Rift Valley Institute

The Rift Valley Institute’s Nairobi Forum, in partnership with Storymoja Africa, hosted a panel discussion with Rasna Warah (Kenya), author of War Crimes in Somalia, Michael Walls (UK) of UCL, author of A Somali Nation-State, to discuss Somali history, political transitions and foreign aid at the 2014 Storymoja Festival. The authors were joined on the panel by Parselelo Kantai (Kenya), investigative journalist and regional editor of the Africa Report, Fatuma Abdulahi (Somalia), founder of the Warya Post, and Neil Wigan, the British High Commissioner to Somalia. The panel was moderated by lawyer Ramsey Beck (USA).

Mohammed Adow discussed his recent documentary, Not Yet Kenyan, which aired on Al Jazeera English Channel on 14 November, at a meeting of the Nairobi Forum. The documentary brings to the fore a divide in Kenyan society, revealing a history of discrimination since independence against ethnic Somalis in North Eastern Kenya. Born and raised in Garissa County in northeast Kenya, Mohammed Adow witnessed at first hand the political and economic marginalisation of this part of Kenya. For "Not Yet Kenyan" he went back to see how the region and its people had survived and started to prosper, only to find that Kenya's intervention in Somalia and the actions of al-Shabaab are threatening to throw the region into turmoil. During the meeting RVI fellow Justin Willis, Professor in History at the University of Durham, talked with Mohammed Adow about his experiences and the story behind this documentary. They discussed the issues with Dr Ekuru Aukot, a Constitutional Lawyer, who hails from Turkana in northwest Kenya.

Berouk Mesfin, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), interviews Christopher Clapham, Emeritus Professor at the University of Cambridge, and Lee Cassanelli, Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, on the topic of a life of research in the Horn of Africa, on the 2013 Rift Valley Institute Horn of Africa Field Course in Jinja, Uganda.

Thousands have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced as a result of the political crisis in South Sudan. Armed conflict continues as peace talks between government and opposition begin in Addis Ababa. Leading South Sudanese civil society institutions came together in Nairobi to sponsor discussion of the current situation, its historical origins and the prospects for a peaceful resolution. The meeting was organised by the Rift Valley Institute's Nairobi Forum and supported by the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa.

On 4 October, the RVI Nairobi Forum held a public meeting to discuss the Lamu Port-South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET), a flagship project of Kenya’s government-sponsored Vision 2030. A panel composed of representatives of government, parliament and civil society discussed the effects that this major project will have on communities in northern Kenya and neighbouring countries. The meeting attracted participation from donors and researchers, representatives of government and the communities affected by the project.

On 25 October 2013, the RVI Nairobi Forum convened a distinguished panel of speakers to reflect on IGAD’s past and future role in Somalia. Ambassador Mahboub Maalim, the Executive Secretary of IGAD, was the keynote speaker. He was joined on the panel by Ambassador Mohamed Ali, Somalia’s Ambassador to Kenya. The meeting was chaired by Jan-Petter Holtendahl, Counsellor for Somali Affairs for the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi.

On 11 September the RVI Nairobi Forum hosted a discussion about UK and US banks' discontinuation of their services to Somali remittance companies. The occasion was the launch of a report by Oxfam and Adeso Keeping the Lifeline Open: Remittances and Markets in Somalia. The report highlights the positive impact of remittances on Somali livelihoods and assesses the compliance of money transfer operators, and their due-diligence procedures. Speakers at the meeting appealed to Barclays—the last bank to offer such services—to postpone their 30 September deadline for another year. On 30 September, a fortnight later, Barclays postponed the deadline for two weeks.

On 15 June 2013, Miraya FM in Juba broadcast a feature on the process of digitizing documents for the South Sudan National Archives. The project is a collaboration between the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, RVI, UNESCO, UNOPS and the Government of Norway. ‘The documents are important,’ the report says, ‘as they will form part of the foundations of South Sudanese national identity. They trace the cultural, social and political development of the new state.’

In South Sudan, delays in the formulation of a new national constitution have led to growing public concern. My Mother Will Not Come to Juba: South Sudanese Debate the Constitution is the record of a series of public lectures and discussions held at the University of Juba in March 2013. The launch of the report, which is available for free download, featured many of the participants in the original lecture series, including Akolda Ma'an Tier (Chairman of the Constitutional Review Commission), Merekaje Lorna, Leben Moro, Don Samuel, Ben Lou Poggo and Henry Swaka.

