Friday, December 10, 2010

What Raila knew about Sudan weapons

By BIKETI KIKECHI
It is now known why Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson hurriedly called Prime Minister Raila Odinga to apologise over the leaked diplomatic information WikiLeaks was about to spill.
Carson had learned that among the leaked cables was the discussion between Raila and US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger over the transfer of military hardware to Southern Sudan.
Also in the loop was Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta who had been briefed by Ranneberger on the issue.
Above all, President Kibaki was said to have been angry about the problems around the transfer of the arms to Southern Sudan.
The highly sensitive information rattled the US Government, coming at a time Southern Sudan is about to hold the crucial vote for independence on January 9, next year.
The secret cables sent to Washington by Ranneberger show Raila knew that the 812 tonnes of arms and 33 T72 tanks captured by pirates of the Somali Coast were destined to Southern Sudan and not to the Kenya Army as Kenyans were made to believe.
In 2008, the Government came out fighting against information that 33 T72 tanks captured by pirates en-route to Kenya were for the Government of Southern Sudan.
Intense pressure
In October, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and officers from the Office of the President maintained that the tanks were to be used by the Kenya Army. That was despite information emerging that the freight manifest showed the Ministry of Defence made contracts for the hardware on behalf of south Sudan.
WikiLeaks cables claim Ranneberger wrote saying he discussed the tank transfer issue with Raila on December 15, 2008. He said Raila told him the Government was committed to assisting the South Sudan and that there was "intense pressure" from them to deliver the tanks.
Raila hinted that the Government might instead transfer the tanks to Uganda (and, he implied, from there to South Sudan).
On December 16, following AF guidance, Ranneberger reiterated to the PM that any further transfer of the tanks, via Uganda or otherwise, would violate US law and could trigger sweeping sanctions against Kenya. He also noted that the likelihood of receiving a waiver for past funding to the SPLA since 2007 would be remote if Kenya proceeded with moving the tanks to Sudan.
The envoy said, in the leaked cables, he also briefed Uhuru on the issue on December 16, and Uhuru confirmed he understood the US position. The leaks said on December 16, Col McNevin met with CGS Kianga and DMI Kameru at the ambassador’s direction. Vice-CGS Gen Karangi was in attendance when McNevin reiterated the points made by Ranneberger to the PM.
Before the meeting, Kameru mentioned that in the Government’s view, the tanks belonged to the GOSS and that Kenya was receiving "increasing pressure" to deliver them. He revealed that President Kibaki was personally very angry with the issue.
Implementation of CPA
During the meeting, Kianga commented that the Government was "very confused" by our position and did not understand why they needed a waiver, since the past transfers had been undertaken in consultation with the United States and they thought we were in agreement on the way forward towards implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
Kianga added that this was causing a "major problem" between the Government and the GOSS. He asked about the significance of what appeared to him to be a major policy reversal, and questioned whether the United States was rethinking the CPA, increasingly shifting its support to Khartoum or if it was now seeking a unitary state in Sudan.
Kianga asked that the US explain directly to the GOSS/SPLA why they were blocking the tank transfer. Kianga indicated the Government would have liked to participate in a high-level trilateral meeting between the Government, GOSS and US to reach a collective understanding of US and regional partner countries’ objectives in implementation of the CPA.

No comments:

Post a Comment