Three policy issues defining Barack Obama’s trip to Africa

Identity is power – and it matters in international relations. The Guardian has likened President Barack Obama’s trip to Kenya on July 24 to 26 to “JFK going back to Ireland”. As he steps out of Air Force One and onto the Kenyan soil, the single image in Obama’s mind will be his father, Barack Obama Sr.

Next week, all eyes will be on Kenya and Obama, the child and most powerful symbol of the US-Kenya co-operation that dates back to independence. This co-operation is signified by the US-funded “Airlift” programme in the 1960s that produced some 70 per cent of Kenya’s early post-colonial leaders and professionals, including Obama’s father.

However, as Obama jets into Nairobi, the US policy on Kenya is no longer the pristine field it used to be, but has morphed into a dangerous ideological minefield. Broadly, three cardinal areas have defined US-Kenya relations in the past, and are poised to do so for generations to come: co-operation in economy, security and democracy promotion.

However, in the Post-Cold War era, power-mongers and extremists in Nairobi and Washington alike have been on the prowl, seeking to redefine the terms of this relationship to suit their often bigoted interests.

Officially, Washington is patently clear about what policy issues during Obama’s trip to Africa. According to a press release issued by the White House, these are “to accelerate economic growth, strengthen democratic institutions, and improve security.”

Partly, this agenda has been shaped by a conference organised by the Washington-based think-tank, the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on July 16 to review policy issues in Kenya and Ethiopia prior to Obama’s trip. Panellists in the forum affirmed the goal of the trip as celebrating economic advances, addressing security challenges and promoting democratisation (including human rights issues).

THREE PILLARS

Similarly, Nairobi’s policy priorities, which became clear from a recent article by the Kenyan Ambassador to the US Robinson Njeru Githae, are co-operation in security, economic growth and deepening democracy.

Expectedly the Obama-Kenyatta talks should centre on these three pillars. Primarily, Obama is coming to Nairobi in pursuit of America’s economic interests. He will be in Kenya to co-host with President Uhuru Kenyatta the Sixth Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), an annual gathering of entrepreneurs at all stages of business development, business leaders, mentors, and high-level government officials designed to foster entrepreneurship around the world.

Bilateral trade between Kenya and the US has more than tripled, from $348 million in 2000 to $1.1 billion by 2015, and is expected to grow higher especially in diverse products such as Kenya’s world-famous flowers, fruits, vegetables, minerals and oil.

On its part, Kenya has seized this opportunity to soar up its burgeoning economy, the third fastest growing in the world expected to expand by 6.5 per cent this year. Although the US Congress has voted to renew the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), Nairobi will urge Obama to sign the law to further trade with Africa.

Economists estimate that AGOA has supported 120,000 jobs in the US and 200,000 in Kenya. Additionally, Kenya will petition America to allow nonstop flights (including by nine Boeing Dreamliners recently sold to KQ) to and from Kenya to promote trade and tourism.

On the security pillar, Obama comes to Nairobi less than a week after the re-opening of the up-market Westgate shopping Mall yesterday, which the Nairobi Governor, Evans Kidero, aptly lauded as “a triumph of national resilience”. It comes nearly two years after al-Shabaab gunmen killed at least 67 people and injured 175 others.

Kenya remains America’s pivotal ally against terrorism in Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean rim. Since 2007, America has provided over Sh72 billion in support of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) to directly address the al Shabaab threat at the source. KDF is part of Amisom, and has also received US funding for its peace-keeping work, training, counterterrorism and border security programmes and for the procurement of aircraft, patrol boats, and equipment upgrades.

Despite this support, the US has issued frequent security alerts and travel warning, which have hurt Kenya’s economy and strained relations between the two nations.

The third pillar – the trinity of deepening democracy, fighting corruption and promoting human rights – is squarely ideological and political, linked to the imperatives of the 2017 election. Although Obama will be in Nairobi to attend an economic forum, lobbies in Washington and Nairobi have almost successfully thrust human rights to the top of his priority list. But human rights is becoming a high-stakes game.

In a letter dated July 14 and addressed to the White House, 17 human rights lobbies sensationally accused Kenyatta of undermining the Constitution and its commitment to international human rights law under the pretext of “promoting national security and combatting terrorism.”

A day later, White House press secretary Josh Earnest indicated that “the president will not hesitate to make clear the protection of basic fundamental human rights in Kenya.” Moreover, White House has also signalled that Obama is likely to “continue to encourage democracy and the reduction of corruption inside that country [Kenya] that sometimes has held back this incredibly gifted and blessed country.”

This streak of human rights fundamentalism is stirring anti-gay protests to deter Obama from addressing the gay rights issue. In a letter dated July 13, 2015, the Republic Liberty Party informed the police that on July 22-23, an expected 5,000 men and women will walk the streets of Nairobi from Freedom corner completely naked in protest over Obama’s open and aggressive support for homosexuality. Obama’s choice is stark: to pare down his priorities to those issues likely to deepen Kenya-US relations.

Prof Kagwanja is chief executive, Africa Policy Institute [email protected]