IV 
110TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 283 
Calling for a peaceful resolution to the current electoral crisis in Kenya. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JANUARY 23, 2008 
Mr. PAYNE submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred 
to the Committee on Foreign Affairs 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Calling for a peaceful resolution to the current electoral 
crisis in Kenya. 
Whereas in 1991, President Daniel arap Moi agreed to move 
to multi-party politics, eight years after his government 
had amended the constitution to legalize one-party rule. 
The move to a multi-party state came after two years of 
an anti-government political campaign by opposition 
groups and persistent pressure by donor governments; 
Whereas in 1992, Kenyans voted in record numbers in the 
country’s first multi-party election in almost 26 years. 
President Moi defeated opposition candidates by a small 
margin. His party, the Kenya African National Union 
(KANU), won a majority in the 210-seat parliament, de-
spite the defeat of several senior KANU officials by oppo-
sition candidates; 
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HCON 283 IH 
Whereas in 1997, Kenya held its second multi-party elections, 
at the height of tensions between the opposition and the 
ruling party. President Moi was re-elected with 40 per-
cent of the votes cast, while his nearest rival, Mwai 
Kibaki, won 31 percent; 
Whereas in 2002, the opposition succeeded in forming and 
holding together a coalition, known as NARC (National 
Rainbow Coalition), that ousted KANU from power by 
wide margins. NARC won 132 seats in parliament, com-
pared with KANU’s 67, while Kibaki defeated Uhuru 
Kenyatta, son of Jomo Kenyatta, for the presidency with 
a 62 percent majority; 
Whereas the 2002 had a positive impact in Kenya as well as 
in Africa generally. The smooth transfer of power and 
the transparency in the conduct of the elections indicated 
that democracy can flourish in Africa. The power of in-
cumbency and the entrenched clout of a ruling party did 
not stop an opposition victory in Kenya; 
Whereas Kenya has been a valuable U.S. ally since independ-
ence, providing the United States with access to its mili-
tary facilities and political support in the United Nations. 
Washington once considered Kenya a model developing 
country with shared democratic values in a continent 
where civil wars raged and military and authoritarian 
governments reigned; 
Whereas Kenya has been an important ally in the war 
against terrorism, especially since the U.S. embassy 
bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. Kenya has 
been one of the major recipients of U.S. foreign assist-
ance in Sub-Saharan Africa for decades, and is an impor-
tant trading partner with the United States; 
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HCON 283 IH 
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 300,000 
votes ahead of the incumbent with 90 percent of the pre-
cincts 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, four commissioners on the 
ECK issued a statement which called into question the 
election results announced by the Commission and for a 
judicial review; 
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HCON 283 IH 
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; 
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 more than 700 people have died and an estimated 
250,000 have been displaced as a result of the violence; 
Whereas the instability in Kenya is not rooted in tribal vio-
lence but in a struggle for democracy and concerns that 
the gains of the past decade may be lost; 
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; and 
Whereas the political instability in Kenya could have serious 
political, economic, and security implications for the en-
tire region: 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; 
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HCON 283 IH 
(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 two leading presidential can-
didates to accept offers of external and internal as-
sistance to help find a solution to the current crisis 
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; 
(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, 
who are making every effort towards a peaceful, 
just, and equitable political solution to the current 
electoral crisis; 
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