OBAMA:
I met with some of the opposition leaders very briefly after the speech and I told them you have a legally elected government and we gonna work with that government but we are also always going to be listening to all elements of the Kenyan society. “It was funny though that one of those leaders I won’t mention who was saying you really need to press the Kenyan government on some issues. And I had to say to them I remember when you were in government, you kept on saying why are you trying to interfere with Kenyan business you should mind your own business.…” he said while meeting the civil society at Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) regional centre at Kenyatta University. He said there are people who want the US to be involved when they’re not in power but take a different position when they are in opposition. “Everybody wants the United States to be very involved when
they are not in power and when they are in power they want the United States to mind their own business,” he said. The US President met key opposition leaders at the Safaricom Indoor Arena
early afternoon at the after addressing Kenyans at the same venue
======================
Prime Minister Raila Odinga Tuesday
opened a new war front with developed countries asking them to stop “lecturing” African nations on
governance issues. He, instead, urged
the West to focus on how to further
open up more trade avenues in the
continent to enable African countries
to prosper economically. While addressing delegates attending
the ongoing Africa Growth and
Opportunity Act forum in Nairobi,
Mr Odinga said the continent had
made great strides by “toppling
dictators” who had given Africa a
bad name. In bad taste “Lecturing us on issues that deal with governance and transparency is in bad taste,” said the PM. Added Mr Odinga: “The continent is still recovering from an era of dictatorship and tyrannical leadership that many African countries struggled hard to dislodge. “We therefore don’t need lectures on how to govern ourselves… we only require lectures on how to trade not only with ourselves but with the rest of the world to enable us prosper.” The PM’s sentiments appeared to be in response to comments by US Ambassador Michael Ranneberger, who had earlier on insisted that the government must implement, in full, all the reform agenda it promised Kenyans. Top of what the US government wants addressed include constitutional review, electoral
review, land reforms and reconciliation. He spoke ahead of the arrival of US Secretary of State Mrs Hillary Clinton, who is expected to grace the official opening of the forum on Wednesday. President
Kibaki is also scheduled to attend.
Similar sentiments have also been
raised by various countries that make
up the European Union. The US
Ambassador said full implementation
was indeed very critical to the
prosperity of Kenyans. “Failure to do
this will interfere with the realisation
of the country’s economic agenda,”
said Mr Ranneberger while addressing the delegates.
http://www.nation.co.ke/InDepth/Agoa-Summit/-/634508/634912/-/eml59o/-/index.html
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