Kenya Socialist Web Site
October 12
2003
America’s Real Agenda with new President Mwai
Kibaki
By Okoth Osewe
The United
States is not interested in helping Kenya sort out
the long standing crisis brought about by the deformed capitalist system that
has ravaged the country for 40 years and left the population deprived and poor.
The real imperialist agenda is to use Kenya for the
realization of political, economic, military and strategic interests in the
East and Central African region.
As Kibaki left for the United
States on 3 October, Kenya
was at the brink of signing article 98 of the Roma Statute which will establish
the International Criminal Tribunal over crimes against humanity. The United
States does not want Kenya
to sign this statute. In late September, Mr. Moses Wetangula,
Kenya’s
Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, told
Parliament that the United States
wanted its citizens who live in Kenya
to be protected from trial at the International Criminal Tribunal. Kibaki’s Washington
trip was therefore linked to persuading him to accept American demands that the
Kenyan government either refrains from signing the treaty or accede to proposal
that US citizens who commit crimes that could bring them before the Tribunal be
protected from prosecution.
In recent times, the Kenyan government has been under
pressure from the Americans who have been demanding that Kenya
host a US
military base. Since the bombing of the US Embassy in Nairobi
in August 1998 and recent terrorist activities notably in Mombasa where the Israeli-owned
Paradise Hotel was bombed by suspected terrorists, the US
has been worried about the spread of militant Islamic Fundamentalism in Kenya,
a major playground of American and British capitalists for decades. However,
the pressure for a US
military base in Kenya
is not directly tied to fighting terrorism but in enabling the US
to monitor activities of interest more closely and for US to be able to
intervene militarily in the region if necessary at short notice.
For the US,
the background for a US
military base in Kenya
is that such a base is likely to be used for quick military deployments and
espionage in the East and Central African region. This is besides the added
advantage of using such a base to check different “enemy activities” in the
horn of Africa, the vast Indian ocean and the Gulf region, a vast area which
has been identified by the US government as possible entry and exist points for
alleged terrorists looking for hide outs or leaving training camps in places
like Somalia or Sudan to attack American targets abroad.
American strategy is to transfer its solders to safer
grounds in East Africa
The US is trimming down its military presence in the Middle
East where American solders are more prone to fatal attacks from radical
suicide bombers and more organized terrorist cells which the American
government has linked to Osama Bin Laden and other
terrorist Networks. By seeking new bases possibly in the heart of Kenya,
the American strategy is to transfer solders to safer grounds in East
Africa where operations of suicide bombers could be limited while
at the same time being able to intervene in the Middle East
if there is a major reason for doing so. The death of American solders at the
hands of Islamic Fundamentalists generates lots of negative propaganda at home
and if the solders can be kept safely in Kenya,
why not soften Kibaki to accept a deal through a
lavish State visit that Bush has not accorded any African head of State since
he took over power?
The Kenyan government has been reluctant in accepting a US
military base in the country because of fear that such a move may attract
suicide bombers to Kenya
and even lead to attacks at Kenyan targets inside the country on grounds that
the government is abetting the “Great Satan” in its declared war against Islam.
In fact, the terrorist bomb blasts which have so far rocked Kenya
have underlined the vulnerability of the country to terrorist attacks and sent
strong warning signals that Kenya
is a very soft target for terrorists. With its dilapidated security apparatus,
porous boarders, the presence of a Muslim population that terrorist cells could
use for cover and low Intelligence gathering capabilities, the immediate
consequence of a US
military base in Kenya
could be an upsurge in terrorist attacks at civilian targets.
With their sophistication in espionage and intelligence
gathering capabilities, the Israeli government has been unable to stop the
bloody murder of hundreds of Israeli citizens by militant Palestinians ready to
die for liberation of their country. In the circumstances, Kenya
stands no chance in waging an effective war against terrorists ordered to teach
the government a bitter lesson as a result of its links with the “Satanic” United
States. Even if America
assures Kenya
that it will provide it with security assistance to counter the threat of
terrorism, such an offer will not help because the Americans have failed to do
so in Israel
where Islamic militants have been striking at will for years.
