Kenya will not shun West, Amina Mohammed says

Kenya will continue to strengthen ties with both traditional development partners from the West and in Africa, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Ambassador Amina Mohammed has said.

Although the country’s foreign policy under the Jubilee government will largely remain “Afrocentric”, the country was not out to shun “Western traditional friends” said Ms Mohammed.

“The President’s foreign policy is Afrocentric and most of the work we have done so far is primarily to improve trade ties that we have across the region but also to do it with traditional friends we have had for years,” she said.

Afrocentricity deals primarily with self-determination and African agency and is a Pan-African ideology in culture, philosophy, and history.

The Jubilee government has been accused of shunning Kenya’s traditional Western friends and “looking East” and mainly increasing relations with China but Ms Mohammed said that had not affected ties with the rest of the world.

“We have not shunned anybody, some of the best support we have is from our traditional (Western) allies, they will continue to be our friends and partners,” she said while speaking Tuesday during the 'State of the Nation’ breakfast show on Easy FM

“Support from our Western partners has continued to flow and we are very grateful,” she added and denied allegations that any aid from the West had been cut because of Kenya’s relations with the East.

Following crime against humanity cases facing President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Deputy William Ruto at the International Criminal Court, Western partners warned against electing the two saying “choices have consequences”.

Jubilee supporters and allied politicians have accused the West of attempting to intimidate Kenya for electing the duo and for being behind their trial at The Hague based court.

Ms Mohammed however said the government would continue “to get invitations” from the various partners including those from the West and would honour the same.

The policies that have been adopted by the government, she explained, would not hurt any relations between Kenya and her traditional partners.

OBAMA

The US President Barrack Obama has invited Mr Kenyatta together with other African leaders for a Summit on August while European Union has sent a similar invite to the President set for April said the Cabinet Secretary.

But while emphasizing on the Afrocentric policy, she said President Kenyatta went for his first state visit to Ethiopia with similar calls expected between Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, South Africa, Ghana, Liberia, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire in the coming days.

The Cabinet Secretary said Kenya had achieved a lot in terms of regional integration and also denied the country was out to edge Tanzania by fronting the “coalition of the willing”.

The government has also launched a single permit visa with countries from the Northern corridor including Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan for ease of travel and exchange of goods and services, she added.

On the ongoing crisis in South Sudan, Ambassador Mohammed said Kenya was yet to decide on whether to send additional troops to the country to protect officials monitoring a ceasefire agreement signed between warring factions.