By Juma Kwayera
Presidential aspirants are increasingly reverting to foreign travels to sell their candidature, opening debate on how foreign policy will be a major factor in the polls.
A string of recent events, top among them the military incursion against Al Shabaab in Somalia and role in counter-terrorism, are making it necessary for President Kibaki’s would-be successors to marshal regional and international support by playing the foreign policy card.
The latest to travel is Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi, who flew out of the country last week for the United Nations General Assembly, where he will be a keynote speaker.
The trip also rekindles debate about whether Mudavadi is being groomed to succeed Kibaki and underlines how international connections will provide the necessary motto in the race to State House. Significantly, it escalates competition in the race to State House as those with international connections seek to use them to attain power.
The foreign policy question comes on the back of reports that the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) presumptive presidential candidate Raila Odinga has settled on Aldai MP and Agriculture Minister Sally Kosgei as his running mate because of her high profile in diplomatic service and former Head of Civil Service, which enabled her to establish a strong network of friends the party can count on for support.
The criminal charges Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and Eldoret North MP William Ruto face at the International Criminal Court narrows competition for international recognition and by extension Diaspora vote to three aspirants: Raila, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka and Mudavadi. Gichugu MP Martha Karua and Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth have in recent months toured the US and Canada to sell their ambitions.
Tours are official
Communication Director at Raila’s Presidential Secretariat, Barrack Muluka, denies the PM’s forays abroad have anything to do with his candidature.
Muluka says the tours are official and have nothing to do with campaigns or seeking financial support abroad.
“We engage foreign nations to the extent that they understand what we stand for, not to lobby for support. It is not intended to look for sponsorship for his candidature,” he says. As a matter of fact, he adds, he is not aware of any candidate who is shopping for foreign support.
“There could be the possibility of candidates going to look for external support. Even nations with an interest in the geopolitics of the region would by extension be interested in Kenya. These considerations are important and only one can pretend they do not matter. However, I am not aware of anybody who is engaging externally,” he says.
The only obvious foreign influence in the next polls has manifest in the form of the crimes against humanity Uhuru and Ruto face. The two have quietly been banned from visiting Western countries that place a high premium on human rights. Their foreign travels have only been limited to Africa, Gulf States, and East Asia, where Kenyan Diaspora is thin.
David Kikaya, Kenya’s former Permanent Representative at the UN Environment Programme, says the new Constitution has stiffened competition for Diaspora support, which has emerged as a major player in Kenya’s economy.
“No ICC suspect has bothered to travel to the West because they know they will get hostile treatment. Given Kenya’s position, a number of countries would be willing to touch base with the other three candidates with untainted reputation internationally. It is not easy support because they know African politics is volatile and anything can happen,” says Dr Kikaya, a lecturer in international relations at the Unites States International University.
Raila, because of his high profile as a human rights defender for which he served terms in detention, has over the years built and maintained contacts in and outside Africa. The five years he has served as PM have helped him extend connections having met virtually all key players in international politics – US President Barrack Obama, former and serving British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron, former French President Nicholas Sarkozy, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, among others.
Opened party offices
As for Kalonzo, his stint as Foreign minister exposed him to Kenya’s traditional development partners the US, France and Britain. But political science lecturer at the University of Nairobi, Adams Oloo, says the VP’s main weakness is his inability to foster symbiotic relationship with international friends.
“He tends to project himself as a nice guy. However, relations are what you make of them and this is going to manifest in how the candidates connect with the Diaspora community,” says Dr Oloo.
The VP has opened party offices in London and South Africa in the hope of shaping his agenda and tapping into the diaspora vote. His spokesman, Kaplich Barsito, says Kalonzo has established a strong network abroad that is consistent with foreign policy agenda in which he is the most experienced. “He (VP) has been telling foreign governments and agencies to invest in Kenya. He also aims at encouraging Kenyans in the Diaspora to remit more money into our economy,” says Barsito.
Mudavadi on the other hand presents different set to friends: financial institutions – World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Stations and European Development Bank. He served as Finance minister at a time the economy was in a free-fall, which enabled him to establish contacts with countries with stronger economies.
“Positions are what you make of them. He restored financial stability. As DPM, people have come to see him more after he left ODM, but critics accuse him of citing the letter rather than the spirit of the Constitution to make himself relevant,” says Oloo.
However, his role in Serena talks that ended the 2008 post-election violence earned him a reputation in Western capitals and the UN system, thanks to his personal relationship with former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, who mediated the peace process.
Kenya’s strategic position in the region elicits a lot of interest in its polls internationally and it should surprise voters that candidates are playing the foreign policy card to win over voters.
In the recent past United Kingdom, United States, Canada and China, which host a huge population of Kenyans, have hosted presidential aspirants. In his last foreign visit in China at the invitation of Beijing Raila met Kenyans and took advantage of the trip to sell his agenda, which Dr Oloo says is critical in terms of financial support.
The question of foreign influence in Kenyan politics had always been a muted subject until the 2007 post-election revelations that US Republican party-supported International Republican Institute had massively funded the Party of National Unity campaign. Consequently, it is widely believed foreign trips are essentially meant to raise funds for election campaigns.