The September 11th terrorist attacks, the failure
to locate and arrest terrorist leaders like Osama Bin
Laden, the Bali terrorist bombing last October, the Mombasa bombing of Paradise Hotel, the American
embassy bombing in Nairobi and Dar-es-salam in 1998,
constant terrorist bomb blasts in Asia and direct hits on American targets by
terrorists in Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern countries have all served
to expose the limitation of American Intelligence capabilities when it comes to
monitoring and stopping terrorists from attacking American targets anywhere in
the world. If
terrorist’s agenda turns to Kenya,
the US will be
of no help to Kenya.
The US
government has itself acknowledged that Kenya
is unsafe and advised its citizens to avoid traveling to Kenya
because of risks of being attacked by terrorists. As Kibaki
held talks with Bush, the travel ban had not been lifted although Kenya’s
tourism industry continues to suffer as a result of the ban. Whether or not President Kibaki
accepted to host an American military base during his Washington
trip remains a matter of wait and see.
Apart from the request for a military base, American mercenaries
have been operating at the port city of Mombasa since the early eighties
after they were allowed to do so by former dictator Moi.
The problem then was that the aborted 1982 coup attempt by former Kenya Air
Force (KAF) solders warned America
that its interests could be at risk if anti-American solders took over power in
Kenya. With Kenya’s
30,000 solders protecting 30 million people, the presence of a well equipped
American base in Kenya
could easily subdue any anti-American military coup and quickly restore a pro
American puppet in power without much ado. The campaign by the Americans for a
military base in Kenya
is therefore likely to continue. Nairobi
is already being used by the CIA as headquarters for intelligence operations in
the East and Central African region. FBI agents roam the streets of Nairobi
and Mombasa
freely in their search for terrorists while Kenya
has handed over a number of suspected terrorists to be tried in US Courts even
without an extradition treaty.
US government
has a pending anti-terrorism bill that they want Kenyan Parliament to pass
Another issue is that Kibaki was
invited to Washington soon after
media reports that Kenya
had been approached by the US
to send solders as part of a peace keeping force in Iraq
where American solders continue to die at the hands of Iraqi guerillas waging
war against American occupation of their country. The Washington trip may have
been planned to talk Kibaki into accepting American
desires of having solders from other countries die in Iraq (as opposed to
American solders) under the US controlled United Nations Peace Keeping Force
Program. For the Americans, the pumping of Iraqi oil revenues back to America
is the sticking point regardless of who is dying in the process. The proposal
has already been opposed by a number of Kenyan MPs while bourgeoisie media
commentators like Mr. Kwendo Opanga
of The East African Standard have also opposed it. Did President Kibaki accept to send Kenyan solders to Iraq
to shed blood in a war that has nothing to do with Kenyan interests?
President Kibaki had to be given a
prestigious treatment through a State visit because the Americans have a
pending anti-terrorism bill which they want Kenyan Parliament to pass. The bill
reads like a Constitution for the violation of the rights and freedoms of
Kenyans in the name of fighting terrorism. If passed, the bill may subject
Kenyan Muslims (who form 20% of the population) to even more State oppression
and terror. The opposition to the bill in Kenya
(even by opportunist MPs known to follow the wind) surprised America.
Months after it was proposed, the bill remains shrouded in controversy. In Washington,
the Americans were expected to use the passing of the bill as a condition for
the disbursement of aid by the World Bank and IMF and it will be interesting to
see how Kibaki mobilizes members of his divided
Coalition to support the bill in Parliament.
President Kibaki will face stiff
opposition to the passing of the bill because its content appears to have been
well understood by the civil society and other human rights activists who have
been educating the public about the bill’s major implications. The situation
will further be worsened by the fact that the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)
that has accused Kibaki of failing to honour a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
they signed with the new President have vowed to block every government bill
brought before Parliament.
