Last Updated: Saturday, 02 June 2012, 07:06 GMT

Title	Kenya: The Ufungamano constitutional reform group, its leaders, goals, location and activities; treatment by the authorities of members of this group; reports of arrests of members, and of members leaving the country to seek asylum
Publisher	Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada
Country	Kenya
Publication Date	11 October 2001
Citation / Document Symbol	KEN37837.E
Reference	2
Cite as	Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Kenya: The Ufungamano constitutional reform group, its leaders, goals, location and activities; treatment by the authorities of members of this group; reports of arrests of members, and of members leaving the country to seek asylum, 11 October 2001, KEN37837.E, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/3df4be5229.html [accessed 3 June 2012]
Disclaimer	This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

Kenya: The Ufungamano constitutional reform group, its leaders, goals, location and activities; treatment by the authorities of members of this group; reports of arrests of members, and of members leaving the country to seek asylum

For background information on the Ufungamano Initiative - a church-led coalition designed to pressure the Kenyan government for constitutional reform - as well as its leaders, goals, location and activities, please consult KEN37219.E of 10 July 2001.

Members of Ufungamano's more than 50 secular and religious groups have been subjected to violence and harassment at the hands of government officials and police forces (UK April 2001, section 4.47; AfricaNews Dec. 2000; AI 28 Nov. 2000).

Specifically, Muungano wa Mageuzi (Movement for Change) is part of Ufungamano (The Economist 10 Feb. 2001) and its attempts at public meetings and demonstrations have been thwarted by government forces (Amnesty Ireland 13 Feb. 2001; AI 7 Feb. 2001). This sub-group of the Ufungamano Initiative was banned by President Moi in November 2000, and supporters attempting to attend rallies have been impeded, arrested or beaten (Amnesty Ireland 13 Feb. 2001; AI 7 Feb. 2001). James Orengo, a prominent member of Muungano wa Mageuzi and a Member of Parliament, "received severe injuries during his arrest by five police officers" (ibid.).

The Reverend Timothy Njoya, affiliated with the Ufungamano Initiative's National Executive Convention Council (Daily Nation 19 Nov. 2000) was beaten by a member of the pro-government group Jeshi la Mzee in June of 2000 (HRW 2000; UK April 2001, section 4.47). The International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development states that Njoya's beating by "government sponsored thugs" is consistent with Ufungamano's "repression from the government" (ICHRDD 2000)

No information on members of Ufungamano or its affiliated groups leaving the country to seek asylum abroad could be found among the published sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

AfricaNews. December 2000. "Efforts to Break Up Multi-Faith Constitutional Reform Fail." Cathy Majtenyi <http://www.peacelink.it/afrinews/57_issue/p2.html> [Accessed 5 October 2001]

Amnesty International. 7 February 2001. Kenya: Crackdown on Freedom of Expression Escalates. <http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/AFR320032001?OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIES\KENYA> [Accessed 5 October 2001]

_____. 28 November 2000. "Kenya: Freedom of Assembly Under Increasing Threat." Press Release (AFR 32/015/2000). <http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/AFR320152000?OpenDocument&of=COUNTRIES\KENYA> [Accessed 5 October 2001]

Amnesty Ireland. 13 February 2001. Kenya: Tea Gas and Batons Stifle Political Debate. <http://www.amnesty.ie/news/2001/ken.shtml> [Accessed 5 October 2001]

United Kingdom (UK). United Kingdom Immigration and Nationality Directorate. April 2001. Kenyan Assessment. <http://www.ind.homeoffice.gov.uk/default.asp?PageId=574> [Accessed 5 October 2001]

Daily Nation [Nairobi] . 19 November 2000. "Reform: Lack of Action Plan Worries Leader." Njeri Rugene. <http://www.nationaudio.com/News/DailyNation/130699/News/News1.html> [Accessed 5 October 2001]

The Economist [New York] . 10 February 2001. "Moi, the Juggler." (NEXIS)

Human Rights Watch (HRW). 2000. World Report 2000: Kenya. <http://www.hrw.org/wr2k/Africa-04.htm> [Accessed 5 October 2001]

International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development. 2000. "Backgrounder: Human Rights Situation in Kenya in 2000." <http://www.ichrdd.ca/111/english/new/rightsKenya.html> [Accessed 5 October 2001]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

Africa Research Bulletin 1999-2001

The Analyst

Indian Ocean Newsletter

Kenya Human Rights Commission

LEXIS/NEXIS

Internet sites including:

Africa Online

BBC News Online

Daily Nation on the Web

East African Standard

Human Rights Watch

IRIN

United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees

Copyright notice: This document is published with the permission of the copyright holder and producer Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB). The original version of this document may be found on the offical website of the IRB at http://www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/en/. Documents earlier than 2003 may be found only on Refworld.

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