On 29 April the Hon. Mohamed Elmi (MP, Tarbaj) presented a paper at the Nairobi Forum on Lessons from the Ministry of Northern Kenya, reflecting on the work of his former Ministry in supporting pastoralism and development in Kenya’s arid and semi arid lands. The former Minister was one of several speakers at a seminar hosted by the Nairobi Forum in collaboration with the Future Agriculture Consortium, to launch the book Pastoralism and Development in Africa: Dynamic Change at the Margins. Other speakers and authors included Jeremy Lind (Institute of Development Studies), Hussein A. Mahmoud (Pwani University), Abdirizak Arale Nunow (Inter-Parliamentary Union, IGAD), Polly Ericksen (ILRI) and Francis Chabari (Kenya Drylands Livestock Development Programme). The proceedings were chaired by Deborah Nightingale (RVI Fellow) and the Hon. Chachu Ganya (MP, North Horr). The speakers illustrated the dynamic changes happening within pastoralism in Kenya, with discussions of innovations in livestock trade, land expropri

On 29 April the Hon. Mohamed Elmi (MP, Tarbaj) presented a paper at the Nairobi Forum on Lessons from the Ministry of Northern Kenya, reflecting on the work of his former Ministry in supporting pastoralism and development in Kenya’s arid and semi arid lands. The former Minister was one of several speakers at a seminar hosted by the Nairobi Forum in collaboration with the Future Agriculture Consortium, to launch the book Pastoralism and Development in Africa: Dynamic Change at the Margins. Other speakers and authors included Jeremy Lind (Institute of Development Studies), Hussein A. Mahmoud (Pwani University), Abdirizak Arale Nunow (Inter-Parliamentary Union, IGAD), Polly Ericksen (ILRI) and Francis Chabari (Kenya Drylands Livestock Development Programme). The proceedings were chaired by Deborah Nightingale (RVI Fellow) and the Hon. Chachu Ganya (MP, North Horr). The speakers illustrated the dynamic changes happening within pastoralism in Kenya, with discussions of innovations in livestock trade, land expropri

The Nairobi Forum and the British Institute in Eastern Africa co-hosted the launch of a special Somalia edition of the Journal of Eastern African Studies on 19 April 2013. The meeting, entitled ‘Continuities and change: Social, political and economic dynamics in Somalia since 1991’, examined the strengths and weaknesses of hybrid political structures, the roles of local authorities, and the importance that Somalis in Kenya play in the reconstruction of Somalia. Journal authors present included Markus Hoehne (Max Planck Institute), Jutta Bakonyi (University of Durham) and Jason Mosley (University of Oxford). Other participants included Mohamed Abshir ‘Waldo’, Ibrahim Farah (University of Nairobi), Marleen Renders, author of Consider Somaliland: State-building with Traditional Leaders and Institutions, Fouzia Musse, Zamzam Abdi Billow (CARE) and Cedric Barnes (International Crisis Group). This is part 3 of 3 of the podcast.

The Nairobi Forum and the British Institute in Eastern Africa co-hosted the launch of a special Somalia edition of the Journal of Eastern African Studies on 19 April 2013. The meeting, entitled ‘Continuities and change: Social, political and economic dynamics in Somalia since 1991’, examined the strengths and weaknesses of hybrid political structures, the roles of local authorities, and the importance that Somalis in Kenya play in the reconstruction of Somalia. Journal authors present included Markus Hoehne (Max Planck Institute), Jutta Bakonyi (University of Durham) and Jason Mosley (University of Oxford). Other participants included Mohamed Abshir ‘Waldo’, Ibrahim Farah (University of Nairobi), Marleen Renders, author of Consider Somaliland: State-building with Traditional Leaders and Institutions, Fouzia Musse, Zamzam Abdi Billow (CARE) and Cedric Barnes (International Crisis Group). This is part 2 of 3 of the podcast.

