History of Kenya’s ties with world’s big brother since independence

Since independence, Kenya has practically been the go-to guy for the United States of America in a volatile, politically unstable region.

The association of the two countries was further cemented in death, blood and suffering during the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi.

The terrorist bombing, claimed by Al Qaeda, killed 247 Kenyans, 12 US citizens and 32 Foreign Service Nationals.

A bond was forged that only these two countries would understand at a time when global terror was still a theory put forth by security analysts.

However, in spite of these ties- both recent and ancienteach of Kenya’s four presidents have used different tones and strategies while dealing with the world’s most powerful country.

US established diplomatic relations with Kenya in 1964, following its independence.

The two countries have enjoyed cordial relations and an enduring strategic partnership since then. On December 10, 1963, US Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall delivered a message from President Lyndon Johnson to Kenyan Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta in which Johnson congratulated Kenya on its independence.

Diplomatic relations and the American Embassy at Nairobi were established on March 2, 1964, when US Ambassador William Attwood presented his credentials to the Kenyan government.

But these were different times. It was at height of the cold war and Kenyatta, the then Prime minister, was thought to be sympathetic to the communist cause, pitting him right in the middle of a power struggle. During his presidency, the East and the West battled for Kenya’s attention.

“African countries, especially those emerging from colonialism that were fast approaching independence were faced with the decision of whether to align themselves with the West or East. We too had to make that decision,” political scientist Philip Nyinguro of the University of Nairobi told The Standard.

Prof Nyinguro says from the very onset, Kenya was under pressure to bow to the ideologies of the West led by US. “At the time, our relationship with US was only so that they prevent the USSR led Eastern lock from establishing itself in East Africa. And because of this, Kenya’s foreign relations with the US during Kenyatta’s reign largely depended on the geopolitics of the time,” says Nyinguro.

“Before independence, Kenya did not even feature anywhere in US foreign policy. America’s grasp of our country was so wanting that during the Mau Mau trials, they were fully behind Her Majesty’s government,” he adds.

And as the country clamoured for selfrule, America thought that the settlers would strongly object to any discourse of self-rule for their colony.

“But after independence, the West did all it could to woo Kenyatta and his government. The East was already making overtures to yet another new African country,” he says.

MBOYA’S CONNECTIONS

However, several reasons ensured that Kenyatta’s government ended up being an ally to the US. First, there was an already existing rapport between the Kenyan elite and the American government.

“The Tom Mboya airlifts and his connections to the Kennedy family ensured that the ice between the two countries had already been broken. The Kenyan labour movement was also already aligned to the ideologies of the free world, that America espoused at the moment,” he says.

In 1964, another act of nature pushed the two countries even closer. A revolution in the Zanzibar archipelago had the Americans in a panic.

The revolution seemed like the kind of thing that would create space for communism to thrive in Eastern Africa. This, whether real or perceived, had to be stopped So, hurriedly, William Atwood was appointed ambassador.

His key function was to ensure that Kenya continued to pledge its allegiance to the free world. “It is important to note that at this moment, America’s cajoling of Kenya was purely for geopolitical interests. But they knew that for them to have any kind of long-term influence in the country, they had to make more inroads,” says Nyinguro.

To do this, they had to immerse themselves in the country’s economy and security, spaces that had been dominated for decades by Britain. Next came the closure of the Lumumba Institute amid allegations that the institute was part of a communist plot to train radicals who would later stage a coup within the ruling party, Kanu, to replace the West-leaning politicians with a new cabal led by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga.

This move led to the expulsion of Chinese and Russian professionals termed ‘spies’ by the State...a move that endeared the Americans even more to Kenya’s founding father.

But the US still did not have a footprint in Kenya’s military. This would have been the icing on the cake for bilateral relations between the two nations.

However, an opportunity would soon present itself and the Americans would seize it. In 1974, a Marxist military junta known as the Derg ousted the Ethiopian emperor in a coup that would topple strongman and Emperor Haile Selassie, initiating a civil war.

“Again, the West was worried that the coup would be reason enough for communism to take hold of the region. Kenyatta, having been fed on the possible calamitous situations that could present themselves, gave the Americans a peek into Kenya’s defence world. Soon, we were ordering jet fighters from them,” Prof Nyinguro says.

Seven years later in 1981, Kenya signed her first Military Assistance Agreement with the US. The Americans were coming. And in the years that followed under the leadership of Daniel arap Moi, they decided to stay. Analysts say President Moi was a beneficiary of the American Containment Policy. Containment was a US policy using numerous strategies to prevent the spread of communism.

When he took over 1978, the cold war was at its pinnacle. “So they entertained him to make sure communism did not get a stronghold in this part of the world. They basically kept him to ensure he continued to serve Kenyatta’s purpose,” Nyinguro says.

In the West, the Moi government was constantly portrayed as anti-democracy and in violation of numerous human rights. However, little of this was spoken of by the Americans. “For the Americans, Kenya was to be a sub- imperial power in East Africa.”

But with the crumbling of the Berlin Wall and an end to the cold war, ideologies in Washington shifted ever so slightly. Here, they saw a chance to start engaging Kenya’s government in much more meaningful dialogues than the prevention of the spread of terrorism.

“For the first time, we could hear murmurs from Washing- ton on the importance of an openly democratic state. They wanted the sitting president to introduce multi-party politics. He was no longer necessary as a gate keeper,” he says. At the time, US ambassador to Kenya was Smith Hempstone.

GULF WAR

But then, the ground on which the Americans were standing shifted. Considerably. Somalia erupted into chaos. They needed someone at the helm who could once again as gatekeeper, and who would be better at the job than the current gatekeeper.

“So they continued to engage the sitting president. They went slow on the demand for a multiparty system and eventually made concessions to their original demands, ensuring that the democratic space was opened up through the 1997 minimum reforms.” he says. Then the Gulf War started.

The Americans had no military base back then in the Arab world. Once again, the East African Coast proved invaluable to the Americans, with Mombasa being the nearest station for surveillance since the 1981 military agreement between the two countries granted the US access to Mombasa waters.

Finally in 1998, the two countries were bonded by the common feeling of loss, sadness, anger and confusion. On August 7, 1998, the two countries stared at a strange foe, who unbeknown to both of them, would require their cooperation decades later. Nearly, simultaneous bombs blew up in front of the American embassies in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania killing 224 people, including 12 Americans, leaving more than 4,500 wounded.

Again, the two countries found themselves working towards a common goal.

“Mwai Kibaki owes his presidency to the civil society and to the donor community,” says Nyinguro. “It is under his presidency that Kenya- US relations flourished. His commitment to fighting graft and opening up of the business space left may foreign investors confident that he was the man for the job,” he says.

The Americans were so confident in his abilities that they offered him a State visit. He was only the third African president to have been offered such an accolade. Again, the emergence of new threats such as terror ensured that he two companies were on the same page.

“And even in 2007, after the botched elections, the Americans once again stood by Mwai Kibaki. In April 2013, Uhuru Kenyatta was sworn in as the fourth president of Kenya. The US, though belatedly, sent out a congratulatory message on his election, proving once again that in world politics, friendship is relative and only interests are permanent. So the two countries were forced by numerous circumstances as well as an uncomplicated past to tango.

“Uhuru’s government should be admired for shrewdly turning what was previously an apathetic attitude by the world’s big brother to one of active engagement,” he says.

Fate also played a hand. “Obama would never turn his back on the land of his forefathers,” he adds.