A) to hold credible, peaceful, free, and 

5 fair presidential elections in August 2017 in 

6 order to advance democratic consolidation in 


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1 Kenya and promote stability in the broader re2 gion; and 

3 (B) to condemn in the strongest terms the 

4 use of hate speech and the incitement of vio5 lence by political candidates, the media, or any 

6 Kenyan citizens; 

7 (2) calls upon Kenyan citizens to fully and 

8 peacefully participate in the general elections and 

9 seek to resolve any disputes over results through the 

10 legal system; 

11 (3) calls upon Kenyan political candidates at 

12 the national, county, and local levels to respect the 

13 Electoral Code of Conduct and the Political Party 

14 Code of Conduct; 

15 (4) encourages political parties, civil society, 

16 and the media in Kenya to act responsibly with their 

17 parallel vote tabulations so as not to usurp the role 

18 of the electoral commission as the official source for 

19 declaring official election results; 

20 (5) encourages civil society organizations in 

21 Kenya to continue providing critical early warning 

22 and response measures to mitigate election-related 

23 violence and further strengthen democratic proc24 esses; 


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1 (6) commends the key role the faith-based com2 munity has played in ensuring a peaceful pre- and 

3 post-election environment through periodically con4 vening the Multi-Sectoral Forum to deliberate on 

5 matters of governance, election management, and 

6 looming insecurity; 

7 (7) supports efforts by the Department of State 

8 and the United States Agency for International De9 velopment (USAID), including the Bureau of Con10 flict and Stabilization Operations, the Bureau of De11 mocracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and the Bu12 reau of African Affairs, to assist election-related 

13 preparations in Kenya, including programs focused 

14 on conflict mitigation; 

15 (8) strongly encourages the President to ap16 point an Assistant Secretary of State for African Af17 fairs in order to bolster diplomatic engagement with 

18 the Government of Kenya, the opposition, and the 

19 donor community, which has historically been critical 

20 during Kenya’s elections; and 

21 (9) calls upon the United States Government 

22 and other international partners, especially election23 focused nongovernmental organizations, to continue 

24 to support Kenya’s efforts to address the remaining 

25 electoral preparation challenges and identify gaps in 


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1 which additional resources or diplomatic engagement 

2 could make important contributions to the conduct 

3 of the elections. 

Æ 


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