From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sat Feb 27 2010 - 07:21:32 EST
Carson Articulates Obama Policy on Africa
Charles W. Corey , Mshale News
Published 02/27/2010 - 3:00 p.m. GMT
Video:
http://mshale.com/article/News/News/Carson_Articulates_Obama_Policy_on_Afric
a/18456
Washington - The top U.S. envoy for Africa, Assistant Secretary of State
Johnnie Carson, met with reporters February 24 and answered questions on a
wide array of issues: Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger, Cote d'Ivoire, Somalia, and
China's operations in Africa.
Carson spoke at the Foreign Press Center in Washington and took questions
from journalists there and in Johannesburg and New York through a video
feed. Carson's briefing followed his trip to Europe and Africa, which
included stops in Spain for meetings with European Union officials,
attendance at the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and stops
in Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria.
Asked to offer his view on the 2010 election in Ethiopia, Carson said it
would be premature to comment prior to the voting. "Let's see how they turn
out. What we do say to Ethiopia, to the government, to the opposition
parties and to the citizens is that we hope that this election will be run
freely and fairly and that there be a level playing field for all - that the
government and the opposition take their responsibilities seriously, that
both sides respect the political rights of the others and that both carry
out their responsibilities."
Carson said the United States also has strongly urged that these elections
be "substantially better in their aftermath than the 2005 elections, in
which there was very bitter and serious violence in their wake. We all want
Ethiopia to continue to move along an upward and more inclusive and stronger
democratic trajectory," he said. "Elections are simply an important process
in the selection of democratic leaders. We want this to go well" and are
"looking for an outcome that makes things better for everyone: free,
transparent and open, with both sides taking their responsibilities
seriously."
On Kenya, Carson, a former U.S. ambassador to that country, said "we
continue to encourage" that country's president and prime minster to work
toward the full implementation of the Kofi Annan Agreements that were worked
out at the conclusion of violence in that country in 2008 following the
"very difficult" elections there.
"It is important that in the run-up to the next elections in Kenya that
there be a consensus . especially around the constitution. Both of those
individuals - as leaders of their parties - have a responsibility to ensure
that there is not a repetition of the violence there that followed the
presidential and parliamentary elections. Constitution making is at an
advanced stage. It is important that both men form a consensus behind it and
that they deal with the issues of executive power . issues of impunity and
issues of corruption" and land as well.
Carson added: "If we see individuals like [Attorney General] Amos Wako who
are standing in the way of justice and progress and who violate our statutes
in the United States, we will not hesitate to pursue action against them
through all available means." The career diplomat said that any action taken
against Wako by the United States was done for "very, very clear and
manifest reasons." (While relevant U.S. law does not permit disclosure of
these actions, the attorney general has publicly announced the measures that
the United States has taken against him.)
"He has been attorney general in Kenya for a decade and a half. During that
decade and a half, we have seen both grand corruption and minor corruption.
We saw a billion-dollar scam shortly after he was named attorney general,
and we saw most recently . another scam . in which another $150 million to
$200 million in government money was stolen. During his term in office as
attorney general, he has not successfully prosecuted one - not a single one
- senior government official. No ministers. No deputy ministers. No
permanent secretaries. Yes, he seems to be able to find the stockroom clerk
but he cannot find the senior officials who are there."
Additionally, Carson said, there has been a rash of high-level crime in
which "impunity seems to be the rule of the day" and in which civil society
leaders have been gunned down in the streets of Nairobi. "He [Wako] has not
successfully prosecuted any of those individuals as well."
On Niger, Carson said the United States has been "deeply concerned and
troubled" by events since July and August of 2009, when the former
president, Mamadou Tandja, started to unravel his country's democratic
institutions in pursuit of a constitutionally prohibited third term. The
United States encouraged Tandja not to move in that direction, Carson said.
When Tandja extended his term of office illegally on December 23 of 2009,
Carson said, the United States suspended Niger's participation in the
African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), ended the Millennium Challenge
Corporation program there, terminated all U.S. assistance with the exception
of humanitarian aid and asked Nigerien military officers studying in the
United States to return home.
"We said we were opposed to the hijacking of democracy, even by civilians,
and we meant it." The coup that has just taken place, he said, offers an
opportunity to move Niger back into the ranks of democracy. He quickly
cautioned, however, that "no coup, whether it is a civilian or military
coup, is a good coup. Coups by their nature are bad" and a "disruption of
the political process," he said.
Carson said the United States is looking to the military junta in Niger to
restore democracy there expeditiously, within six months.
On Cote d'Ivoire, Carson said the United States remains very much concerned
about the eruption of violence that occurred when President Laurent Gbagbo
dismissed the government and suspended the movement toward elections in that
country - which have been "too long in the coming."
There is a need to return swiftly to the Ouagadougou Accords, Carson said.
National elections have been postponed six times in the last two to three
years, he said. "It is time for a serious effort to be made to resolve the
political disagreements that have continued to tear apart what once was the
most important economic country in Francophone Africa," Carson said.
Asked about Somalia, Carson said the United States has been the largest
contributor of food aid and humanitarian assistance there for much of the
last decade. "We remain . committed to providing as much food assistance as
we possibly can," he said.
The continuing conflict in the South between the Transitional Federal
Government and al-Shabaab warlords, Carson said, makes food delivery
extraordinarily difficult. Despite this, he said, the United States remains
committed to getting food there to feed the hungry.
Asked to comment on China's rapidly expanding operations in Africa, Carson
acknowledged that China has been focused on trying to acquire hydrocarbon
and mineral resource rights to fuel its economic growth at home. Equally, he
said, China is looking for markets for its own products. "In this context,
Africa is a place where they see enormous opportunity." Carson stressed that
it is "up to African countries to manage very skillfully and carefully"
their own particular economic and commercial relationships with China.
For this reason, he said, it is more important than ever that democratic
institutions are present in African countries so that the voices of people
throughout society can speak effectively about the consequences of this
relationship. "This is what good governance is all about," he said.
Carson also was asked if President Obama planned to attend the 2010 World
Cup tournament in South Africa. Carson said he is not aware of any such
plans.
----[This List to be used for Eritrea Related News Only]----