Does the US understand what the word diplomat means?
Oct 15, 2009
JERRY OKUNGU<br><I>An East African perspective</I><br><br>I have never liked the slow pace of reforms promised to Kenyans soon after Kofi Annan negotiated the present coalition government. The lacklustre performance of reform drivers has got every know
JERRY OKUNGU
An East African perspective
I have never liked the slow pace of reforms promised to Kenyans soon after Kofi Annan negotiated the present coalition government. The lacklustre performance of reform drivers has got every knowledgeable Kenyan let alone the European Union and the United States State Department worrying.
Be that as it may, I have never liked the haughty and abrasive manner with which the American Ambassador, Michael Ranneberger has been conducting his diplomacy on Kenyan soil. I sometimes wonder whether the meaning of the word “diplomat†has changed with time or whether when it comes to diplomatic etiquette, Americans have their own set of rules that allows them to basically insult and abuse their host country, Kenya at will.
Let us face the naked truth here. The reason Kenyans are weary of this coalition is because it made many promises that it has been slow fulfil in the last 18 months and there are no signs that we will have this important document any time soon. If anything, cracks have begun to appear among the panel of experts along partisan lines indicating that when the draft is finally presented to the public, chances are that dissidents within the panel will disown it and throw spanners into the works.
Yes, most of the agenda items in the Annan document seem to have been tackled with little concrete results that one can talk of over the same period. As I write this article, yes, the old Electoral Commission of Kenya has been disbanded and a new leaner body of nine commissioners is in place.
However, an electoral commission that operates without a national voters’ register is a moribund organisation. It cannot be useful in the event of snap national elections today. More importantly, it would appear like its two-year mandate will elapse before it puts new structures in place. If that happens, the interim body may just be a ‘permanent’ commission.
Yes, we have a Boundaries Review Commission in place to review all district, provincial and constituency boundaries. However, this body has been rendered worthless by the activities of the Executive that has been on a district creation spree.
Just this year alone, more than 100 districts have been created by sheer pronouncements of the President whenever he visits various parts of the country. The fact that today Kenyans have more districts than constituencies just goes to show that we are not serious about reforms and good governance that we are fond of talking about.
Yes, the coalition has put in place the TJRC, however the controversial appointment of its chairman, a man believed by many human rights activists to belong to the witness box before the TJRC puts into question the sincerity of the appointing authority.
When looked at together with the controversial reappointment of the KACC chief which has since been scattered by Parliament, one may be forgiven for thinking that the Kenyan political leadership is joking with its own reforms.
Our failure to amend the constitution to create a special tribunal to try the masterminds and perpetrators of political thuggery is a clear indication that both principals have lost control of their troops in Parliament. It is a clear indication that the warlords that caused Kenya more pain and misery are holding the country at ransom and that justice for the little man and woman in Kenya may never be realised in the life of this regime.
However, despite all these weaknesses of the regime, America cannot justify the ranting of its ambassador in this country. Ambassadors the world over are posted to specific missions with specific mandates and codes of conduct.
One of these mandates is definitely not to police the host government no matter how poor or rotten it is. If a foreign government feels very strongly that the host country has failed the credibility test of a sovereign state then the best option is to close its embassy and pull out of the host country. It cannot afford to engage in a shouting match with its host. It is just not the right thing to do.
The problem between Barack Obama and Mwai Kibaki has been the culmination of bad advisers surrounding both leaders. Obviously the American ambassador in Kenya and his predecessor have not done a good job. They have misunderstood their briefs. They have turned into bullies rather than diplomats. On the other hand, Kibaki’s confidantes have, instead of giving him good counsel that would have made him come out looking better than Obama in the brawl, have used him as a prize bull fighter and thrown him into the ring to fight a duel he has no business fighting.
Good counsel would have advised Kibaki to detail his Foreign Minister to deal with the United States’ State Department. They didn’t and therefore they should be fired as Kibaki asks Obama to replace Ranneberger with immediate effect.
