Sabotage claims threaten US-Kenya ties

• Obama administration has been accused of plotting to topple the coalition government

Relations between Kenya and the US appear headed for rough waters following claims that Washington is funding a political uprising in the country.

When Government Spokesman Alfred Mutua, on Tuesday, claimed foreign powers were plotting to topple the government, it was not difficult to tell the target of his salvo.

Dr Mutua’s statement was released as a series of diplomatic cables on what American envoys, including those who have served in Kenya, make of their countries of posting had been leaked.

Even though the full details on Kenya are yet to emerge, they may not be very flattering on its leadership if the tit bits gleaned from foreign newspapers are anything to go by. The reports had depicted Kenya as “a flourishing swamp of corruption”.

Dr Mutua accused some unnamed foreign powers of spending at least Sh1.6 billion ($20 million) on youth groups with a view to putting in place a new leadership structure in the country.

“The Kenyan Government is concerned with foreign attempts to create despondency against the government and the country in the guise of youth empowerment,” he said.

“The Government is aware that a lot of money has been allocated to fund the youth to cause an uprising against our country and lead us into turmoil in an attempt to install a new leadership structure,” he stated.

Dr Mutua was careful in his wording, yet they sounded like a response to a speech by US ambassador Michael Ranneberger three weeks ago during the National Youth Forum’s conference at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre.

He said: “When I was in the US recently, I had the opportunity to see President Obama. I told him that in Kenya we were pushing his agenda to empower youth, and he enthusiastically emphasised his support for this. Therefore, I am using this occasion to make a major policy statement regarding US efforts to empower young Kenyans."

On August 3, while addressing a Young African Leaders Forum in Washington, Mr Obama said: “We’re helping to strengthen grassroots networks of young people who believe in change — as they’re saying in Kenya today — ‘Yes Youth Can.”

The “Yes Youth Can”, according to the envoy, is an initiative by the US embassy to empower young people through civic education to take a leading role in bringing change in the country.

It is supporting the National Youth Forum as it develops an action plan to mobilise its national grassroots support to press for change.

The US is investing Sh3.5 billion in the initiative, dwarfing the claim by Dr Mutua that foreign powers have spent Sh1.6 billion “to fund the youth to cause an uprising.”

“We are putting resources behind these words to achieve results through a major youth empowerment initiative,” said Mr Ranneberger.

The embassy is also to establish a Sh800 million ($10 million) Youth Innovate for Change Fund to create economic opportunities for the youth. The funds are mainly channelled through the United States Agency for International Development (USAid).

USAid confirms it’s heavily involved in funding programmes that help advance good governance and citizen participation in Kenya’s affairs.

“Following the violence after the 2007 elections, a new democratic transition including a new Constitution has made improved governance a top priority for USAid, since future peace and stability depend on it,” the aid agency notes on the website.

Mr Ranneberger has been touring parts of the country to meet youth groups to encourage them to play an active role in pushing for change. The visits and financing of youth activities at the grassroots level has not gone unnoticed by some MPs.