How USA plans to prevent post election violence in Kenya

The United States government plans to prevent a recurrence of post election violence in Kenya by using a targeted initiative that will engage individuals at the grass roots and opinion shapers at the national stage.

This was revealed by the US Assistant Secretary of State Rick Barton during an interview. Mr Barton said that Kenya was among four countries that were included in the "Champions for Peace" initiative that will be funded by the US government. The other countries are Syria, Honduras and Burma.

The Assistant Secretary said that Kenya was included on the list because the country is "an anchor in the neighbourhood" and is also the "site of the largest US diplomatic mission in Africa."

Mr Barton said that the main aim of the initiative which has already kicked off in trouble spots like the Rift Valley and the Coast was to "expand the message that hate speech and employing idle youth to disrupt the election process is not a good thing."

The Assistant Secretary said that the US was looking at ways of deploying the peace initiative's model to other areas of the country;

"The model is definitely one that can spread," Mr Barton said.

He said the department was going to allocate "a couple of million dollars" for the initiative and expects to recruit about 50 Kenyans to work for six months in making sure Kenya has a peaceful electioneering period.

Barton, while acknowledging that Kenya still has to fight a lot of demons before becoming a stable democracy, said that the Kenyans are - for the most part –doing their best to make things work;

"The reform movement has the upper hand," he continued, adding, however, that its concerns are diffuse and lacking a single focal point.

"By and large," he said, "people are trying to do their best".