Rob Macaire

UK, Kenya and the International Community

A crucial time for Kenya.   The EU, in the company of many other countries issued a statement on Friday expressing concern that nothing has been done to attack impunity for the post-election violence: neither a special tribunal nor referral to the International Criminal Court.  The ICC prosecutor issued an important statement a day earlier, supporting what he called a 'three pronged' approach to those crimes:  ICC, a special tribunal, and the TJRC to tackle historical issues and reconciliation at community level.   Now Kofi Annan , on behalf of the African Union,  has arrived in Kenya for talks with the two Principals and others.  All this coming hard on the heels of some tough, and well-chosen, words from the Obama Administration about the urgency of reforms and the responsibility of politicians and officials to act swiftly on them.   There's a strong sense of unanimity among the international community, and it echoes what is being heard far more loudly from Kenyan voices.   My impression from all this is that  the Kenyan people aren't willing to accept 'business as usual', particularly when that makes the chances of a repeat of last year's violence more likely.   While reconciliation is vital, I can't think of any country in the world where reconciliation has been achieved by deciding to allow people to get away scot-free with the use of violence for political ends on a massive scale.  Meanwhile Agenda 4 remains largely in the realms of commissions and recommendations, with Kenyans waiting  anxiously for the key actions to be taken.
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Posted at 07:08 06 October 2009 by Rob Macaire  |  Comments[2]

SOMALIA, KENYA, AND THE UK

I am just back from Addis Ababa, where I have had the chance to discuss with my colleagues from here and London, and also with the Ethiopian government, some regional problems including Somalia.  I spend a great deal of my time on Somalia.  But the situation in the country remains desperate, and there is a long way to go before Somalis can look forward to a more normal, stable existence.

Kenyans tell me that they are increasingly concerned about the problems that instability in Somalia brings over the border: refugees, small arms, all manner of threats.  People complain that money from piracy is behind the price of housing in Nairobi!  I am not so sure the arithmetic stands up for that claim, but there is no doubt that people here are directly affected by the situation in Somalia.  Actually, so is the UK.   With one of the largest Somali diasporas in the world, we have a direct interest in helping to resolve the ongoing crisis in that country.

That’s why we put money into both humanitarian and development assistance; support the AU force who are courageously defending the capital from rebels, and taking casualties from terrorist attacks (AMISOM);  work with our EU and other partners to support political moves towards stability; and back the Transitional Federal Government both diplomatically and practically.   One of the allegations I have little time for is people in the region saying that the international community “must do more” on Somalia.   It’s right up near the top of our international priorities.  But one thing we’ve learnt over the painful years since Siad Barre was overthrown in 1991 is that the outside world can easily do more harm than good by intervening.   The whole world needs to be resolute in supporting the widely-recognised government in the face of attacks from extremists.  But I believe that Somalis, not foreigners, will be the ones to bring eventual peace and development to their country.

But from the perspective my posting here in Kenya, I sense a bit of a danger that people will indiscriminately blame the Somalis living in Kenya (and even Kenyan Somalis) for the threats coming from over the border.  I'd be interested in any comments on that - especially if you are a Kenyan Somali or refugee.

Posted at 08:32 25 September 2009 by Rob Macaire  |  Comments[3]

UK and Kenya

Apologies to regular readers of this blog for the gap in posts.   Also a reminder to people commenting that you need to keep remarks to under 800 words, otherwise the system automatically rejects them:  I know a couple of people have had contributions rejected for that reason.

Here are three things that have been on my mind:

The debate, which has become complicated and I suspect leaves a lot of people confused, about how to handle the post-election violence.  Read what the EU Heads of Mission in Kenya had to say about it last week.  I just hope that MPs and Ministers, and opinion formers in the press and elsewhere, can inform a public debate that allows the country to agree a way to hold people accountable for the violence.   It's just common sense that if there is no consequence for inciting or facilitating mob violence, people will do it again.  But I've said enough about this in the past.

Second, the fact that despite all the political controversies in Kenya, what most people are worried about is food shortages.  This is a huge challenge for the government, together with international aid agencies, but I agree with those commentators who have said let's get the longer term issues sorted out, so that droughts don't cause this sort of crisis in the future. 

And third, celebrating the positive.  I was at the recent festival organised by StoryMoja and the Hay Festival from the UK, where there was an enormous amount of debate and engagement by a wide range of Kenyans of all ages and backgrounds.  I came away energised by the positives in the country, not least the dynamism of young people and their determination to make the country better.  And just yesterday I was at the launch of a new service to help small businesses succeed in Kenya - run by a 29 year old Kenyan who studied and set up her company in the UK, and assisted by the UK Trade and Investment team in the High Commission. AFRI Business Development is a great example of how Kenyans from the diaspora can come back into the country with ideas and enthusiasm that can really help the economy.

Posted at 15:23 13 August 2009 by Rob Macaire  |  Comments[2]