The Militant - March 3, 2008 -- Kenya: imperialists push power-sharing

Vol. 72/No. 9 March 3, 2008

Kenya: imperialists push power-sharing

BY WILLIE COTTON
At the start of a six-day visit to five African countries President George Bush dispatched Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Nairobi to press Kenya’s president and the main opposition leader to agree to a power-sharing government. Washington seeks to resolve a crisis that sparked widespread violence beginning last December following a disputed presidential election.

“Mediators” led by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan met with rivals President Mwai Kibaki and challenger Raila Odinga.

Kibaki and Odinga have come under pressure from imperialist powers to solve the nearly two-month old conflict that has left more than 1,000 dead and displaced at least 600,000. Riots broke out after Odinga narrowly lost to Kibaki in December 27 elections. Odinga’s supporters charged Kibaki with stealing the election.

A preliminary deal signed February 14 calls for an independent investigation of the election and a report within three to six months. Both sides would work to draw up a new constitution within a year that could also provide for a prime minister post or another way to share power.

Kibaki’s Party of National Unity is based on Kenya’s largest and dominant ethnic group, Kikuyu, which makes up about 22 percent of the population. They were favored by the British during colonial rule and ran many shops, restaurants, banks, and factories. They have dominated the government since independence in 1963.

Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement gets its support primarily among the Luo, who make up about 13 percent of the population.

Kenya’s transportation system, including its Mombasa port, a vital transport hub for East Africa, has been paralyzed by the crisis.

Washington sees Kenya’s stability as important to its “global war on terrorism” in the region and has given millions to Kenya’s military.

Bush arrived in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, from Benin February 16. He will meet with Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete—the new chairman of the African Union. Bush will also visit Rwanda, Ghana, and Liberia. He will not visit Kenya.

Before departing for Africa Bush said that Rice would “deliver a message directly to Kenya’s leaders and people: there must be an immediate halt to violence, there must be justice for the victims of abuse, and there must be a full return to democracy.”

The day Bush departed for Africa Jendayi Frazer, the top State Department official for Africa, said that the Bush administration is considering targeted sanctions against anyone who stands in the way of a power-sharing deal.

The European Union has also threatened sanctions against Kenya if the conflict is not resolved soon. Nairobi’s East African Standard quoted Harvey Rouse, the EU’s head of political and trade section in Kenya, saying, “Until there is a willingness in the two opposing factions to work things out together, it will not be business as usual as regards EU member countries.” UK high commissioner to Kenya, Adam Wood, said London did not recognize the current government.

Kenya’s foreign minister, Moses Wetangula, took issue with the imperialist pressure. “We encourage our friends to support us and not make any mistake of putting a gun to anybody’s head and saying ‘either/or,’ because that cannot work,” he said, according to the New York Times.

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