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Post by job on May 4, 2012 6:42:37 GMT 3
For the first time EVER, U.S. President Barack Obama (1/2 Kenyan) has invited four African heads of state to a gathering of G-8 summit at Camp David (an exclusive Maryland Presidential resort). Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania) and Meles Zenawi (Ethiopia), Kenya's (immediate) neighbouring Presidents, are among the four. Select Africans are pitching towards G-8 boosted investemnts in long-term food sustainability matters. Subtle messages can't be more clearer! Why ain't we there? Meanwhile, Kibaki tells us to look East! Sawa, we shall do as you please muthee! What a curse and lost opportunity! (that's just what I frankly feel - exercising my freedom of expression)This is a freaking discussion on FAMINE and FOOD SECURITY in AFRICA - an issue which perennially affects Kenya. Obama invites African leaders to G8 summit
(AFP) – 8 hours ago
www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hlYg7TAG43ok1fh8hDoedYquVyuA?docId=CNG.edba94a749de42def141b6dc6ac87bdf.461
WASHINGTON — US President Barack Obama has invited the leaders of Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana and Tanzania to take part in a session on food security in Africa at the G8 summit this month, officials said Thursday.
Obama will host the leaders of the rich nation's club at his Camp David retreat in Maryland between May 18-19.
He has now asked Benin's president and African Union chairman Thomas Boni Yayi, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, President John Mills of Ghana and Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete to join the session on food security.
Fears of famine and drought are stalking several areas of Africa. Water shortages have hit communities in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya.
Aid groups have also sounded alarm over a separate hunger crisis in the west of Africa where the Sahel region of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger has been hit hard by drought, high food prices and conflict.
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Post by roughrider on May 4, 2012 9:04:30 GMT 3
Hey Job; and you know the irony of it all? His co-principal just received a honorary doctorate from a prestigious university in the US.
You do not have to smite the West to look East. Some of those countries invited to the US are not necessarily anti-China.
Kibaki is just clueless on foreign policy. He will soon realise, as comrade Mugabe did, just how small the World can become. His support for impunity does him no favours globally.
But in a way Kenyans are saved the embarrassed of a hesitant, senile and incoherent president at the global stage. It would be painful to watch a hapless Kibaki skewered in a CNN or BBC interview or debate.
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Post by kamalet on May 4, 2012 9:27:03 GMT 3
It is easy to see why Kenya would perhaps not feature in such an invite and she should not feel left out as she is in much better stock than its regional counterparts invited by BHO.
Take for instance the amount of foreign aid received by TZ and Ethiopia at US$1.1 billion and US$1.0 billion respectively. Consider the level of budgetary support both countries receive at 25% and 43% respectively. Now compare Kenya with aid of US$687 and 8% budgetary support and it tells the story of Kenya. An even better statistic would be the GDP of Ethiopia at US$28.7 billion, Tanzania at US$23 billion whilst Kenya is rated at US$31.4 billion. And for good measure, Ghana has a GDP of US$31.3 billion and a much higher reliance on foreign aid!
If Kenya has better stats than these countries it may be because its look east policy has had a better impact on its economy than its look west counterparts!
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Post by phil on May 4, 2012 9:43:47 GMT 3
Kamale,
I have to agree with you in this instance.
Ever since being elected president of the USA, Obama has treated Kenya and its people with a lot of disdain.I understand Obama is first answerable to American people but four years down the line I have to say this man is a disappointment to Africans and Kenya in particular.
Actually in comparison to his predecessor George Bush and their efforts to uplift African people, Obama pales in comparison. He has relegated African affairs down his priority list.
Presently, I doubt if the man would get the same welcome he got when he visited Kenya whilst he was senator.
Bure kabisa.
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Post by roughrider on May 4, 2012 10:05:58 GMT 3
Kamale, I have to agree with you in this instance. Ever since being elected president of the USA, Obama has treated Kenya and its people with a lot of disdain.I understand Obama is first answerable to American people but four years down the line I have to say this man is a disappointment to Africans and Kenya in particular. Actually in comparison to his predecessor George Bush and their efforts to uplift African people, Obama pales in comparison. He has relegated African affairs down his priority list. Presently, I doubt if the man would get the same welcome he got when he visited Kenya whilst he was senator. Bure kabisa. Phil; Your analysis is based on emotion and therefore misplaced. Obama is, in fact, the best thing that happened to Kenya. The US and her Western allies literally saved us from disaster in 2008. Had it been in George W Bush in power, things would have taken a very different turn for this country. There is significant and sustained international interest in Kenya and her future. Obama is not cuddling Kenyan leaders: he is offering tough love. That is what we need to fight impunity and corruption that is rife in our country. The Obama administration made a clear commitment to support Kenya's constitutional process, PEV justice process and democratisation. They have been doing this in the most unobtrusive manner.
