‘Mouth’ diplomacy: Kerry’s trip to Kenya, and other African matters

There have been a handful of crises and collective Africa, through the African Union, and even regional organisations, has said nothing. Africans on social media have let it be known that they are angry.

First, nearly 800 Africans drowned in the Mediterranean Sea making their way in rickety boats to Europe. The deadly crossings have continued, with daily rescues and smaller drownings. The Ethiopians made some noises, but the AU and the rest of the countries whose citizens died have said nothing.

Then there were the xenophobic attacks and killing of African immigrants in South Africa. There was no formal resolution by the AU and when the regional Southern African Development Community (SADC) met in Harare, Zimbabwe’s veteran leader “Uncle” Bob Mugabe fudged the issue.

Closer home, Burundi is going through turbulence as President Pierre Nkurunziza schemes to extend his stay in office with a third term that his opponents say is illegal. Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete, having some weeks back said Mr Nkurunziza was wrong, has toned down a little, calling for the East African Community (EAC) foreign ministers to look into the matter. Kenya has said something about respecting the sovereignty of Burundi.

Rwanda is in a fix. Hutu youth militia have distributed leaflets in the north of Burundi, threatening Tutsi villagers, conjuring up the spectre of the 1994 genocide in which one million Rwandese, mostly Tutsi, were butchered by Hutu extremist militia, Interahamwe.

It also has more than 21,000 Burundi refugees who have fled to its country. However, Rwanda is also in the middle of its own third term jig, with petitions and calls growing ever louder for the constitution to be amended to allow President Paul Kagame to stand again in 2017 when his second term ends.

Therefore, Rwanda could only call for the safety of civilians to be respected in Burundi and keep quiet on the wider political issues. That leaves Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni. Together with Tanzania, the two countries are the regional guarantors of the Arusha Peace Agreement.

However, Mr Museveni too can only be heavy-tongued on this one. He himself did away with the term limits in a 2005 constitutional amendment and has been busy dispatching potential internal rivals in the ruling National Resistance Movement ahead of the February 2016 elections, when he will be seeking to get in the Uganda record books, by aiming to rule for 35 years.

Not surprisingly, the only thing the EAC could do was keep quiet. In this mix, US Foreign minister John Kerry came calling, spending three days in Kenya, parachuting into Mogadishu, back to Nairobi, then off to Djibouti.

In Mogadishu, he did not leave the heavily fortified airport area. However, he said all the right things. How his visit demonstrated that America and the world had not abandoned the Somali people.

That it was also testimony of the “progress” Somalia had made, and that the many difficulties, including continued attacks by Al-Shabaab, were a reminder of how much more hard work remains to be done.

He thanked the countries contributing troops to the AU peacekeeping force in Somalia, AMISOM. And in Nairobi he said he hoped Mr Nkurunziza would respect the constitution in Burundi.
Some folks on the internet were quick to dismiss his words as hot air.

But they missed the point. Unlike the AU, EAC, and SADC, Kerry knows something — that, as the Nigerians would say, “mouth” itself is sufficient diplomacy. Africa’s regional bodies are paralysed in the face of crises because they believe that words are supposed to actually change something.

This is surprising for Africans who are masters at funeral-speech making. Part of diplomacy is like a good funeral speech. It is not supposed to, or expected to, bring back the dead, but to create good feelings and give the impression that you care.

The really game-changing and meaningful diplomacy, like conspiring to overthrow a leader you do not like, or giving money to banned activist groups, happens in secret.

Another important aspect of diplomacy is showing up, as Mr Kerry did in Mogadishu. Showing up allows you do the next two important things — hold hands and take selfies with your hosts. In the real world that is often all that realistic people and nations in distress expect.

The author is editor of Mail & Guardian Africa (mgafrica.com). Twitter@cobbo3