Kenya: Q&A
I received this. Very good insight into the chaos which is inflicting Kenya and the wider dimension to the crisis.
Bismillah al-Rahman al-Raheem
Answer to a Question Question:
What is Kenya’s position in the realm of international politics? Who is behind President Mwai Kibaki? What has the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi E. Frazier brought to the two sides of the conflict in Kenya, Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga, in terms of solutions? Is the conflict related to America’s plans for the Horn of Africa?
Answer:
The Kenyan crisis began when the opposition forces, represented by the Orange Democratic Movement led by Raila Odinga, accused the electoral commission of slackness in counting the votes in order to falsify the results in favour of his rival President Mwai Kibaki, who is also the leader of the African National Union, Kenya’s ruling party since her independence from Britain in 1963. Those accusations by Raila Odinga led his supporters to take to the streets to protest against the rigging and to demand the announcement of the real results. Hence, those demonstrations were the start of the bloody confrontations between the security services and the supporters of the opposition. However, the crisis only erupted when the electoral commission announced the victory of President Mwai Kibaki in a manner that corroborated the opposition’s version of events, as they were counted in the absence of the international observers.
President Mwai Kibaki made matters worse by taking the oath as President just one hour after the results had been announced. This was soon followed by the message of congratulation from the White House, in a bid to lend legitimacy to Kibaki’s win. The Department of State Spokesperson Tom Casey said: “We congratulate Kenyan voters for conducting their vote in an orderly and dignified manner” He also urged all the candidates in the Kenyan presidential elections to accept the final results and their supporters to uphold law and order. Although the European Union was strongly present in the Kenyan electoral process, its reaction to the vote-rigging was tame, though some of the European officials’ statements corroborated the opposition’s claims and embarrassed the Kenyan rulers before the international community.
America played a major role in complicating the political crisis in Kenya further by hastily supporting Mwai Kibaki for a second term in office and by exerting pressure on the African Union and Europe not to intervene promptly in the struggle between the government and the opposition. However, the large number of deaths after the deployment of the army in the streets to quell the protests of the opposition has forced America to retract from her endorsement of the elections results. Hence, she instructed Nobel Prize winner and Head of the Peace Foundation in South Africa Bishop Desmond Tutu to travel to Kenya to mediate between Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi E. Frazier arrived in Nairobi the following day (7 January 2008) and immediately met with Kibaki and Odinga; however, she failed to reconcile between the two disputing parties. America is currently exhorting Kofi Annan to undertake a new mediatory role between Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga in a bid to keep Kibaki in office.
These moves came after America had realised that the situation in Kenya was drifting towards civil disobedience, thus threatening the stability that America’s plans rely upon. This became conspicuous when the leader of the opposition Raila Odinga rejected the offer of Mwai Kibaki to form a government of national unity. Odinga told a press conference in Nairobi that the opposition was not interested in such offer because Kibaki did not have the right to make any offer because he lost the elections. He added that he would be willing to share power with his rival Kibaki provided his victory in the presidential elections were acknowledged and provided the deal were concluded within the framework of an international mediation. He added: “I think the winner must at nay cost accommodate the loser.” In an interview with CNN aired on 14 January 2008, Raila Odinga said: “I will tell him, because he is my friend, that my friend, you lost an election, you need to leave a legacy in this country, you have been around for a very long time, please leave a legacy of a gentleman who lost an election and agreed to quit gracefully.” Odinga added: “We are ready to talk but not at any cost. We will explore whether we have a lasting solution to this crisis or not.”
The crisis in Kenya is still stagnant while America is pushing towards the scenario of a government of national unity, which will keep Mwai Kibaki in power and allow the opposition to save face through an extensive participation in government, coupled with a parliamentary majority. Hence, Jendayi E. Frazier has requested from President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga to “admit” the flaws of the recent elections. She also urged them to conduct unconditional dialogue in order to put an end to the crisis that preceded the elections. This indicates that America wants a government of national unity, not a recount of the votes or a re-election, because this would lead to Raila Odinga seizing the reins of power and America wants to prevent him from doing so because of his stance in the Kenyan parliament where he voted against the “terrorism” law, which Mwai Kibaki wanted to pass on behalf of America.
This is the reality of the crisis in Kenya. As for the position of this country in the realm of international politics and its strategic importance vis-à-vis the American plans, this is reflected in its strategic geographic position in East Africa, especially its eastern borders with Somalia and its north-west borders with Sudan. Hence, political stability and security in Kenya are of paramount importance to the American polices towards the Horn of Africa. It is Kenya who hosted the peace talks between the rival factions in Sudan and in Somalia since 2002; it is also Kenya who assisted America last year in defeating the forces of the Shari’ah Courts in Somalia. This is why America offered financial and logistic aid to Kenya, in its quality as one of the most important states in East Africa. America bore the cost of dredging the Mombassa seaport on the Indian Ocean so that it may accommodate large US vessels that can monitor developments and events, not just in East Africa, but also in the south coast of the Arab and Asian region.
The Kenyan rulers want to turn their country into a tool in the American plans for the Horn of Africa in order to gain America’s support in annexing the Somali Province of Al-Nafd and the Sudanese Llemi Triangle. Al-Nafd province has been under Kenyan control since 1941, when Britain annexed it and made it part of its colony in Kenya. This is why the Kenyan foreign policy, just like the Ethiopian foreign policy, is based on maintaining what has been annexed from Somalia, be it through what is concluded with a weak Somali government or through embroiling Somalia in domestic chaos. As for the Llemi triangle, it is an area rich in mineral which Britain annexed during her occupation of Sudan. Hence, America has found in Kenya the ally she was looking for. Kenya has opened its lands, airspace and seaports for the American forces, so that America may wage her war against Islam and the Muslims in East Africa under the pretext of fighting “terrorism”. America deems Kenya as a focal state, just like South Africa and Nigeria. Kenya, according to some observers is a prime candidate to host the American Military Command AFRICOM, which currently operates from Stuttgart in Germany. This is why America does not want Kenya to plunge into chaos, because this will distract its rulers from executing the American plans for Somalia, Sudan and assisting in the war on “terror”, as well as hosting the various peace talks.
17th Muharram 1429h
25 January 2009