President Kibaki’s trip had
more to do with selling Kenya to US Imperialism
Behind President Kibaki’s visit to
Washington was pressure by the
IMF and World Bank that the government proceed with its privatization program
especially of lucrative Telecommunication and Energy
sectors. More than 100 state enterprises are awaiting privatization and the
multinational companies that have the money to buy these enterprises at throw
away prices are mainly American and British companies. At the same time, the
Kenyan government has been under pressure to reduce its national wage bill by
retrenching poor workers in the Civil service who will have no way of survival
if they are laid off. Even as Kibaki took over power,
Moi had already retrenched thousands of workers and
now, what imperialist forces led by America are asking Kibaki
to do is to continue from where Moi left so that aid
money can be released.
President Kibaiki’’s Washington
trip had more to do with selling the country to US
imperialism, not implementing pledges made to Kenyans at election time. The
government is so embarrassed about stiff IMF conditions that Mr. Katua Katuku, the Assistant
Minister in the Ministry of Finance, refused to table the full list of
conditions in Parliament when asked to do so by Mr. Sammy Weya,
Narc MP from Alego Usonga. "The negotiations are on going, and therefore
it is not possible at this stage to give a conclusive list of the required
Government actions necessary for Kenya
to qualify for financial support.", Mr. Katua told Parliament.
This position means that the conditions may be so
devastating that if they are revealed to the public at this stage, there would
be an outcry or massive opposition that may derail the talks altogether at a
time when the government desperately needs emergency cash from abroad for
political survival. What Kenyans are being told is that negotiations about
financial support that will be repaid by tax money are continuing in absolute
secrecy and not even Parliament has a right of access to details. This is all
what Capitalist democracy is all about and this is why KSDA is fighting for
Socialism in Kenya
to get rid of IMF/World Bank poverty promoting programs once and for all.
Rolling the red carpet for President Kibaki
also had something to do with the last visit to Africa
by President George Bush. Kenya
had been left out of countries Bush visited “for security reasons” related to
terrorism. The Kenyan government had been unhappy with the Americans because
from the government’s perspective, Kenya
had done more to support American imperialist designs in Africa
than any of the countries Bush visited. When Bill Clinton visited Africa
during his tenure as President, he ignored Kenya
and Moi was advised to travel all the way to Uganda
to meet the President to beg for more aid which nevertheless, was never
released. The failure of President Bush to pass through Kenya
and the failure of the IMF to resume aid soon after Kibaki
took over power in what was seen as a democratic election had began to send
doubts in the minds of Kenya
government’s foreign policy strategists.
The United States
was increasingly being seen as a ruthless user especially on the war against
terrorism while doing nothing to help Kenya
survive in the face of deep economic crisis. The situation was worsened by the
fact that the August 1998 US Embassy bomb blast victims of Kenyan origin have
not been adequately compensated even after the victims went to court to put
their case. In the blast, over 200 people (including 12 Americans) were killed
while over 3,000 Kenyans suffered serious injuries of varying degrees which
left majority of them maimed or disabled. The case filed by the blast victims
and relatives of survivors was dismissed by the US
government and today, the victims are still grumbling.
IMF/World Bank loans Kibaki
is begging for will not solve Kenya’s economic
crisis
The cumulative negative treatment of the Kenyan government
by the Americans led the State department to host Kibaki
lavishly as a way of preparing the new President to accept American conditions
on virtually every aspect of
American political, economic and strategic designs that could be
achieved through Kenya.
The US
government may not have a big problem in arm-twisting Kibaki
because the government is broke. President Kibaki
knows that Bush controls the IMF and the World Bank and for him, the question
is the extent to which he can go to sell Kenya’s
sovereignty for aid money without losing face.
The bitter reality is that Kibaki’s
waning popularity may be accelerated dramatically without aid from United
States. The government needs money to pay Ksh 28 billion teacher’s allowances that dates back to 1998
when the teachers were cheated by Moi. The President
needs money to run the free Primary education program and to bridge the Ksh 30 billion budget deficit. The President is running
lots of expensive Commissions and Task Forces that are helping him buy time and
to create the impression that something is being done to clean the mess left
behind by Moi. This is beside
financing the monthly salaries of MPs that are running to almost Ksh 1 million per MP after the Parliamentarians hiked their
wages this year. Pot holes on roads left behind by Moi
needs to be filled to show the public that changes are on the way. Hospitals
which have not yet collapsed need drugs to convince the public that they voted
for change. The control of the aids pandemic can no longer run without
Imperialist financial assistance because State coffers are empty. Although the
government knows that it can do nothing to create 500,000 jobs promised to the
electorate, it knows that it can beg from the United
States to keep vital social services running
thereby controlling growing anger against the new regime, at least on a
temporary basis.
