Kenya missing as Obama listens to Africa’s needs

Several African leaders briefed President Barack Obama about their countries’ needs at a luncheon on Tuesday from which Kenya was excluded. Prime Minister Raila Odinga was initially invited to attend the event at New York’s posh Waldorf Astoria Hotel, but was subsequently disinvited by the US State Department.

The heads of State of two of Kenya’s East African partners — Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and Paul Kagame of Rwanda — led discussions at the private two-hour meeting attended by the leaders of two dozen countries.

Overzealous official

An unnamed US policymaker told Allafrica.com that the reversal on Mr Odinga’s attendance was due to “an embarrassing error by an overzealous official.” Officials at the United States UN Mission in New York declined to give an explanation of what had happened.

It also appears that the Obama administration is deliberately keeping its distance from the PM and other Kenyan ministers. On Monday, US ambassador Michael Ranneberger warned that Washington intended to impose “smart sanctions” on Kenyan leaders.

Contrary to reports in some of the Kenyan media, Mr Obama was not scheduled to attend a Bill Clinton-sponsored dinner, which Mr Odinga attended. The US president and First Lady Michelle Obama were instead due to host a reception for the world leaders who were in New York for the opening sessions of the UN General Assembly.

At Tuesday’s luncheon, many of the Africans extended “very lovely invitations” for Mr Obama to visit their respective countries, a White House official told reporters following the event.

“I’m sure he would be delighted to take them up on at some point. But there was no specific announcement of any next trip,” said Michelle Gavin, the White House senior director for African affairs. She said that President Obama spoke “very briefly, emphasising that he wanted to take this opportunity to listen.”

The Africans’ presentations were initiated by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia. President Kagame, whose country was recently named the world’s top reformer in a World Bank business report, then introduced a discussion on trade and investment in Africa.

President Kikwete led the final round of discussions. Participants also commented on Mr Obama’s $3.5 billion food security initiative aimed at helping countries such as Kenya develop their farming sectors . In his opening remarks, Mr Obama “stressed the importance of addressing corruption head-on,” Ms Gavin said at the Tuesday briefing.