Sh3.6b US project to edge out old Kenyan leaders

The US embassy will push ahead with its activities among youth groups, even after President Kibaki expressed his objection, new secret American cables released by wikileaks website show.

America is spending Sh3.6 billion shillings on a youth project whose objective is to kick out existing leaders and replace them with a new lot.

A secret letter from US ambassador Michael Ranneberger to Secretary of State Hilary Clinton says the embassy is solidly behind youth groups, whose “ultimate objective is the emergence of alternative political leadership”.

The youth groups are supposed to end tribal politics, help in reconciling the various tribes and implementation of reforms.

They, he said, are “cooperating across ethnic lines” and “are focused on ending ethnic-based politics, promoting reconciliation, and implementation of reform.

The revelation –and the amount of money budgeted for the exercise — will trigger lots of questions on the actual intentions of the Obama administration.

The cables say that senior levels of the Coalition government had “sought to pressure us to curtail such activity. We pushed back firmly.”

The money allocated for the youth activities is equivalent to the annual budget for the ministry of Lands.

Opposed to America’s involvement

One of the cables names President Kibaki as the person who was opposed to America’s involvement with the youth (Read: Ruling elite ‘wary of youth meetings’).

Others named are Internal Security minister, George Saitoti, (former)Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula, Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi and head of civil service, Francis Muthaura.

Interestingly, some of the cables on the youth are also copied to the “cdr USAfricom” – the Africom commander based in Stuttgart, Germany.

They are also copied to ”CJTF” an acronym of the Combined Joint Task Force whose mandate is to check the emergence of extremist ideology within the Horn of Africa.

Africom is an American military command that was set up to protect American interests, citizens and assets in Africa. Its commander reports to the US Secretary of Defence.

When the Wikileaks cables were first released, the government spokesman, Alfred Mutua accused the US Embassy in Nairobi of attempting to overthrow the Kenya government through regime change. But was it?

Though the US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger denied the allegations, new cables show that the US has been organising and funding more than 60 separate youth groups across the country – whose main agenda is to create new leadership and press for reforms.

One of the resolutions reached by Kibaki-opposed US-backed Youth Forum was on the formation of a youth-led political party “whose ideologies are in sync with the youth... and to mobilise support for reform-minded youth leaders to join positions of leadership in order to change the country.”

The US also intends to set up its own youth-managed fund to support small village groupings, projects run by youth and youth serving organisations.