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Post by kamalet on May 4, 2012 10:09:35 GMT 3
Kamale, I have to agree with you in this instance. Ever since being elected president of the USA, Obama has treated Kenya and its people with a lot of disdain.I understand Obama is first answerable to American people but four years down the line I have to say this man is a disappointment to Africans and Kenya in particular. Actually in comparison to his predecessor George Bush and their efforts to uplift African people, Obama pales in comparison. He has relegated African affairs down his priority list. Presently, I doubt if the man would get the same welcome he got when he visited Kenya whilst he was senator. Bure kabisa. Phil; Your analysis is based on emotion and therefore misplaced. Obama is, in fact, the best thing that happened to Kenya. The US and her Western allies literally saved us from disaster in 2008. Had it been in George W Bush in power, things would have taken a very different turn for this country. There is significant and sustained international interest in Kenya and her future. Obama is not cuddling Kenyan leaders: he is offering tough love. That is what we need to fight impunity and corruption that is rife in our country. The Obama administration made a clear commitment to support Kenya's constitutional process, PEV justice process and democratisation. They have been doing this in the most unobtrusive manner. ...and why do I think that Condoreeza Rice served Bush whilst a Susan Rice serves Obama in a different world or was the former in Kenya at the height of the crisis courtesy of Obama?? Incidentally what has the Obama government done for Kenya that is of significance apart from an attempt at making Kenya an example of how not to have a relative at the white house?
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Post by roughrider on May 4, 2012 10:12:38 GMT 3
It is easy to see why Kenya would perhaps not feature in such an invite and she should not feel left out as she is in much better stock than its regional counterparts invited by BHO. Take for instance the amount of foreign aid received by TZ and Ethiopia at US$1.1 billion and US$1.0 billion respectively. Consider the level of budgetary support both countries receive at 25% and 43% respectively. Now compare Kenya with aid of US$687 and 8% budgetary support and it tells the story of Kenya. An even better statistic would be the GDP of Ethiopia at US$28.7 billion, Tanzania at US$23 billion whilst Kenya is rated at US$31.4 billion. And for good measure, Ghana has a GDP of US$31.3 billion and a much higher reliance on foreign aid! If Kenya has better stats than these countries it may be because its look east policy has had a better impact on its economy than its look west counterparts! Actually, you are wrong in your conclusions. Kenya is, in fact, more a western business hub, and increasingly so. Our economy and business culture is much more closely linked with the West that the East. If an analysis of the flows in our economy was to be conducted, this would be shown easily. In fact, I urge you to utilize the same industry to study the composition of Kenya's balance of payments and current accounts. You will notice who (outside east Africa) are our major trading partners. If you dug deeper you may even notice where most of our remittances emanate from. These things are not as simple as they appear when you look at Thika Road.
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Post by roughrider on May 4, 2012 10:21:22 GMT 3
Phil; Your analysis is based on emotion and therefore misplaced. Obama is, in fact, the best thing that happened to Kenya. The US and her Western allies literally saved us from disaster in 2008. Had it been in George W Bush in power, things would have taken a very different turn for this country. There is significant and sustained international interest in Kenya and her future. Obama is not cuddling Kenyan leaders: he is offering tough love. That is what we need to fight impunity and corruption that is rife in our country. The Obama administration made a clear commitment to support Kenya's constitutional process, PEV justice process and democratisation. They have been doing this in the most unobtrusive manner. ...and why do I think that Condoreeza Rice served Bush whilst a Susan Rice serves Obama in a different world or was the former in Kenya at the height of the crisis courtesy of Obama?? Incidentally what has the Obama government done for Kenya that is of significance apart from an attempt at making Kenya an example of how not to have a relative at the white house? Kofi Annan only succeeded in enforcing an agreement when backed by a firm US. At one point, Jakaya Kikwete was sent with a clear message to Kibaki. The US supported and chaperoned this process throughout and still supports it. The process inexorably led to the new 'devolution' constitution with a progressive bill of rights: something that we struggled with for decades. This is stunning if you think about it for a second. I think history will bear me out. 50 years from now, we will remember this period as the era when we finally managed to turn Kenya around. But I will also credit the international community with steadfastness in supporting justice for PEV victims, after we failed to organise a credible local process.
