US visa ban threat against leaders is an act of intimidation, says Mutua

• Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula has summoned the US ambassador, Mr Michael Ranneberger for talks over letters that the American government has sent to 15 Kenyans, threatening to ban them from travelling to the US. Daily Nation talks to Government Spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua

Are the President and the Prime Minister among those who received the letters?

The principle here is whether individuals should be given letters for jobs they do in enhancing public policy or in their public capacity. And what we are saying and what the President is saying is that it is disturbing for people who have a disagreement with him or his government to write to individuals.

Writing to a Member of Parliament or to civil servants is like gagging them and it is nothing but intimidation. Countries do not talk to an individual, they should talk to the government.

MPs vote with their conscience and once a decision is made by Parliament it is binding to all parliamentarians. Therefore, selecting MPs for decisions made by the entire House is actually trying to go against the principles of democracy.

What they are doing is trying to instil fear so that people do not comment on anything that the US does not believe in. We think that is plainly wrong and is not an acceptable way of doing things.

It is like the government of Kenya writing letters to civil servants in the US government telling them that they will be held personally responsible for the failure of the pullout from Iraq. It is preposterous to the say the least.

Kenyans too are generally worried at the pace of reforms. Why then did the President have to protest when it came from the US government?

The President has not said to Obama, “do not talk to us or do not try to speed us up”. He has actually appreciated what Obama and the US are trying to do. What he is questioning is the way they are doing it. We appreciate the way Hillary Clinton has treated us with respect and decorum. She achieved more in two days than what the US mission in Nairobi has achieved in the last two years by intimidation and threats.

What then does the government expect the Obama administration to do about its mission in Kenya?

Our perspective has always been that the right information is not getting to Obama. It was very clear to us when Hillary Clinton was here and expressed surprise at how much had been achieved. But it is not for us to comment on the workings of that mission. It is for the US government to decide what they need to do.

And what steps is the government likely to take when other countries follow suit like Canada had done?

We are not going to engage in activism diplomacy. We are not a colony. We work with friends; we do not work with people who threaten us.

And you can ban the whole country from going to the US but that will not stop us from continuing with our reform agenda. We are running through the reform agenda for the country, as the Prime Minister has said many times, and not to please anyone.

We are doing it for us and generations to come. We do not want to go back. Who died in the post-election violence? It was not Americans, it was not Canadians, it was not the Europeans.

It was the blood of Kenyans that was shed. Therefore assuming that the President does not care about that blood is a big insult. We would not like to see a repeat of what happened.

And that is why it is so important to respect what the President is doing and trying to achieve. We are not going to stomach threats, intimidation for our own internal affairs.

What does the government think of arguments that the President should have left Foreign Affairs to deal with the matter?

President Kibaki is very clear in his letter. He is not telling Obama, ‘you are writing the letters’ but he is telling him that ‘your people are going about it the wrong way’. He is saying, the way your people are going about it is wrong and it will not achieve the desired results.

The President did not write to Johnny Carson. He wrote to Obama telling him, ‘can you look at what your people are doing. Is that the right manner?’.

The President does not engage in activist diplomacy. He is tackling the core of the problem and saying, ‘we are working together as brothers and sisters, we are working together as teammates, we are working together as partners. We do not have a master and a slave here. We work together as partners and friendly nations’.

But doesn’t it send mixed signals when the Prime Minister supports the US move while the President protests?

There is no contradiction because the US has every right to ban people from their country. The President is protesting at the writing of letters to individual ministers and civil servants.

If anybody has a problem with what the President is doing, they should take it up with him and not target people working under his orders.

So then, what is the status of reform in the country as outlined under Agenda Four?

There has been a lot of misinformation about the so-called pace of reforms. The government is on schedule when it comes to the pace of reform. If you look at all the reforms agenda four; the constitution, we are on track with a committee of experts looking at the constitution.

On land reforms, a paper was brought to Cabinet and a sessional paper will be brought to Parliament once it resumes. The national cohesion and reconciliation commission has started work. On boundaries, there is a committee at work. The ECK was removed and a new one has been put in place and it has conducted two elections very well.

When you look at police reforms, the taskforce is scheduled to report at the end of the month. On judicial reforms, a taskforce was appointed and the legal process has started.

All of these things are on schedule. The only thing that has not worked as well as we would have wanted is the issue of the tribunal. The President and Prime Minister personally went to Parliament to try and have the laws passed. A local tribunal was shot down in Parliament.

Our parliament is independent just like the US Congress. Currently the Obama government is having difficulties passing its national health care plan because Congress is independent. We cannot blame Obama for the failure of Congress to pass the legislation he wants.

But, isn’t time running out for ahead of the elections in three years?

This government has been in power for two years and it has five years to enact the reforms. Reforms are not done in two weeks or within three months because they involve a legislative system. It takes time. All these will be done.