The Kenyan government has dismissed calls by the US to mediate differences between Jubilee and opposition.
Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Macharia Kamau said that Kenya is on the right path given that it has undergone its democratic cycle of general elections and now focused on delivering to the people.
The PS was speaking in response to statements published late last month by former ambassadors to Kenya Johnnie Carson and Mark Bellamy who called for US intervention in the country’s political situation.
The two former ambassadors offered their commentary on the African Arguments, an online journal.
They said that: “Publicly shaming the Kenyatta government or threatening sanctions is not the answer. However, the US must make it crystal clear privately that there are limits to what the US can tolerate if it is to maintain its close relationship and that continuing to amass executive power unconstitutionally and flout the rule of law seriously tests those limits.”
However, Macharia termed the demand “absurd”.
“Our response to the authors’ absurd demand for US intervention in Kenya is a loud no, thanks,” the PS said in a statement on Tuesday according to Daily Nation.
He added: “This is a clear demonstration of how preconceived notions and stereotypes about Africa by Western technocrats override any practical experience and knowledge they may have acquired on the continent. Their knack for getting it wrong on African and Kenyan issues is not only dumbfounding but also a demonstration of why desk research on Africa, with the only source of information being a biased Western media, should be treated with disdain.”
He said the two e-envoys have misinformed their readers about Kenya’s political situation.
“They talk of political chaos and possible intercommunal 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. The reader will note how the authors are keen to weave the now familiar narrative of a crumbling African State and the ever-benevolent Western states ready to intervene and sort out ‘another fine mess in Africa’,” averred Kamau.
The US through its top-ranking aides has been pushing for dialogue between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga since the October repeat polls last year.
Uhuru, has however, remained adamant and maintained he will engage in no political dialogue with the opposition.