Kenya Doesn't Need US Intervention to End Political Impasse, Foreign Affairs PS Macharia Kamau Says

Kenya does not need any intervention from the United States to end alleged political impasse in the country, Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau has said.

“With memories of US interventions in countries such as Libya and Iraq ostensibly to return democracy, still fresh in our minds, the jitters about this proposal by senior US leaders is understandable,” Ambassador Kamau said in a statement.

“Any form of interference by the US in a country that has time and again demonstrated her commitment to entrench democratic principles, rule of law and good governance can only portend danger,” the former Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York remarked.

Responding to former American ambassadors to Kenya Mark Bellamy and Johnnie Carson's calls to have President Donald Trump administration arbitrate the stalemate between Jubilee government and the opposition, Macharia noted that the calls by the two ex-envoys is "a clear demonstration of preconceived notions and stereotypes about Africa by the Western technocrats."

"Donald Trump's administration should privately pressure the Kenyan government to respect democratic norms and obey the rule of law," Bellamy and Carson said in a commentary appearing in African Arguments, an online journal published by the London-based Royal African Society.

They added that the US should exert considerable pressure on President Kenyatta's administration "because Kenya needs the relationship more than the US."

"The harsh reality for Nasa is that it has no legal basis and few realistic options for continuing to dispute Kenyatta’s legitimacy...meanwhile, the president’s control of the executive, comfortable parliamentary majorities, command of government resources, loyalty of the security forces, and broad international support means his standoff with Odinga is very unequal," the two said, adding that the standoff, therefore, needs an external arbiter.

However, in rejoinder, PS Macharia said: "This is a demonstration of why desk research on Kenya, with the only source of information being a biased western media, should be treated with disdain."

"The authors seem to revel in misinforming their readers not only on the existing situation but also on the events that unfolded during Kenya’s election cycle in 2017," he says in the statement released on Tuesday.

He added: "They talk of political chaos and possible inter-communal violence and a palpable desire to change this trajectory. They even mourn that attempts by western governments to appeal for calm are not being heeded."

"Competitive politics in a democracy, both in America and in Africa, can never be described as turmoil. Indeed, political competition is a key tenet of democracy and Kenya has demonstrated that with strong institutions, credible and peaceful elections are possible," he said.