Finally, Michael Ranneberger is lucky to be in Kenya. Had we been Nigerians, Libyans, Rwandans or Zimbabweans, he would have been declared persona non grata even at the risk of American bombs raining from Kenyan skies!
jerryokungu@gmail.com
An East African perspective
I have never liked the slow pace of reforms promised to Kenyans soon after Kofi Annan negotiated the present coalition government. The lacklustre performance of reform drivers has got every knowledgeable Kenyan let alone the European Union and the United States State Department worrying.
Be that as it may, I have never liked the haughty and abrasive manner with which the American Ambassador, Michael Ranneberger has been conducting his diplomacy on Kenyan soil. I sometimes wonder whether the meaning of the word “diplomat†has changed with time or whether when it comes to diplomatic etiquette, Americans have their own set of rules that allows them to basically insult and abuse their host country, Kenya at will.
Let us face the naked truth here. The reason Kenyans are weary of this coalition is because it made many promises that it has been slow fulfil in the last 18 months and there are no signs that we will have this important document any time soon. If anything, cracks have begun to appear among the panel of experts along partisan lines indicating that when the draft is finally presented to the public, chances are that dissidents within the panel will disown it and throw spanners into the works.
Yes, most of the agenda items in the Annan document seem to have been tackled with little concrete results that one can talk of over the same period. As I write this article, yes, the old Electoral Commission of Kenya has been disbanded and a new leaner body of nine commissioners is in place.
However, an electoral commission that operates without a national voters’ register is a moribund organisation. It cannot be useful in the event of snap national elections today. More importantly, it would appear like its two-year mandate will elapse before it puts new structures in place. If that happens, the interim body may just be a ‘permanent’ commission.
Yes, we have a Boundaries Review Commission in place to review all district, provincial and constituency boundaries. However, this body has been rendered worthless by the activities of the Executive that has been on a district creation spree.
Just this year alone, more than 100 districts have been created by sheer pronouncements of the President whenever he visits various parts of the country. The fact that today Kenyans have more districts than constituencies just goes to show that we are not serious about reforms and good governance that we are fond of talking about.
Yes, the coalition has put in place the TJRC, however the controversial appointment of its chairman, a man believed by many human rights activists to belong to the witness box before the TJRC puts into question the sincerity of the appointing authority.
When looked at together with the controversial reappointment of the KACC chief which has since been scattered by Parliament, one may be forgiven for thinking that the Kenyan political leadership is joking with its own reforms.
Our failure to amend the constitution to create a special tribunal to try the masterminds and perpetrators of political thuggery is a clear indication that both principals have lost control of their troops in Parliament. It is a clear indication that the warlords that caused Kenya more pain and misery are holding the country at ransom and that justice for the little man and woman in Kenya may never be realised in the life of this regime.
However, despite all these weaknesses of the regime, America cannot justify the ranting of its ambassador in this country. Ambassadors the world over are posted to specific missions with specific mandates and codes of conduct.
One of these mandates is definitely not to police the host government no matter how poor or rotten it is. If a foreign government feels very strongly that the host country has failed the credibility test of a sovereign state then the best option is to close its embassy and pull out of the host country. It cannot afford to engage in a shouting match with its host. It is just not the right thing to do.
The problem between Barack Obama and Mwai Kibaki has been the culmination of bad advisers surrounding both leaders. Obviously the American ambassador in Kenya and his predecessor have not done a good job. They have misunderstood their briefs. They have turned into bullies rather than diplomats. On the other hand, Kibaki’s confidantes have, instead of giving him good counsel that would have made him come out looking better than Obama in the brawl, have used him as a prize bull fighter and thrown him into the ring to fight a duel he has no business fighting.
Good counsel would have advised Kibaki to detail his Foreign Minister to deal with the United States’ State Department. They didn’t and therefore they should be fired as Kibaki asks Obama to replace Ranneberger with immediate effect.
Finally, Michael Ranneberger is lucky to be in Kenya. Had we been Nigerians, Libyans, Rwandans or Zimbabweans, he would have been declared persona non grata even at the risk of American bombs raining from Kenyan skies!
jerryokungu@gmail.com