Elly Omondi Odhiambo
24 February 2008
opinion
The rejection of renowned conflicts mediator, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa is so far, the biggest diplomatic let down in the Kenyan crisis. Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mr John Kuffuor, Ms endayi Frazer, Mr Kenneth Kaunda, Mr Khetumile Masire, Mr Joaquim Chissano, Ms Graca Marcel, Mr Benjamin Mkapa was not quite such a long list of international intervention that Kenya could not absorb into their strategic diplomacy.
After all, Kenya is the home of the UN in Africa and many other supranational headquarters stationed in Nairobi and its environs. All these actors in the international relations arena came in to make a quick diagnosis while presumably being in solidarity with the Kenyan people. The International community; Africa Union, UN, NEPAD, the EU and so on combined their diplomatic strengths to do something about Kenya.
Therefore, it makes many commentators wonder why the initial and consequent responses of intervention were ignored or treated with trepidation by the current government. The reception these leaders got ranged from confusing to shameful.
Mr Kuffour was apparently here for a cup of tea. Now, Mr Ramaphosa is a key influential figure in international politics, what does Mr Alfred Mutua, Mr Kibaki's mouthpiece-in-chief thinks he came for, another cup of tea? From the Bantustans of the apartheid era in South Africa to Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland, the man carries enough mediation experience to be bothered by the suspicious theatrics of Mr Kibaki's team in the peace talks.
From the petty policy frameworks and rules of engagement at the Foreign Affairs Ministry on Harambee Avenue, it does not surprise many that the eminent position of Prof. Wangari Maathai in the local and global arena is valued only outside Kenya.
Prof. Wangari's enviable contribution in world environmental affairs can still be used by opposing sides in the peace talks to bring some sense of understanding. Some die-hard PNU politicians have vilified Ms Wangari since the Memorandum of Understanding (read Kenyan transition 2002) days for drumming up a pro-Mr Raila Odinga message. Ms Wangari has simply been downplayed because of her strong feminist voice in a jungle of dominant male politicos.
In world affairs, any government that makes Archbishop Tutu's intervention look irrelevant is perhaps one that suffers some chronic amnesia on the subject of peace, justice and reconciliation. Archbishop Tutu and Mr Ramaphosa both brought their experience to the intractable conflict of Northern Ireland. Archbishop Tutu and Ms Wangari are in the rare list of Africa's glitterati in the Nobel Peace Prize club. Something must be seriously wrong with Kenya's foreign relations officers; they have let down this country big time.
In international and local conflict resolution, the most important contributors are not simply the official state appointees who gather around the peace table. It is not even the top officials of opposing sides that make the painful impartial roadmaps. Indeed, the people who carry the heaviest burden in conflict resolution and transformation are international actors who in this game, are modestly referred to as Track Two diplomats. Mr Ramaphosa is a prominent example.
The claims by PNU that Mr Ramaphosa has close business links with Mr Raila Odinga are tedious to say the least because the man himself has confirmed he has trade networks with PNU politicians. Mr Ramaphosa is known to be shrewd, focused and not easy to manipulate.
During the beginning of decommissioning of paramilitary weapons in post-conflict Northern Ireland, Mr Ramaphosa and former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari were drafted in to bring their experience in pacifying the two sides of the conflict.
To date, the transformation in Northern Ireland, in what was one of the deadliest conflicts in Europe, is partly because of the negotiation, intervention and supervisory roles of Mr Ramaphosa. Most track two diplomats keep a rather low profile and do not easily dispense with their intentions during peace talks for fear of risking a backlash from opposing sides.
In the Kenyan crisis, some of the track two ambassadors hardly got the chance to show their ability to inject a peace momentum. Within a few days of hanging around Nairobi "Waiting for Godot" the truth finally reached them; the Kibaki government did not feel comfortable with their presence.
Remember in Samuel Becket's Waiting for Godot play, our recent international guests would be playing games, swapping hats, mulling over suicide, arguing, laughing, crying and even preparing to go back to their respective countries. Mr Ramaphosa went home barely 48 hours after he had arrived. Removing Mr Ramaphosa from this contested debate is the same as killing strategic intervention and long-term solutions with a single slingshot.
The discovery of the bugging of Annan's hotel room at Serena by his security officers two weeks ago reveals yet another great embarrassment to the shenanigans of government and foreign relations in Kenya today. Who bugged Mr Annan's offices and hotel room in Nairobi?
There has to be a new approach to our foreign policy, who is our ally? Are we non-aligned? Is China our core buddy or is it the old Western carrot and stick model?
Is Pan-Africa the only real solution in intervening or are Kenyan Wananchi now relegated to a mere audience of their useless politicians? May be these questions are not worth asking when the issue of legitimacy of authority is still hanging in the balance post December 27 elections.
Mr Odhiambo is a research associate at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland
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