HIGHLIGHTS

 Favorable 2013 long rains improve food security outlook through September

 Seasonal flooding affects more than 100,000 people across Kenya

 U.S. Government (USG) commits $85.5 million for relief activities in Kenya

05/24/2013 13:34 GMT

ADDIS ABABA, May 24, 2013 (AFP) - African foreign ministers said Friday they have agreed a draft proposal to urge international crimes against humanity trials for Kenya's leaders to be referred back to their country.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and Vice President William Ruto, elected in March, both face trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for their alleged roles in orchestrating deadly violence in 2007-8 following previous polls.

GARISSA-NAIROBI, 24 May 2013 (IRIN) - The presence of foreign militias in parts of northeastern Kenya, and their collusion with security officials and business people there, may be to blame for a rise in insecurity in the region, where multiple gun and grenade attacks have been reported over the past two years.

But securing northern Kenya is increasingly vital to the government, with the badlands growing in economic viability, the new constitution shifting power to the counties, and mega development projects being planned in the region.

Used Live Ammunition, Tried to Cover Up Evidence

(Nairobi) – The Kenyan authorities should promptly investigate and prosecute those responsible for shootings by the police in Kisumu on March 30, 2013. Five people died and at least twenty-four were injured.

The shootings occurred in the wake of demonstrations against the Kenyan Supreme Court ruling on March 30 upholding President Uhuru Kenyatta’s election victory on March 4. Human Rights Watch interviewed witnesses, civil society leaders, and government officials about the violence.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Over 170 people have died and 225,000 displaced as a result of flash flooding

• Food Security: Aid agencies urged to adopt ‘no regrets response’ to build on regional food security gains

• Renewed attempts made to address cross border and incountry insecurity in eastern Africa, namely in Somalia, DRC and Kenya.

• Regional Migration: An estimated 9.15 million people are currently displaced in the region: 2,012,531 are refugees and 7,141,442 are IDPs

New developments

Registration resumed

On 8 May, the Department of Refugee Affairs (DRA) reopened registration of asylum seekers. This means that some 4,000 persons who have arrived to Dadaab since the closure of the latest two-week registration window on 30 November 2012 will now be registered and get access to services.

Security

By GEORGE SAYAGIE gsayagie@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Wednesday, May 22 2013 at 23:56

IN SUMMARY

• Many families face starvation if urgent measures are not taken to eradicate virus from farms

The maize viral disease that led to huge losses last year has been reported again in Narok.

The stalks and leaves of maize crops have started turning brown, an indication of the presence of the lethal Necrosis disease.

The mostly peaceful Kenyan elections this year—a welcome contrast to the communal bloodletting that followed the 2007 contest—reflects structural reforms in Kenya’s political system, a new electoral alliance between former political foes and internationally supported work to prevent the return of mass violence, according to a panel of specialists who gathered at the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) on May 21.

05/22/2013 10:12 GMT

NAIROBI, May 22, 2013 (AFP) - Kenya's reconciliation commission has said the president, security forces and judiciary should publicly apologise for past abuses going back 50 years, its final report seen Wednesday said.

Set up after bloody post-election violence in 2007-08, Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) handed over its weighty four-volume report -- containing tens of thousands of testimonies gathered over four years detailing rights abuses the abuse of rights in the country -- to President Uhuru Kenyatta late Tuesday.