Kenya signed the Mine Ban
Treaty on 5 December 1997 in Ottawa, Canada. Although it participated only in
the first treaty preparatory meeting in February 1997 in Vienna, Kenya attended
the Oslo negotiations as full participant. It also voted in favor of the key
pro-ban 1996, 1997, and 1998 UN General Assembly resolutions on landmines.
Kenya has not yet ratified the ban treaty but according to a Ministry of Foreign
Affairs official "the government is studying the instrument of ratification and
preparing a bill to be tabled in
parliament."[1] No legislative
process has been put in place. The country's domestic law prohibits the
possession of arms and ammunition unless licensed by the
government.[2] The Kenya
Coalition Against Landmines, formed in June 1995, comprises eighteen
non-governmental organizations. It lobbied for Kenya to sign the ban treaty and
continues to campaign for ratification and implementation of the ban treaty.
Production, Transfer and Stockpiling
Kenya is not believed to have produced or exported
AP mines. AP mines may have been imported by colonial authorities during World
War II and during the Mau Mau
insurgency.[3] The current size
and composition of Kenya's stockpile of antipersonnel mines is unknown as
government officials are tight-lipped on military issues which are not open to
public scrutiny.
Use
Although Kenya has no real landmine problem it has
a limited UXO problem dating back to World War I and WWII, as well as the Mau
Mau insurgency in the years running up to independence. More recently, army
maneuvers involving the Kenyan, U.S., and U.K. armed forces have led to a slight
increase in the UXO problem in these training ranges. Kenya also borders with
nations currently or recently in conflict where landmines have been used
(Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan and Uganda) and receives refugees from these nations.
Kenyan security forces allege that AP mines were used in the past along the
Somali border in North Eastern Province, especially by Shifta bandits in the
1960s.[4]
Survivor Assistance
There are a number of casualties from UXO,
including among scrap metal dealers, children, military personnel and shepherds,
but none from landmines. Almost every village and every town in Kenya has a
health unit with first aid facilities and there are regional and national
hospitals which include prosthetics services. The Jaipur Foot Project in Nairobi
provides prosthetics free of charge. There are national disability laws.
Since 1985, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has run a
surgical facility at Lokichokio, near the border with Sudan, which cares for
Sudanese refugees. In 1996 1,725 landmine patients were admitted and 3,874
operations performed.[5] Other
humanitarian agencies active in Lokichokio and Kakuma include the Lutheran World
Federation, Don Bosco, Radda Barnen, Jesuit Refugee Services, UNICEF, UNHCR, and
the World Food Programme. Services provided include services for the
disabled.
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