18 June 2008
U.S. Secretary of State Praises Strength of Kenyan Democracy
Rice, Kenyan Prime Minister Odinga criticize Mugabe government
Washington -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised the “strength of Kenyan democracy” June 18 while announcing that she will co-chair a round table on Zimbabwe in the U.N. Security Council on June 19.
Secretary Rice spoke just before a meeting at the State Department with Kenyan Prime Minister Raila A. Odinga and his delegation. Both officials talked briefly with reporters.
“It is very good to have you here,” Rice told Odinga. “I believe that your election as prime minister shows that the Kenyan people have come through difficult times, but it was really the strength of Kenyan democracy, Kenyan civil society, and the will of Kenya’s leaders to resolve the crisis that brings us to this moment.”
Rice said she is “looking forward to an update” on Kenya’s progress on its path to further democratic electoral reform. “Kenya has a good friend in the United States, and the United States believes that it has a good friend in Kenya,” she added.
Odinga said Kenya is very grateful to the United States for the support it received “in our hour of need during the crisis” following the country’s presidential election.
“You personally came to Nairobi, and I want to confirm here that your personal role in this process made it possible for us to achieve … understanding. This role [was] played also by the U.N., by the European Union, and other friends of Kenya,” he added.
Rice held daylong talks in Nairobi, Kenya, February 18 in an effort to resolve a political crisis that emerged from the country’s deeply flawed December 27, 2007 election between Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and then political opposition leader Raila Odinga. (See “No Excuse for Further Delay in Kenya, Rice Says.”)
The flawed election left hundreds dead and thousands displaced from their homes after the opposition party charged the vote had been rigged in favor of the sitting government. Both sides eventually agreed to form a coalition government, under which Kibaki continues to serve as president and Odinga is Kenya’s new prime minister.
In Washington June 18, Odinga said that “peace has returned” to Kenya. “We have come here to say that Kenya is up and moving again; we are ready for business. That’s why we are actively appealing to the friends of Kenya to come back. We are appealing to the business to come and invest in Kenya, tourists to come back to Kenya, because it is now safe again. And we want the world to see that we want to move this forward.”
Odinga noted that representatives from both sides of the Kenyan government were attending the talks in Washington. “We want to show that it can work. … It’s a mixed team -- both sides of the coalition [are] with me here … the minister for defense, and also the minister for transport and assistant minister for trade.”
VIEWS ON ZIMBABWE
Secretary Rice told reporters the United States remains very concerned about the crisis in Zimbabwe. (See “Food Aid Suspension Could Hurt 4 Million Zimbabweans.”)
“We’re concerned for the people of Zimbabwe. We’re concerned for the people of the region, because [of], obviously, the refugee flow, the violence that has been a part of this crisis. We’re very concerned about the elections and we’re trying to support the efforts of regional organizations to ensure free and fair elections, but it’s very difficult when you have the kind of intimidation that is going on now in Zimbabwe. …
“I think that it is time for the leaders of Africa to say to President Mugabe that the people of Zimbabwe deserve a free and fair election, that you cannot intimidate opponents, you cannot put opponents in jail, you cannot threaten them with charges of treason and be respected in the international community. And I think that’s a strong message, and I hope it’ll be delivered.”
Odinga thanked the secretary and added that Zimbabwe “remains an eyesore on the African continent.”
“It is a big embarrassment that a leader can say on the eve of an election that he’s not willing to hand over power to an opponent, and he can only hand over power to a member of his own political party. I think this is an embarrassment to Africa because it makes a sham of the presidential elections. You cannot have free and fair elections when opponents are being beaten up, when the secretary-general of the party, opposition party, is in detention, and [on] very flimsy charges, possibly to be charged with treason.
“So my view is that the time has come for the international community to act on Zimbabwe.”
For additional information, see a transcript of Rice’s and Odinga’s remarks.
