What Professor Ali Mazrui said about ICC and Kenya-US relations in 2009

Way back in 2009 Standard Writer David Ohito spoke to Prof Ali Mazrui on post-election Kenya and the country’s frosty relations with the US then. We bring back some of these excerpts and his take on the ICC which were published online and in the Standard Newspaper:

Question: When Obama says some people only support democracy when they are in the opposition, who comes to mind?

ANSWER: Unfortunately even Barack Obama himself sounded more democratic when he was campaigning than he now behaves as President.

He has started discussing the possibility of detaining suspected terrorists indefinitely without trial, conceivably for the rest of their lives. His decision to close down Guantanamo Bay in Cuba is most commendable, but his decision to transfer and detain some of the prisoners to another prison indefinitely is shocking.

However, post-colonial Africa has worse examples of former democrats in opposition becoming dictators when in power.

It began with Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana who was a hero of anti-colonial liberation.

He then tried to be a post-colonial president for life. Nkrumah detained his adversaries without trial and invented Africa’s one-party state.

Idi Amin overthrew Milton Obote in 1971 in the name of human rights and then launched a reign of terror in Uganda for almost a decade.

Question: What options can the Obama Administration explore in supporting Kenya’s reform agenda to ensure national stability?

Answer: The United States should not interfere too much in Kenya’s affairs, but there is room for constructive criticism and pro-democracy lobbying between friends. Kenya should be encouraged to pursue a new and more viable constitution, and the Kenyan political and economic elite should be pressured to fight corruption and tribalism much harder than they have been doing so far.

In the first two decades of independence, Africa had two countries, which were widely regarded as models of stability? Ivory Coast and Kenya. Since then Cote d’Ivoire has collapsed as a model. Unfortunately, Kenya is drifting in a similar direction of political decay.

Question: US Assistant Secretary for Africa, Johnnie Carson, visited Kenya and expressed anger at the slow pace of reforms. Soon after, Delta Airlines cancelled its debut direct flight to Nairobi. What could be happening in relations between Kenya and America?

Answer: As I have said, constructive criticism between friends is acceptable, but it is going too far when an American official expresses anger against Kenyan authorities. That is paternalistic. Nevertheless, this is a fascinating stage in Kenya’s relations with the US. For the first time in history the President of the US is the son of a native-born Kenyan.

Ghana and Nigeria have had Presidents who were American-educated, whereas Kenya has not.

On the other hand, there are, today, surprisingly more Kenyan students in American universities and colleges than there are Nigerians, in spite of the fact that the population of Nigeria is four times that of Kenya.

With thousands of Kenyans in American classrooms and the son of a Kenyan in the White House, I am optimistic about the future of Kenya-America relations.

I only wish Barack Obama had dual citizenship, Kenyan and American.

Question: US Congressman Russell Feingold has asked the Obama Administration to withhold military aid and official assistance to Kenya unless the country implements reforms. What is your take on this conditionality?

Answer: I am not enthusiastic about Kenya receiving foreign military aid unless the aid is needed for maintaining law and order. As for foreign aid for economic development, the US should ensure it is used efficiently, devoid of corruption, and compatible with basic standards of good governance and social justice.

Aid should not be used to force constitutional amendments.

Question: How best should we handle the perpetrators and the victims of post-election violence?

Answer: The perpetrators of violence nearly dragged Kenya into a civil war. It may be unrealistic to seek to punish all of them, or even punish actual killers. But if there is a way of identifying ringleaders and large-scale instigators of violence, they should be held accountable and prosecuted.

Question: But a local tribunal is likely to spark protest from supporters of local warlords and turn the accused into tribal heroes and martyrs. This in turn could reignite ethnic clashes. What is your take?

Answer: I do understand the risks of enforcing accountability. We do need a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but amnesty should be selective. Not all killers should be pardoned. We need to work out selective criteria of eligibility for amnesty.

Question: Is Kofi Annan misusing the envelope with 10 names of key suspects of post-election violence?

Answer: Kofi Annan means well. After all, he did help us avert a catastrophic civil war through mediation. But if Kenya can create an independent Truth and Reconciliation Commission, preferably chaired by a non-Kenyan moral leader like Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Kofi Annan’s envelope with ten secret suspects should be handed over to the Chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, rather than to The Hague.

Question: What about the victims of the post-election violence. How should we address their predicament?

Answer: If some of the leading instigators of violence turn out to be the wealthy elite, they should be forced to contribute large amounts of money to a special Fund of Post-election Reconstruction. We should also appeal to other wealthy Kenyans at home and abroad whether or not they were involved in the violence. Our friends in Europe, North America, Japan, China, India, and the Middle East may also be called upon to help re-build the broken lives of thousands of victims of the post-election violence.