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East-West
Kenyan Violence Latest Test of Western Indifference to Africa
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
By Philip Shaw M.Sc.
It was the morning after one of the biggest farm rallies Ottawa Canada had ever seen. I helped lead 10,000 farmers in protest in front of Canada's Parliament Buildings. The next day as I milled around Parliament's grounds I saw him walking away from the Parliament Building. It was for UN Rwanda commander, Canadian General Romeo Dallaire.
I had just finished reading his book, "Shake Hands With the Devil." It was his story about his experience as UN commander during the Rwandan genocide. It was a frightful account of a terrible event in world history when Rwandans turned on each other. What made it shameful for the west was our apparent indifference. While hundreds of thousands of Rwandans died violent deaths, the west went out of its way to do nothing. Meanwhile, they were spending millions of dollars trying to save white lives in Bosnia. Dallaire did his best, but he was hand cuffed by a western world, which didn't care about Africa.
Fast forward to the current violence in Kenya. For many in the west it came as a shock. Kenya has long been held in the west as a shining example of what an African country could be. Its international reputation has been stellar. Sure there have been problems and sure their economic growth might not be as it should, but compared to its neighbours on the African continent its been a beacon.
So when Kenya's opposition parties called the December 27th elections into question and the country descended into ethnic violence many in the west recoiled. Romeo Dallaire's voice so strident in warning us about the violence in Rwanda and later in Darfur seemed to come screaming out. Why when it comes to Africa does the west turn the other way.
Some of you in France would say that's not the case especially with the present French intervention in Chad. However for the most part Africa is not part of that great "strategic" oily triangle which gets the world's attention. Somebody breaks through a border wall in Gaza and it's splashed on western television screens for days. However, Kenya gets some play but the war in the Congo and Chad go completely unreported.
Yes, we've written about this before. It's called "strategic value", that unwritten but very real notion that when it costs a country real money and jobs its of "strategic value." However, in far off places like Kenya, East Timor and Chad, sometimes there is no "strategic value" and the world yawns. That's a shame especially when a country like Kenya descends into a chasm of ethnic violence.
Everybody of course is saying the right things. UN Chief Ban Ki-moon has met with both Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga albeit at two different locations. He has asked them to come together for the future and to look beyond party lines. However, ethnic violence continues and at least a couple of Kenyan MP's have been killed. It's as my friend Enamul used to say, my grandpa didn't like your grandpa. Politicians do not easily solve deep-seated hatred. However, that doesn't excuse Kenyan politicians making poor choices going forward. At a certain point, you need to circle the wagons.
I've never been to Africa. However, I've had many African friends from all over the continent in places like Libya, Sierra Leone, and Zambia and yes Kenya. I trust they are "all right." However, Enamul has been to Africa, you might remember his piece he wrote from Senegal. Surely he will have some opinion. Seeing this from the "East" will give a unique perspective.
Former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien used to say the west had it all wrong about the west's indifference toward Africa. He always maintained if the west helped Africa's poor nations rise up eventually they would become consumers of western goods, effectively creating jobs and wealth in western countries. He was right of course but it all boiled down to long-term economic gain versus short term political gain. Guess who won?
Rewind to me meeting General Romeo Dallaire on that cold Ottawa day. This was the man who said after the Rwandan genocide regarding the anemic western response, "Are all humans human or are some more human than others? I reached out my hand and introduced myself. General Dallaire asked where I was from. I told him and then said, "I appreciate what you did in Rwanda. You are a great Canadian." It was a very emotional moment for me.
Of course as of this moment, the violence continues in Kenya. Dallaire's words still ring true. Getting it right in this global village never seems to end.
Kenya - Rainbow vs Orange Or a Fight Between Stars!
By A.K.Enamul Haque, PhD
Last month, I did mention about the Kenyan political trouble between the President Mwai Kibaki (of the National Rainbow Coalition) and the Opposition Leader (Orange Democratic Movement) Raila Odinga on the results of the election. Mr. Kibaki was probably first elected to power in 2002 when his winning of the election was judged by all as the fair election (despite the fact the Opposition did not accept the poll). After Kibaki won the last election (2002) his party started working on economy.
