Last week’s commentary by Prof. Peter Kagwanja* on The EastAfrican caught my eye because it
paints a picture of the role of international actors in the region. Perhaps my
take away from his commentary is that we may be witnessing the entry of Somalia
as the new play ground of global actors.
The
unveiling of Unisom is also taking place against the backdrop of the discovery
of valuable mineral and energy resources. This is raising fears in America and
the European Union over a ‘Chinese takeover’ on the region and thrusting
Somalia into the forefront of the fierce scramble for Africa’s strategic
resources. This, in turn, is fueling renewed militarism, now everywhere
fashioning the geopolitics of the horn. - Prof. Peter Kagwanja
Considering the considerable interest Somalia has been
getting be it the Western interests as the professors points out to the
interests of China as feared out by the west plus the invasion of the Turks to
the party as it were things are bound to get interesting. Given also Kenya has
a military presence in Somalia and would want to reap the peace dividends it
remains to be seen if the entry of Somalia will be through Kenya. The unfolding
Foreign Policy under Uhuru administration seems t be going that route given the
president has spoken of strengthening intra Africa trade plus the rise of new
wave of pan-Africanism.
It is almost one hundred days since Uhuru Kenyatta ascended
to the presidency and the coming into office of the Jubilee government. A lot
has taken place in the last ninety days and while the jury may not be out on
how President Uhuru Kenyatta will is expected to perform we have the first
hundred days as a yard stick to measure his leadership mantle. The most
significant occurrence for me was the announcement of the cabinet which left
even the most astute political commentator’s way off. However just like the
previous governments and all governments for that matter there are what is
normally called the presidential men/women. Below are some key folks to watch
out in UhuRuto government.
Key Presidency Staff
Chief of Staff and Private Secretary to the President Jomo
Gecaga [President's Kin]
Head of Presidential Press Service - Isaiah Kabira [President Kibaki's PPS]
Chief of Staff for the Deputy President - Marianne Kitany
Private Secretary - Reuben Maiyo
Head of Deputy President Press Service - David Mugonyi
Advisors
Abdikadir Mohammed - former MP and an instrumental figure in
drafting of new constitution
Joshua Kuttuny - former MP and a Ruto diehard
Sam Ongeri - former MP & foreign affairs Minister who
supported Uhuru in Kisii land
Jasper Mbiuki - lawyer who is also TNA legal secretary,
instrumental in setting up TNA and seconded the president at IEBC
Nancy Gitau - Kibaki's political adviser who is said to know
where the wind blows
Nixon Korir - URP official
Functions
Abdikadir is in the presidents special adviser on devolution
and constitutional affairs and is based at State House while Sam Ongeri, is the
special adviser on governance issues. Kuttuny is a special adviser on political
affairs. These three are based at Harambee House in the city centre.
Former Treasury PS Joseph Kinyua is the special adviser on
finance and economic affairs while KenGen MD Eddy Njoroge is the government’s
adviser on energy and petroleum.
Jasper Mbiuki is a legal adviser to the Presidency while
Nancy Gitau is a special adviser on governance. These two are based at State
House.
Nixon Korir is a special adviser on youth affairs and
special projects and is based at Ruto's Harambee Avenue office.
Three weeks ago the vice president of Kenya William Ruto
undertook his first diplomatic tour since ascending office. I am aware of his
tour of Netherlands but that does NOT count since he was going there to
participate in the ICC conference involving his case where he is charged
together with radio journalist Sang.
Most of the reporting of the West African diplomatic
onslaught has been around what is currently referred to as the Jet Scandal. This
involves the manner in which the office of the Vice President went about
procuring the services of a luxurious jet and the price the state will pay for
this trip. The Nation Media Group through its Nation newspaper publication was
first to break this story together with an invoice of what it cost to procure
the services of this luxurious jet. After this story there was a huge reaction
on the Kenya social media which goes by harsh tag #KOT [Kenyan’s on Twitter].
The office of the Vice President has tried to contain this ‘scandal’
by giving their side of story. As of now we know there has been no wrong doing
by the office of VP in terms of procurement. What has annoyed the public is the
huge sums of money involved in this West African trip while the government has
been busy advocating for austerity in spending of public funds. In fact the
president [Uhuru Kenyatta] has been walking the talk. Recently he attended the
London Somalia conference on board a Kenya Airways commercial flight.
the President arriving at JKIA from his working trip of London I PPS
Why did the Vice
President undertake a tour to West Africa?
While the official narrative being spawn around is that the
West African circuit undertaken by the VP was to push for more trade
engagements with our West African counterparts. Well, this is a welcomed move
by UhuRuto administration.
However, I cannot buy this narrative. I tend to think that
this trip might have had more than meets the eye. My hypothesis is that the vice
president undertook this trip in the lead to the African Union Summit
celebrating 50 years. His brief might have been to seek support for the Ugandan
draft which seeks to push for the African ICC cases to be brought back to the
continent. If you look at his itinerary and the timing of this visit one can
read the motives.
Perhaps one of the disturbing assessments I seem to be
drawing out of this trip is the fact that the ICC prosecutor comes from a West
African country. The question that needs to asked is could there be an
underground movement to push her office to drop the cases facing our leaders?
The Changing Tide in Perceptions about ICC
Since the president and vice president ascended to power
there has been a movement which has risen to push for their agenda. This movement
has castigated the International Criminal Court. This onslaught started with painting
a bad picture of the Kenyan civil society. This has been done by a blanket
condemnation of civil society by account of its funding mechanism. Since most
of the civil society receives funding from international donors then it has
been assumed there is a positive correlation between funding and advocating for
interests of the West. In this case the pursuit of the perpetrators of Post Election
Violence is viewed as a western endeavor. It should be noted that civil society
played a big role in collecting evidence on the 2007/08 post election violence.
While I might certainly NOT agree with all the civil society does personal
attacks towards CSO leaders is certainly not the way to go.
CSO attacks by people close to the president
The election of Jubilee government to power has been assumed
to be a referendum against the ICC since the president and the vice president
have cases currently ongoing. The questions perhaps occupying most of us is;
· + Are the two leaders the ONLY ones responsible
for what befell the country in 2007?
· + Will the victims achieve justice from a process
taking place in Europe?
While most of the population seems to agree that the
president and the Vice president are not the only ones who we’re responsible
for the 2007/08. A discourse of the two politicians being made the sacrificial
lambs is currently being advocated.
It remains to be seen what is going to happen in the coming
days since it appears their cases might be collapsing at the ICC on account of
witnesses pulling out and as a result of lobbying in high places by Uhuru
administration.