The Kibaki visit confirmed that
whatever changes Narc has promised to bring to Kenya,
Kenya remains a pro Imperialist country, a sad reality which means that the
country’s development will continue to be stagnated by agents of capitalism
looking for new ways of exploiting the country’s resources as the public is
told to give Narc time to transform people’s lives
without an economic base of doing so. There is not a single government in the
world that has transformed the lives of its citizens using money borrowed from
abroad. There is not a single country in the world that can connect an economic
success story to IMF or World Bank aid. Kenya
is no exception and Kibaki’s Washington
visit will not trigger economic miracles in Kenya.
What we have is a litany of failures brought about by
IMF/World Bank’s Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPS) and other variations of
the same Programs. Kenyans should therefore question why our President, who is
supposed to be one of the most far-sighted and intelligent personalities in the
country, thinks that the IMF and World Bank holds the key to the country’s economic
recovery. By accepting that borrowed money from abroad is the solution to the
economic crisis facing our country, a logical conclusion is that even Kibaki’s economic advisors are at sea about what needs to
be done to change Kenya.
This is simply a tragedy because a new government has just been elected by
Kenyans who expect serious changes.
Washington trip shows that nothing has changed since
the days of former Dictator Moi
Since he took over power in 1986, President Yoweri Museveni has been the darling
of the IMF, World Bank, America
and Britain.
But, as he became drunk with power, Museveni moved
from a reformist politician to a virtual dictator who officially maintains a
one party authoritarian rule in Uganda.
When Kibaki came to power through democratic
elections that rivaled that of the West, it appears that the Americans now want
to dump Museveni whose dictatorial tendency is
embarrassing the Bush Administration. In our view, the Americans may be in the
process of replacing Museveni with a more acceptable
democratic face in the person of Kibaki whom the Bush
administration can sell to the world as the new role model in East and Central
Africa. With the official State visit, it would be safe to
conclude that Kibaki may be taking over as the new darling
of American imperialism in the region, just like President Obasanjo
is in West Africa. Thabo Mbeki
is too unpredictable, Sam Nujoma
is a former communist while Mugabe is a
renegade.
What remains now is whether Kibaki
will be confirmed as the kind of puppet America
would like to work with by releasing IMF/World Bank loans. In a country where
majority of citizens have been brought up psychologically to believe that the
IMF and World Bank can actually rescue the country from economic difficulties,
the release of loans after the Kibaki visit will
boost the President’s image and provide fresh illusions that Kenya is on the
road to economic recovery while in reality, the country is sinking deeper into
poverty through external loans from imperialist financial institutions.
The Kenya Socialist Democratic Alliance believes that Kenya’s
sovereignty should not be traded in exchange for hand outs from abroad. The
country has enough wealth and resources that can enable it sustain itself without begging from imperialism. We believe that the
IMF and World bank are not partners in development but
agents of economic and psychological subjugation. By traveling to the United
States with the principle mission of begging, President Kibaki
has shown that not much has changed since the begging days of former dictator
Daniel arap Moi who retired
a disappointed man because the IMF and World Bank refused to give him hand outs
for well over a decade as a result of corruption. Kibaki’s
visit to the US
was designed to serve American and not Kenyan interests. KSDA opposes such
boot-licking visits in the future and calls on the new Narc
government to break with American Imperialism.
We say:
-Narc government should break with American and British
imperialism
-Narc government should abolish all IMF and World Bank
Programs in Kenya including privatizations of state bodies
-No
American military bases in Kenya
-Scrap
the American inspired anti-terrorism bill that will violate the rights and
freedoms of Kenyan citizens
-No
Kenyan solders to shed blood in America’s war and occupation of Iraq
Published by Kenya
Socialist Democratic Alliance (KSDA)
email: harakatips@hotmail.com
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