John Kerry meets Kenyan civil society activists, impressed by their energy and power

US Secretary of State John Kerry (centre) speaks to representatives of civil society organisations at PAWA254 Centre, an arts collective, in Nairobi Tuesday. [Photo: REUTERS]

NAIROBI: US Secretary of State John Kerry wound up his three-day visit to Kenya Tuesday morning after meeting members of civil society.

He met them at Boniface Mwangi’s Pawa254 offices along State House Road, where he was taken through several painting and graffiti with political messages.

Mr Mwangi, a former photojournalist, has been one of the most critical voices against the Jubilee administration and Parliament and has led protests against the excesses of the government.

The Secretary of State revealed that it is President Uhuru Kenyatta who encouraged him to pay a visit to Mwangi’s premises.

“Well, I will just say that I am incredibly impressed by the energy and the power, the creativity that is in this building.

LEARN MORE

“I think the government here is very lucky to have this kind of input to people’s hopes and aspirations, and I think that I want to learn more about it. Already, you can just sense the excitement of the possibilities of their participation with society. On Tuesday, the President actually was very encouraging to me to come here and to meet with everybody and to get a sense of that.”

Mr Kerry then made an unannounced trip to Mogadishu, Somalia, where he met President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmake.

“Secretary Kerry landed in Mogadishu, Somalia, to reinforce the United States commitment to supporting Somalia’s ongoing transition to a peaceful democracy,” State Department spokesperson Marie Harf said.

“In his meetings with federal and regional government officials, he discussed security co-operation and Somalia’s progress towards meeting its reform and development benchmarks... He also met with civil society leaders to discuss the importance of a vibrant NGO sector and thank African Union troops for their role in stabilising Somalia,” she said.

Before jetting out of Nairobi, Kerry kept Kenyan security guessing over his departure after his handlers indicated that he was to leave in the afternoon.

A senior Jubilee government official was put on standby to see off President Obama’s top envoy at JKIA, only for the State Department to release a statement that Kerry had made an impromptu trip to Mogadishu.

While on his three-day tour, Kerry met President Uhuru Kenyatta, opposition leaders Raila Odinga, Kalonzo Musyoka and Moses Wetang’ula, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga, victims of the 1998 bomb blast and addressed a press conference at the Sankara Hotel.

He neither met Deputy President William Ruto nor speakers of Parliament Justin Muturi and Ekwe Ethuro. It’s not clear why Kerry’s itinerary did not include Parliament as is the tradition with foreign dignitaries who meet leaders of the three arms of government.

“It’s a healthy exchange and I don’t think any leader of another country should come and only talk to the government in place. I think you need to talk to many different voices and listen carefully, and that’s what I’ve been doing,” Kerry told journalists on Monday.