Friday, December 10, 2010

Kibaki, Raila stung by US Cables

By JIBRIL ADAN
Secret cables from the American Embassy in Nairobi to Washington depict President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga as beneficiaries of impunity and lack of transparency in governance. In one case, a senior security official is accused of receiving $5,000 (Sh400,000) in kickbacks to influence the award of a 2009 contract given by the National Security Intelligence Service to a Chinese firm to supply landline telephone monitoring equipment. The money was to pay bills incurred from treating his medical condition.
Without mincing words, the cables warn that unless fundamental reforms are fully implemented to end impunity and corruption, and to give justice to the 2007-2008 post-election violence victims, tension could reach unprecedented levels in the 2012 General Election.
"No steps have been taken to hold accountable perpetrators of post-election violence. Police reform remains an open question. Little has been done by the coalition to foster national reconciliation and cohesion," notes the communication.
According to the leaked documents, most of Kenya’s political and economic elite share vested interests that benefit from and support impunity and the lack of accountability with respect to governance, State resources, and the rule of law.
"This includes President Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga, who signed the coalition agreement, as well as most of the members of the Cabinet and leaders of political parties," he wrote.
The cables sent by the US Ambassador in Nairobi, Michael Ranneberger, earlier in the year to Washington, and uploaded to the website of whistle-blower WikiLeaks yesterday, say that Kenya is in the grip of a culture of impunity that forces all to play ball.
President Kibaki (left) and Prime Minister Raila Odinga. Leaked communication by American envoy says Kenya Government is a coalition of grand impunity.
But US Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson yesterday insisted the cables do not reflect the current relationship between his country and Kenya, adding the information was private and should never have been published.

"It was stolen information and those disseminating it have no right to pass it on," said Carson during a one-hour tele-conference with 20 journalists from across Africa.
The cables depict the political class leading the country as engaged in a chess game with those pushing for reforms, as well as the US, which says that its main aim is to see real change in governance.
"To put it another way, the political elite is planning several chess moves ahead. While we (US) are no mean chess players ourselves, it is very difficult to anticipate their next move or the motives behind ‘reform’ steps," said Ranneberger in the cable. But in a terse rejoinder to newsrooms yesterday afternoon, President Kibaki refuted the allegations.
"We wish to state that President Kibaki’s record on reforms throughout his career speaks for itself. The Kenyan people have enjoyed unprecedented political, economic and social freedoms during his tenure in office," read the statement from the Presidential Press Service.
Kibaki also took credit for the successful passing of the new laws in August, saying: "The reform agenda culminated in the promulgation of the new Constitution that mirrors the hopes and aspirations of the Kenyan people. The Kenyan people must not be distracted from the path of transforming our country, especially at this moment when we are focused on implementing the Constitution."
And Kenyans have reason to worry if the verdict of Ranneberger is to be believed as the gospel truth.
The cables say the US has been sceptical of "reform steps" taken by the Government, instead viewing them as attempts to placate the masses while in reality the politicians were out to avoid real change.
"Old Guards’ strategy is to do just enough to placate the people, Annan, and us, while trying to avoid fundamental change in the system. However, there is a real possibility that, as they seek to walk this fine line, the floodgates of change will open, or that at least the change will end up being more far-reaching than they envisaged," reads the communication by Ranneberger to US State Department.
In a cable dated January 12, this year, the envoy says the culture of impunity "is, in effect, an informal system of governance that co-opts or forces others to participate or perish." The ambassador says the aim of US policy in Kenya is to advance implementation of reforms, but notes "the old guard associated with the culture of impunity continues to resist fundamental change".
The Coalition Government, the envoy wrote, is yet to undertake key reforms to correct the imbalances that led to the 2007/8 post-election violence. The secret communication was written before Kenya adopted the new Constitution, but even then the envoy’s position was that although a new law was necessary, real reforms could only come by sustaining pressure on the Old Guard.
"Those associated with the culture of impunity are working hard to limit the impact of steps taken so that they do not lead to truly fundamental reforms that would threaten vested interests," says the envoy.
High-level probe
In one of the cables, Culture of Impunity Works to Forestall Fundamental Reforms, the example is given of an individual who is said to be having direct links to State House as having been behind schemes to block high-level investigations.
He says the removal of key individuals from important public offices must be followed by real institutional reforms.
The envoy, however, says the Old Guard was becoming weaker and pressure should be sustained on them to free Kenya from their grips. He says, "Hairline fractures" are showing in the "edifice" of the Old Guard political elite and US needs to continue, "working them intensively".
"The Old Guard of vested interests knows that we and others within Kenya are fanning the winds of change — always stressing the need to work peacefully within the democratic process — and feels threatened by that, but they also realise that they must somehow come to grips with it," says Ranneberger.
The envoy reveals that the US has been involved in "witness protection" aimed at significantly improving "the odds that the International Criminal Court will indict several key suspects of post-election violence".
The leaked cables also reveal that the US has been closely monitoring and unhappy with Chinese activities in Kenya. The envoy believes that Kenya has been moving closer to the Chinese to shield itself against "pressure to reform".
Ranneberger also says the construction of Lamu port is of interest to the Chinese because of the oil in Southern Sudan and the prospect that it would be exported through Kenya.
"We expect China’s engagement in Kenya to continue to grow given Kenya’s strategic location. If oil or gas is found in Kenya, this engagement will likely grow even faster," says the envoy. He says the Lamu port deal is being driven by the "black box" of President Kibaki’s kitchen Cabinet.

No comments:

Post a Comment