State assures Muslims of protection

The fight against terrorism will not undermine the rights of Muslims, a sessional paper recently presented to the Kenya Cabinet says.

Kenya’s first ever foreign policy has been drafted to deal with terrorism and the welfare of Muslims who have repeatedly complained about harassment by state agents in an effort to deal with al Qaeda suspects.

The paper, which the Sunday Nation has seen, calls for a paradigm shift to cope with an increasingly complex international environment.

“The foreign policy has been conceived as a flexible tool that will require review from time to time to ensure its relevance and to keep pace with a fast changing global arena,” the paper says.

The draft policy tabled before the Cabinet says in part: “With the Horn of Africa increasingly emerging as a vortex of international terrorism, Kenya has re-examined the parameters of its external relations to balance between playing an effective role in the global anti-terrorism efforts and ensuring that dynamics of counter-terrorism do not undermine the rights of Muslim citizens and its fragile democracy.”

Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula said the paper will be discussed next week so that issues of combating international terrorism and organised crime such as money laundering, trafficking in drugs, humans, small arms, light weapons and other forms of contraband can be stopped.

Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka during the commemoration of 1998 bomb blast asked security agencies in East Africa to upgrade their surveillance to bar security threats like the ‘98 bombing in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam.

The paper is a comprehensive blueprint that outlines how foreign policy has evolved since 1963, its underlying philosophy, principles, objectives and core priorities.

It says Kenya’s economic diplomacy is a tool for advancing the goal of becoming a middle income and industrialised country by 2030.

Kenya aims at strengthening ties with emerging economies in Western and Eastern Europe, Asia, Middle East and Latin America and consolidate its traditional markets in North America.

The linchpin

The paper introduces a new concept known as cultural diplomacy, which is the linchpin of public diplomacy. It is a style of reaching out to all kinds of people and provide agenda for cooperation in spite of policy differences.

The most remarkable cultural diplomacy has been by Kenyan athletes on the global sporting arena since independence and the influence of the local music, including the accompanying traditional flavours and the dance styles.

The new policy also advocates the support for post-conflict reconstruction and interstate conflicts.

The trade rift between the West and the emerging economic blocs such as Japan, India and China, Kenya is presented with new opportunities for cooperation.

“The forceful entry of China as a competitor for resources in Africa, especially oil, has intensified tensions in the West, resulting in a new scramble for Africa,” the document says.