The Nairobi Forum and the British Institute in Eastern Africa co-hosted the launch of a special Somalia edition of the Journal of Eastern African Studies on 19 April 2013. The meeting, entitled ‘Continuities and change: Social, political and economic dynamics in Somalia since 1991’, examined the strengths and weaknesses of hybrid political structures, the roles of local authorities, and the importance that Somalis in Kenya play in the reconstruction of Somalia. Journal authors present included Markus Hoehne (Max Planck Institute), Jutta Bakonyi (University of Durham) and Jason Mosley (University of Oxford). Other participants included Mohamed Abshir ‘Waldo’, Ibrahim Farah (University of Nairobi), Marleen Renders, author of Consider Somaliland: State-building with Traditional Leaders and Institutions, Fouzia Musse, Zamzam Abdi Billow (CARE) and Cedric Barnes (International Crisis Group). This is part 1 of 3 of the podcast.

On 8 March 2013, the third and final RVI Juba Lecture, held in collaboration with the Centre for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba, took place at the university’s New Hall. The keynote speech on the theme of ‘Rights and Responsibilities’ was given by David Deng, Research Director at the South Sudan Law Society. A podcast of the speech is available below, introduced by the event chair, Jacob Akol, Chairman of the Association for Media Development in South Sudan. Additional comments were made by panellists Merekaje Lorna, Secretary-General of the South Sudan Democratic Engagement Monitoring and Observation Programme, Ambrose Riiny Thiik, the former Chief Justice of South Sudan, and Gabriel Shadar of Miraya FM.

On 7 March 2013, the second in a series of three RVI Juba Lectures, held in collaboration with the Centre for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba, took place at the university’s New Hall. The keynote speech on the theme of ‘Equality and Representation’ was given by Jacob Akol, Chairman of the Association for Media Development in South Sudan. The event chair, Joanna Oyediran of the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa, introduced additional comments from Paleki Matthew Obur, Director of the South Sudan Women’s Empowerment Network, Ben Poggo of the Ministry of General Education and Instruction, and David Deng, Research Director at the South Sudan Law Society.

On 6 March 2013, the first in a series of three RVI Juba Lectures, held in collaboration with the Centre for Peace and Development Studies at the University of Juba, took place at the university’s New Hall. The keynote speech on the theme ‘Consulting the Nation’ was given by Professor Akolda Tier, chair of the South Sudan Constitutional Review Commission. The professor responded to comments from a panel that included Zacharia Diing Akol, Director of Training at the Sudd Institute, Henry Swaka, Vice Chair of the South Sudan Civil Society Alliance, and Marcia Dawes of the United Nations Mission in South Sudan, under the chairmanship of RVI co-founder Jok Madut Jok, Executive Director of the Sudd Institute.

On 22 February 2013, the Rift Valley Institute's Nairobi Forum hosted an event entitled ‘Somalia's Jubaland: Past, present and potential futures’. Jubaland has been one of the most heavily fought over regions of Somalia—but with its perennial river, fertile soils and the port city of Kismayo it has the potential to be one of Somalia’s most productive regions. The social bonds that bind and divide populations across the borders of Somalia, Kenya and Ethiopia, give this region a particularly important regional significance. This has been made abundantly clear by the presence of Kenyan and Ethiopian military forces in the region. The Nairobi Forum event was chaired by RVI Fellow Cedric Barnes, of the International Crisis Group.

Jason Stearns, director of RVI's Usalama Project, is interviewed by Radio France Internationale about the Peace, Security, and Cooperation Framework for the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Region, signed in Addis Ababa on Sunday 24 February 2013, and its implications for the DRC crisis. Featured on the RVI Podcast with permission from Radio France Internationale. Original source: http://www.rfi.fr/emission/20130224-jason-stearns-specialiste-rdc-directeur-programme-oussalama

On the 15th of February 2013, the RVI’s Nairobi Forum hosted the launch of a report by the Mogadishu-based think tank, the Heritage Institute for Policy Studies (HIPS), entitled ‘Hasty Repatriation: Kenya's attempt to send Somali refugees home’. The research was undertaken in late 2012, after the Kenyan government called for Somali refugees to assemble in refugee camps and return to Somalia. With Somali refugees in Kenya forming one of the largest refugee populations in world, HIPS sought to examine implications of this new policy both for Somali refugees and for Somalia itself. The report's author, Anab Ismail Nur, joined H.E. Mohamed Ali, Somalia's Ambassador to Kenya, and Jacqueline Parlevliet of UNHCR – in a discussion chaired by Laetitia Bader of Human Rights Watch.