Between 1961 and 1990, Kenya has been growing at a rate of 4.7% on average. In 1991, the economy took a downturn and inflation reached 100% in 1993. The country took advice from the World Bank and the IMF and got back on track at an average growth of 4% between 1994 and 1996. However, after 1997 the economy showed slow growth and in 2000 it had a negative economic growth rate.
Kenya’s economy benefited heavily from its tourism industry, and its Tea Estates. However, in 1998 the infamous bomb attacks on the US Embassy in Nairobi threw the economy out of whack again. The major political allies left Kenya. Kenya with less than 1% of its population Arab/European came under heavy "international" scrutiny in terms of the Bin Laden connection. Obviously, the economy fell apart. The IMF and the World Bank suspended help to the country. In 2002, after Kibali won the election (judged to be a free and fair election) these "world" institutions pressurized the new government to take anti-graft measures and pass laws to curb corruption.
The reason I am narrating the above story is to suggest that the "hands" of the World Bank and IMF (one led by the US and other led by Europe) were there and they were de-facto dictating the governments. So it cannot be held true that the US and its allies were not concerned with the happenings in Kenya. Rather they took a different approach and instead of sending troops and changing the government they used their other levers to turn the government around. In fact, only after all the laws were passed, the IMF and World Bank began to release funds to the Kenyan government. If you are still interested to know why Kenya remained within the radar of the US but not Somalia or Rwanda its because these latter countries do not have some of the "strategic" resources (THE OIL) that Sudan and Kenya or Chad have.
It often looks like a conspiracy hypothesis against the West when I write but explain to me this. Mr. Odinga, the ODM leader is now requesting troops from the UN, Europe, the African Union and the US to ensure democracy in his own country. He has already dismissed his own Vice-President Mr. Kalonzo Musyoka as a "traitor", making his own position weaker because he has now disowned his own running mate. At the same time, the Annan mission has suggested the creation of a South African type Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
Add to this the following information - Kenya is inhabited by nearly 30 different ethnic groups (the largest one is Kikuyu with 23% of the population) with a population where 45% are Protestant, 33% are Catholic and another 10% Muslims. You can now see the problem of mediation in Kenya (CIA factsheet). Probably the Kenyans need more reconciliation than fighting now. The fighting on the streets is horrific. It has already made 300,000 people homeless.
The suffering of the people can be easily imagined. Last week the BBC ran a story where one mother lost her child and was reunited through an NGO, which runs a home for the lost children. She lost all her properties and also her husband and her only child. She was very happy after they were re-united. However, it is obvious that many people in Kenya are keeping a blind eye to these sufferings. (TV stories are clear on this when we see young people roaming on the street with machetes and other sharp objects). Why? To me it could be either a great degree of animosity amongst the supporters of two parties or a type of hidden ethnic violence against each others. Which one is true is difficult to say but the approach and steps endorsed by Annan suggest me the latter.
Finally add to this the following piece of information: In 2006 Kibali’s government was heavily accused of corruption charges again and the World Bank and the IMF delayed disbursement of their fund to his government once again. In 2005, the country had a 5.8% growth rate, in 2006 it had a 6.1% and in 2007 it was 7.2%. Clearly, the economy has been moving again (despite the World Bank’s opposition). Kenya was perhaps one of the few African countries, which had such an impressive growth rate. Why then in 2006 did these "world" institutions decide to create a crisis of trust? Why were these institutions so public in their accusations when they could easily claim a success story stating that their advice was very effective and has put Kenya back into track!
Is there someone trying to overthrow the government once again? If so, who? Or why? This type of question is common in our part of the world because "powerful" democracies often impose their wishes on us against our will.
In 2006, the Chinese PM visited Kenya and signed an oil exploration contract with Kenya at the borders between Sudan and Somalia coastal waters. Clearly, the Chinese move is an irritant in the "strategic" alliance of the west and so instigating the violence is only the first step. The next step, if successful, is to impose a puppet government to protect the strategic interest of the Western powers. So finally, I do not expect that the West will keep a blind eye on Kenya. My worry is that the process is not for the interest of the Kenyan once again. It is fight between stars.
East/West is a joint column written by A.K. Enamul Haque and Philip Shaw. Dr. A.K.Enamul Haque Ph.D, is a Professor of Economics at United International University. Philip Shaw M.Sc. is farmer, writer and broadcaster in Dresden, Ontario, Canada. Each month they will bring their uniquely East/West perspectives to specific topics of world interest.
