KENYA WARNING

EARLY in 2008 the image of Kenya as a modern democratic African state in which tribal communities lived and worked side-by-side was shattered by tribal violence which left 1'500 dead and forced some 300'000 people to leave their homes. The cause of the trouble was a rigged election which kept the Party of National Unity's Mwai Kabaki as president and the Orange Democratic Movement's Rail Odinga out in the cold. As the situation deteriorated the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was called in to find a solution; he proposed a form of power sharing with Kabaki as president and Odinga as prime minister and also set out a programme of essential reforms in various parts of Kenyan public life. Many hands were shaken and ministers from the two parties moved into their offices. But little, if any, progress has been made with the reform programme and last week 15 ministers were informed by the US government that they and their families would no longer be able to travel to the United States until serious action is taken to implement the reforms. It is thought that President Obama takes a special interest in Kenya because his father came from there and wants it to regain the reputation it had for racial tolerance until the 2008 riots. In the volatile East African region Kenya was a force for stability; America will not want it to lose that status.