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Kenya: Bill Seeks to Heal Ethnic Rifts
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The Nation (Nairobi)
16 May 2008
Posted to the web 16 May 2008
Mike Mwaniki
Nairobi
Kenya will try to promote ethnic healing for the first time since independence if the National Ethnic and Race Relations Bill is enacted in Parliament.
It would be the first time that a statutory body tries to establish what makes the country's 42 communities either co-exist or fight each other, then try and find a permanent solution.
The issue came to the fore in January when violence erupted after the announcement of the disputed presidential poll results. As a result of the clashes, 1,200 people were killed and another 350,000 were forced to flee from their homes.
The Bill has been published by Justice, National Cohesion and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua. The commission will operate from Nairobi.
The Commission will be expected to cultivate goodwill among the various ethnic groups by ensuring they enjoy equal access to various opportunities.
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It will also be expected to advise the Government on all issues pertaining to ethnic and racial relations.
The commissioners, the Bill says, will also be mandated to deal with the negative aspects of tribalism and ethnicity.
The formation of the proposed Commission emanates from deliberations of the National Dialogue and Reconciliation Committee which was formed after the post election crisis.
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