As Kenya continues to mature as a stronger democracy with an increasingly vibrant institutional system overhaul and an introduction of clearly stipulated and set legal systems that encourages the seeds of democracy to flourish, it has lead to a perennial shift over the years over Kenya’s regional and global role.
Under the Kibaki administration, the Kenyan government has realised a tumultuous host of friendly relations between both multilateral and bilateral partners, regardless of cultural partners and new strategical approaches in relation to foreign and economic policy implementation.
Before the end of the former President Moi’s KANU administration, there was a raft of calls from all quarters that institutional change, especially in relations to the deliverance of increased foreign direct investment (fdi), increased trade and economic activity, bilateral and multilateral agreements, and other regional integration projects all seemed to come to a halt or ceased to properly mature. Some form of aid and investment did trickle in, but far less than what was being pumped into the countries neighbours Kenya due to an outcry by key international partners in seeking stronger means of curbing oppression and corruption under the Moi administration.
According to the Foreign Policy Magazine yearly index on the most failed states in the world, Kenya is located in a region that has the highest density of the most failed states globally. Neighbouring countries such as Somalia and Sudan rank first and second respectively. Kenya follows closely behind, being positioned at a meagre 13th place, a far cry from its hay day of 37th place only five years ago.
The index is calculated using a tally of various factors that range from economic decline, internally displaced persons/ refugees, police brutality, public service delivery, equitable distribution of resources, corruption and a raft of other issues that ultimately tally up to get a total score and mark it according to a ranking system with the highest score being number 1; Somalia.
During the promulgation of Kenya’s new constitution there was international condemnation and uproar when Kenya hosted the Sudanese president, Omar El Bashir, yet she is a signatory to the Rome statute, and under international law she is required to arrest Bashir and hand him over for prosecution to the International Criminal Court. However, in her defence, the government claimed that under the African Union (AU) resolution passed recently in the Ugandan heads of state summit, African countries have been asked not to comply with this doctrine.
Some questions have been raised as to the morality and image cast against the backdrop of an impending indictment of some senior Kenyan officials by the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the willingness of the Kenyan government to see the process is dully carried out after a gross and systematic abuse of human rights was carried out during the 2007 post-election violence. Furthermore, the ICC sent over a senior representative who managed to seek approval from the government over the proposed setting up of a tribunal in Kenya. So the question is, why did we not comply with Bashir yet we turn a check and sign this a week after?
Regional interests for any country take great precedence over most issues pertaining to international relations due to the fear that ones neighbour can exert or ignite by their proximity to you. Yes, we do live in an increasingly globalized world that is a global village, but it is your neighbour that is most likely to be your biggest “asset or liability”.
Sudan faces a raft of problems that range from the troubled hot-spots from the Darfur region to the simmering tensions between the North and Southern Sudanese regions over an impending referendum that would allow the South to secede from the North and become Africa’s newest state. Kenya has a mandate, both as the main mediator of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (COPA) and as a friendly neighbour that wants to avoid all forms of future turmoil and bloodshed so as to foster economic growth and prosperity, the maintenance of civil rule and the deflated pressure of an impending disaster in one’s back yard. After the tensions over the post-electoral violence it is only fair for the Kenyan foreign ministry to avert a crisis and bring both players to comply fully with the COPA agreements that the two main opposing sides signed in Nairobi a few years ago.
It would be naive to ignore that gross and systematic human rights have been carried out in not only the Sudan, but also neighbouring countries such as Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Conga (DRC). Whilst we try to forestall problems diplomatically we must also be able to exert regional pressure and influence in other more powerful and influential ways (i.e. soft and hard power), be it economic or materialistic pressure that can and would change the situation.
Another case point can be the treacherous region of Somalia after witnessing two decades of civil war and a mass exodus of migration from the region, with an estimated internally displaced population sizing up to 1.5 million and 450,000 refugees in neighbouring countries, with an increasingly changing demographics with every intense battle that affects many more lives. Somalia is incomparable to Afghanistan, it is much worse, since the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is working inadequately, and the country is held together by AMISOM (African Union Mission to Somalia) armed with 6000 men mostly from Uganda and Burundi.
Terrorism has been a catalyst for foreign states such as the United States, the United Kingdom, NATO and other allies in galvanizing support for both covert and overt measures to be carried our throughout the globe. During the final game of the world cup match in Kampala, Uganda, a bomb went off that killed and injured several people. These acts of terrorism are some of the atrocious and instigated violence that have been credited to militant groups such as Al-Shaabab. This threat is both an economic and political affront to any member states within the East African community and Africa at large.
Our only greatest fear should be laxity to see that the issues that affect our neighbours shall not bear any brunt on us. We should not for one second forget that we host one of the largest refugee camps in the world, Daadab to the North East, whilst another exists in the North Western regions of Kenya, where cattle rustling and arms proliferation do threaten our basic security. Increased instability within the affected areas will only mean increased migration towards our borders, chocking up resources and increasing the chances of a break out of mass malnutrition and exposure to diseases.
National interests and security do supersede all forms of policy decisions that any state can make in regards to how they tackle their foreign policy. It is clear and rational that Kenya should begin changing how it deals with its neighbours since there is a growing concern that there is a general deterioration that can ultimately lead to a boil over effect into the region, affecting its strength along political, economic and social lines. Radical groups such as the Taliban grew because they we largely ignored. We should not make the same mistake with our regional threats and regret later.
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