US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s seven-nation trip to Africa was partly meant to send a message that the continent still ranks high in American foreign policy agenda. It follows President Barack Obama’s recent visit to Ghana.Ours is a country reeling from the post-election violence whose instigators and perpetrators remain at large. Barely a month ago, Kenya was ranked East Africa’s most corrupt nation by Transparency International.Almost seven years after former President Moi left office, Kenyans remain angry at the political class, and they frown at the direction the country is taking, with new corruption, nepotism and tribal hatred becoming worse. Even so, what was hot on Secretary Clinton’s agenda is the deteriorating security at the Horn (of Africa).This week, the BBC carried reports about Australian police foiling a suicide attack that would have been debilitating.Among those arrested were young Australian citizens of Lebanese and Somali descent with links to the Islamist radicals, el-Shabaab.This confirms our fears of a growing role of the hard line Islamists, who in barely a year, have expanded the ground they control in Somalia by marketing themselves as a viable alternative to the Transitional Federal Government (TFG), attracting fighters from Europe, South Asia and, according to recent reports, some states in US itself.The TFG holds on to tenuous power only due to the 4,300-strong AU peacekeeping mission, and unless something is done, it is only a matter of time before el-Shabaab overthrows it and starts running the show in somalia.. . Instability at the Horn goes back a long way – from when Italians and Britons divided the country. 26, 1991. The Horn of Africa nation has been plagued by chaos and clan-based civil war since Warlordism TERRORISM. PIRATESM ,TRIBILISM, Hawiye Replaces the Honourable Somali President Mohamed Siad Barre administration.Next Page »
Clinton on attack in Kenya over corruption
The US secretary of state, Hilary Clinton, arrives at the Kenyan International Conference Centre to open the 8th African Growth and Opportunity Act forum.NAIROBI Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, told Kenyan leaders yesterday that the US would not tolerate corruption and impunity and urged the government to prosecute suspects of last year’s post-election violence.The top American diplomat met with Mwai Kibaki, the president, and Raila Odinga, the prime minister, and discussed a wide range of issues from Kenya’s deteriorating coalition government to American trade with Africa to the troubles in the restive Horn of Africa.Mrs Clinton spoke on the first day of a seven-nation tour of Africa that was supposed to highlight America’s commitment to Africa. She pledged American support to develop Africa through trade agreements, and then pivoted to deal with Kenya’s culture of impunity among politicians.In harshly worded remarks at a press conference after her meeting with Kenyan leaders, Mrs Clinton chided the government for failing to implement key reforms.“The absence of strong, effective democratic institutions has permitted ongoing corruption, impunity, politically motivated violence, human rights abuses and a lack of respect for the rule of law,” she said. “These conditions helped fuel the post-election violence and they are continuing to hold Kenya back.”Kenya erupted into violence after last year’s disputed presidential election. An independent commission recommended that the government set up a special tribunal to try the political leaders accused of masterminding the bloodshed that killed 1,300 people. But parliament refused to create a special court and said suspects will be prosecuted in the existing legal system...more..http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090806/FOREIGN/708059864/1002
Clinton's Visit to Somalia Gives New Meaning to 'Handshake Diplomacy'
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