110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 283 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Whereas on December 27, 2007, the citizens of Kenya went 
peacefully to the polls to elect a new parliament and a 
new President and signaled their commitment to democ-
racy by turning out in large numbers and, in some in-
stances, waiting in long lines to vote; 
Whereas on December 29, 2007, the opposition presidential 
candidate, 
Raila 
Odinga, 
was 
reportedly 
over
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300,000 votes ahead of the incumbent with 90 percent of 
the precincts reporting; 
Whereas on December 30, 2007, the head of the Electoral 
Commission of Kenya (‘‘ECK’’) declared that Mwai 
Kibaki won the presidential election by 197,000 votes; 
Whereas Mr. Kibaki was sworn in as President within an 
hour of the announcement of the election results, despite 
serious concerns raised about the legitimacy of the elec-
tion results by domestic and international observers; 
Whereas the lack of transparency in vote tallying, serious 
irregularities reported by election observers, the implau-
sibility of the margin of victory, and the swearing in of 
the Party of National Unity presidential candidate with 
undue haste, all serve to undermine the credibility of the 
presidential election results; 
Whereas the Government of Kenya imposed a ban on live 
media that day, and shortly after the election results 
were announced, in contravention of Kenyan law, the 
Government also announced a blanket ban on public as-
sembly and gave police the authority to use lethal force; 
Whereas on January 1, 2008, 4 commissioners on the ECK 
issued a statement which called into question the election 
results announced by the Commission and called for a ju-
dicial review; 
Whereas the head of the European Union Election Observa-
tion Mission stated that ‘‘Lack of transparency as well as 
a number of verified irregularities . . . cast doubt on the 
accuracy of the results of the presidential election as an-
nounced by the ECK’’ and called for an international 
audit of the results;
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Whereas observers from the East African Community have 
called for an investigation into irregularities during the 
tallying process and for those responsible for such irreg-
ularities to be held accountable; 
Whereas in 1991 President Daniel Arap Moi agreed to move 
from one party rule to multi-party politics, and in 1992, 
Kenyans voted in record numbers in the country’s first 
multi-party election in almost 26 years; 
Whereas in 1997 Kenya held its second multi-party elections, 
despite extremely high levels of tension between the oppo-
sition and the ruling party; 
Whereas in 2002 the opposition succeeded in forming and 
holding together a coalition that for the first time in his-
tory ousted the ruling party from power, demonstrating 
to Kenyans and Africans that incumbency and the en-
trenched clout of a ruling party can be defeated through 
the ballot box; 
Whereas the violence and unrest in Kenya threatens to roll 
back the democratic gains made over the past 17 years; 
Whereas more than 900 people have died and an estimated 
250,000 people, 80,000 of whom are children, have been 
displaced as a result of the violence; 
Whereas Kenya has been a valuable United States ally since 
independence, providing the United States with access to 
its military facilities and political support in the United 
Nations, and has been an important ally in the war 
against terrorism, especially since the United States em-
bassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998; 
Whereas the political instability in Kenya is connected to a 
larger struggle for democracy and is not merely the result 
of tribal violence;
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Whereas continued violence and unrest could have serious po-
litical, economic, and security implications for the entire 
region; and 
Whereas the Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs 
has stated that ‘‘serious flaws in the vote tallying process 
damaged the credibility of the process’’ and that the 
United States should not ‘‘conduct business as usual’’ in 
Kenya: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
concurring), That the Congress— 
(1) commends the Kenyan people for their com-
mitment to democracy and respect for the demo-
cratic process as evidenced by the high voter turnout 
and peaceful voting on election day; 
(2) strongly condemns the ongoing violence in 
Kenya and urges all parties concerned to imme-
diately end use of violence as a means to achieve 
their political objectives; 
(3) calls for a peaceful, negotiated settlement of 
the conflict in Kenya; 
(4) calls on the 2 leading presidential can-
didates to continue to accept external and internal 
assistance to help find a solution to the current cri-
sis which has the support of the people of Kenya; 
(5) calls on Kenyan security forces to refrain 
from use of excessive force and respect the human 
rights of Kenyan citizens;
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(6) calls for those who are found guilty of com-
mitting human rights violations to be held account-
able for their actions; 
(7) calls for an immediate end to the restric-
tions on the media, and on the rights of peaceful as-
sembly and association; 
(8) condemns threats to civil society groups, 
journalists, religious leaders, human rights activists, 
and all those who are making every effort to achieve 
a peaceful, just, and equitable political solution to 
the current electoral crisis; 
(9) calls on the international community, 
United Nations aid organizations, and all neigh-
boring countries to provide assistance to those af-
fected by violence and encourages the use of all the 
diplomatic means at their disposal to persuade rel-
evant political actors to commit to a peaceful resolu-
tion to the current crisis; and 
(10) urges the President of the United States 
to— 
(A) continue to support diplomatic efforts 
to facilitate a dialogue between leaders of the 
Party of National Unity, the Orange Demo-
cratic Movement, and other relevant actors that 
will lead to the establishment of an interim or
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coalition government in order to implement nec-
essary constitutional reforms, establish a mech-
anism to investigate the election crisis, and ad-
dress its root causes; 
(B) consider the imposition of targeted 
sanctions, including a travel ban and asset 
freeze, on political leaders and other relevant 
actors who refuse to engage in mediation efforts 
to end the political crisis in the country; and 
(C) conduct a review of current United 
States aid to Kenya for the purposes of restrict-
ing all non-essential assistance to Kenya unless 
the parties are able to establish a peaceful polit-
ical resolution to the current crisis which is 
credible to the Kenyan people. 
Passed the House of Representatives February 7, 
2008. 
Attest: 
Clerk.