Kenya: US Secretary of State Delivers Tough Message to President Moi

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allAfrica.com

26 May 2001
Posted to the web 26 May 2001

Ofeibea Quist-Arcton
Nairobi, Kenya

The American Secretary of State, Colin Powell, arrived in Kenya on Saturday on the third leg of his four-nation tour around Africa. He immediately went into a working session with President Daniel arap Moi and later emerged to urge Kenya to reform its struggling economy and fight corruption.

"I candidly mentioned to the president that we needed more reform efforts visible for the World Bank and the IMF [International Monetary Fund] to continue the valuable work that they do here in Kenya,"Powell told a joint news conference.

Moi, who has been president since 1978, assured the US Secretary of State that his government was committed to stamping out corruption and implementing political and economic reforms.

In January, the IMF suspended a US$300m loan package to Kenya, part of a Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility approved last year, saying it was not satisfied with efforts to curb corruption. IMF support is widely considered crucial to help revive Kenya’s ailing economy.

Powell said that he hoped to see new anti-corruption and anti-crime laws in Kenya, as well as legislation to introduce a code of ethics and conduct which he said would create the necessary conditions for the international financial institutions to offer more help. He said this would also go a long way to encouraging further financial investment.

The Secretary of State, who has been promoting good governance and the fight against AIDS since he arrived in Africa on Wednesday, praised Kenyan democracy, saying it was an example to the region. But he made a point of adding that he was looking forward to the "will of the people" being respected in presidential elections scheduled next year.

In South Africa on Friday, Powell suggested that democratic leaders in Africa should know when to step down or retire.

President Moi, in power for more than twenty years, side-stepped a journalist's question about whether or not he would contest the 2002 presidential poll to try and win a third term in office. "Those who decide the destiny of Kenya...or other countries, will be the people themselves," he said.

The Kenyan president, who appeared offended by the question and took some time before answering, criticised people who he said wanted to "undermine the intelligence of the African people,"adding, "I don’t know what the worry is."

Powell and Moi also discussed the civil war in Sudan and HIV/AIDS. The US Secretary of State declined to comment on whether America will be giving additional compensation to Kenyans killed in the bomb attack on the US embassy in Nairobi in 1998. Powell said the matter was still in court and therefore sub judice.

Powell is the first black (Caribbean American) Secretary of State in the United States. His trip has already taken him to Mali and South Africa. After Kenya, he will spend Sunday in Uganda, before flying to Europe on Monday.

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