AFRICA NEWS DIGEST
U.S. Press Joins British in 'Serial Attacks' on Kenya
One of Kenya's leading newspapers, The East African, reported on July 15 that the Washington, D.C. press from both the "left and the right" is engaged in "serial attacks" on Kenya's government.
"Firing from the left and right, Washington's two daily newspapers have each carried stinging criticisms" of Kenya's Moi government, prompting Kenya's Ambassador to the U.S. "to launch a counterattack," writes East African reporter Kevin J. Kelley. He notes that the first foray began June 24 in the "conservative" Washington Times, with reporter Adrian Bloomfield quoting opposition leaders suggesting that President Daniel ap Moi might be plotting to extend his term of office. This wire also contained an unattributed condemnation that the President ruled "with an iron fist, personally dressing down those who do not toe the line. Dissidents often end up bankrupt, politically finished and, occasionally, even dead," Bloomfield added.
Kenyan Ambassador Dr. Yusuf Nzibo responded with a forceful letter to the Times, printed July 2, calling the claim that Moi planned to extend his time in office "completely ridiculous," and characterizing the allegation that President Moi bears the responsibility for the deaths of dissidents, as "truly absurd, uncalled for, and wrong." The envoy also defended Kenya's "mature political system" as well as the democratic right of Kanu Party members to urge postponement of the elections until after the new Constitution is written (now in process).
Two days after the Ambassador's letter, the Washington Post took up the cudgels, describing Kenyan leader Moi as "a strongman" who has ruled the country "with a mixture of malfeasance and brutality." The Post called on African leaders to demonstrate their commitment to democratic rule on the continent by helping ensure that Kenya's elections take place promptly. "These leaders failed to stop Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe from stealing his election in March, or denounce him when he did. If they expect the worldincluding the G-8 donorsto take their renaissance project seriously, they cannot allow Mr. Moi to continue the trend," claims the Post.
The background to all the attention from the Washington papers is that the United Kingdom, with the U.S. in tow, has made abundantly clear that they want a new government in Kenyanow. Britain has continued an unrelenting campaign against Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, trying to overthrow the results of his reelection earlier this year.
On June 18, the ruling Kanu Party of Kenya moved to extend the life of Parliament, and the tenure of the President, until such time as it can be held under the aegis of a new Constitution. The Kanu MPs who met under the umbrella of the Kanu Parliamentary Group, were unequivocal that the term of the President and Parliament be extended up to May 2003, when a new Constitutional dispensation is expected to be in place.
One day later, strong negative responses from the Britain and the U.S. were already in print. The British High Commissioner to Kenya, Sir Edward Clay, said it would amount to a breach of the Constitution to extend the life of the current Parliament. Sir Edward opined that there was no need to link the elections with the ongoing Constitutional review process, because such an attempt might interfere with the election timetable. In a separate statement, the American embassy in Nairobi insisted that the elections be held as scheduled. The U.S. embassy said it was concerned that a delay in Kenya's election timetable could create uncertainty and a bad precedent for democratic reform in the region.
Opposition parties in Kenyaalthough not yet, and possibly never, a united front with respect to candidate or planhave announced they have worked out arrangements with foreign embassies to help the Opposition force the Government to liberate airwaves to enable media houses to operate countrywide.
Senegal President Proposes Massive Development Projects
Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade promoted four massive international transport infrastructure projects on July 5, during a three-day visit to Kenya, but news of his proposals has been largely censored, even in the African press. He proposed:
*A tunnel under the Straits of Gibraltar, connecting Spain and Morocco;
*A 2,000-km highway connecting Tangier, Morocco (where the tunnel will presumably emerge) with Dakar, Senegal, coastally skirting the Sahara Desert;
*A 6,500-km transcontinental highway from Dakar to Mombasa, Kenya; and
*An expansion of the rail network in East Africa.
Abdoulaye Wade is presenting all four as aims of NEPAD (the New Partnership for African Development), the "Western"-blessed and -dictated economic program for Africa, which EIW has exposed as an anti-development fraud. But, in fact, of the four infrastructure projects named, only the railroad extension is even mentioned by NEPAD.
Such industrialization is the only real future for Africa, but in keeping with IMF and the anti-development policies of London and Wall Street, details about such projects have been blacked out by the press, even in Africa. Abdoulaye Wade may have presented the proposals at a state banquet in his honor, hosted by Kenyan President Daniel ap Moi, on July 5. At the banquet, Moi proposed the formation of a joint permanent commission with Senegal to strengthen cooperation in the spirit of NEPAD.
EIW's chief source so far is an intensely hostileand cynicaleditorial in Afrol News, entitled "Wade Presents Megalomaniac Projects for NEPAD," by Rainer Hennig, Afrol News editor. Hennig's attack calls the projects "dinosaurs," "prestige projects," and "megaprojects."
Industrialization Is the Only Way Out of Poverty
The only way for African countries to get out of their economic quagmire is through industrialization, the outgoing general secretary of the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC), the Rev. Canon Clement Janda, said in an interview posted on July 15 in the African Church Information Service.
"Africans need to realize what potential resources are there in Africa and see how these can be developed," he said. He blamed Africans for their propensity for simply going for finished goods from the West, Japan, and elsewhere, and not taking the issue of industrialization seriously, and stressed that unless that issue were addressed, "We will continue to be an appendix to the Western world." The Rev. Janda quipped that, while the wheel has already been invented, "We must learn to produce it ourselves and that is the only way forward."
He said he shared the views that have been expressed by some observers about the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) not being genuine. He said it was likely born of fear on the part of the West of the new African Union (which replaces the Organization of African Unity). He said he thought NEPAD was orchestrated by the West to counter the threat posed to the developed world by the African Union.
U.S. Trade Rep Pushes Free-Trade Zones, Not Development
A plan proposed through U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick earlier this year for a "free-trade area" will be taken up at a meeting in Namibia later in July.
According to Business Day of Johannesburg, South Africa on July 15, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Namibia later this month will be an occasion for the five members of the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) to discuss "their response to Washington's offer."
The new South African trade chief, Tshediso Matona, is quoted as saying, "Our relationship with the U.S. has huge potential ... and if it means starting to work on a long-term trade agreement, it is our job as the trade and industry department to lead the process."
However, the "offer" of free trade instead of development is a dead end. Zoellick is part of a neo-conservative cabal inside the Bush Administration, around Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz, which pushes the "clash of civilizations," particularly pushing for a war to crush Iraq out of existence. (See MIDDLE EAST NEWS DIGEST for details of Wolfowitz's latest activities.)
|