Kenya is in a hostile neighbourhood. Uganda, in addition to making an unlawful claim on the Migingo Island, has now also dubiously set claim on another Lake Victoria island, Ugingo. Ethiopian marauders frequently cross the border at Turkana and kill Kenyans, apparently at will. The internecine wars in Somalia have crossed over into Kenya with many killed in the Mandera border town and many more in our capital city.
It is only a matter of time before the instability that we thought we had sorted out in Southern Sudan spills over once more into Kenya. The fate of Kenyan workers in Tanzania is still a festering boil between the two governments and the provisions of the EAC Treaty are being respected more in the breach by our brothers down South. Let us not forget that as soon as Egypt sorts out its nascent troubles with the new wave of democracy sweeping across the Arab world, it will re-think the new Nile Waters Treaty and Kenya will find it and its allies defending themselves against a resurgent nation with a professional and well-trained military.
At this juncture, Kenya's foreign policy needs a firm hand and the candidates positioning themselves to take over the mantle of the presidency must begin to articulate the nature of their foreign policy when they come to power. Martha Karua, the first out of the gate, must begin to demonstrate that her presidency will not just be obsessed with national issues; international ones will also have an impact on the manner in which she implements her agenda and it is imperative that she takes a more than casual look at what constitutes her international relations policies.
Prof George Saitoti, the acting Minister for Foreign Affairs, having taken over from the hapless Moses Wetangula, makes for a poor head of foreign policy. In the years he served as President Moi's deputy, he was not known for any bold strategic thinking. Instead, much t his humiliation, he was forced to sit out the Vice-Presidency for a term while Moi decided whether or not the nation needed a V-P in the first place. It is now his responsibility to manage the disparate elements of Kenya's diplomatic corps with a view to strategically positioning the nation to take advantage of the situation in our back yard, while at the same time balancing the relations between Kenya and the West and a rising China. Why he allowed Kalonzo Musyoka to go begging to the Indians remains a mystery only the sands of time will tell.
Kenya has an interest in a stable South Sudan and a peaceful Somalia and Ethiopia. If Meles Zenawi, who betrayed the African Union during the Copenhagen climate change talks, is unable to rein in the Merille who have become a thorn in Kenya's side then Kenya should begin to reassess its relationship with the mercurial Ethiopian Prime Minister. And while Kenya acts as a conduit for arms to the forces of Salva Kiir, who took over from the slain John Garang, it must also influence events in Juba to prevent the flaring up of an ethnic war between Kiir's Dinkas and their perceived enemies. That would be catastrophic not only for Africa's newest nation, but for Kenya too. These are not the eighties when we could host tens of thousands of refugees; our economy cannot cope with the influx of refugees at this time.
We need a robust foreign policy overseen by a competent diplomatic corps and a Minister who knows what he is doing. It is time for the President and Prime Minister to appoint a substantive foreign affairs minister and to refashion our foreign policy to reflect the changes on the ground. No longer can the ministry be used as one more front in the war between PNU and ODM and the president cannot appoint a minister whose sole job will be to keep Raila Odinga down. That mistake was made with the appointment of Raphael Tuju and we are still recovering from the ham-handed way he managed diplomacy. Ms Karua must tell us what she intends to do. If she cannot, then her credentials as a president will be seriously handicapped.
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