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Post by phil on May 4, 2012 10:37:26 GMT 3
Kamale, I have to agree with you in this instance. Ever since being elected president of the USA, Obama has treated Kenya and its people with a lot of disdain.I understand Obama is first answerable to American people but four years down the line I have to say this man is a disappointment to Africans and Kenya in particular. Actually in comparison to his predecessor George Bush and their efforts to uplift African people, Obama pales in comparison. He has relegated African affairs down his priority list. Presently, I doubt if the man would get the same welcome he got when he visited Kenya whilst he was senator. Bure kabisa. Phil; Your analysis is based on emotion and therefore misplaced. Obama is, in fact, the best thing that happened to Kenya. The US and her Western allies literally saved us from disaster in 2008. Had it been in George W Bush in power, things would have taken a very different turn for this country. There is significant and sustained international interest in Kenya and her future. Obama is not cuddling Kenyan leaders: he is offering tough love. That is what we need to fight impunity and corruption that is rife in our country. The Obama administration made a clear commitment to support Kenya's constitutional process, PEV justice process and democratisation. They have been doing this in the most unobtrusive manner. My analysis is based on fact. In 2008, it was President George Bush who had Kibaki by the b*lls forcing them to the negotiating table. In any case, another one week and the ODM mass action /economic boycott had these honchos surrendering power. Obama was still campaigning to be elected then. Recently, Michel Obama and her kids decided to take their holidays to South Africa, and I wonder why they could not stop over in Nairobi and visit their great grand mother in Kisumu, a relative who Kenyan tax payers are footing security bills to keep safe! We are Africans for crying out loud. Obama does not even have a house to sleep in with his wife when he comes around. Me thinks those tears over the graves of his father and grand father when he was a nobody were crocodile tears aimed at winning sympathy votes back home in America. We are not asking for any special favours. But at the very least give us recognition.
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Post by kamalet on May 4, 2012 11:09:19 GMT 3
It is easy to see why Kenya would perhaps not feature in such an invite and she should not feel left out as she is in much better stock than its regional counterparts invited by BHO. Take for instance the amount of foreign aid received by TZ and Ethiopia at US$1.1 billion and US$1.0 billion respectively. Consider the level of budgetary support both countries receive at 25% and 43% respectively. Now compare Kenya with aid of US$687 and 8% budgetary support and it tells the story of Kenya. An even better statistic would be the GDP of Ethiopia at US$28.7 billion, Tanzania at US$23 billion whilst Kenya is rated at US$31.4 billion. And for good measure, Ghana has a GDP of US$31.3 billion and a much higher reliance on foreign aid! If Kenya has better stats than these countries it may be because its look east policy has had a better impact on its economy than its look west counterparts! Actually, you are wrong in your conclusions. Kenya is, in fact, more a western business hub, and increasingly so. Our economy and business culture is much more closely linked with the West that the East. If an analysis of the flows in our economy was to be conducted, this would be shown easily. In fact, I urge you to utilize the same industry to study the composition of Kenya's balance of payments and current accounts. You will notice who (outside east Africa) are our major trading partners. If you dug deeper you may even notice where most of our remittances emanate from. These things are not as simple as they appear when you look at Thika Road. With similar diligence here are the statistics of top 10 trading partners of Kenya: 1. EU 27 countries Euros 2,685.4 2. India Euros 1,747.2 3. China Euros 1,516.2 4. United Arab Em. Euros 1,126.4 5. South Africa Euros 1,020.8 6. Saudi Arabia Euros 757.0 7. Uganda Euros 542.8 8. Japan Euros 541.5 9. USA Euros 523.510. Tanzania Euros 422.8 If you took the EU countries individually they may not even rank in the top ten! So try and listen to Kibaki when he talks about where Kenya should be looking and in particular the EAC Region where the combined trade with the other EAC countires where the combined trade is Euros 1245.6 which would put the region at No. 4.
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Post by tactician on May 4, 2012 11:18:03 GMT 3
The colonialists left but the colonialist mentality still prevails.
Evidence - when 50 years after independence, Kenyans think being invited to the White House is a favour and not being invited is a snub.
We gotta learn that the colonialist powers, US included, do what favours them - not necessarily what is right.
After all, isn't Barrack Obama the same president who invited the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Nguema, into the White House and serenaded him in from of cameras?
Given what Nguema has done in Equatorial Guinea, I wouldn't want my president to even go to where Nguema has been. He might get infected by the same disease of power that Nguema has!
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Post by kamalet on May 4, 2012 11:23:05 GMT 3
The colonialists left but the colonialist mentality still prevails. Evidence - when 50 years after independence, Kenyans think being invited to the White House is a favour and not being invited is a snub. We gotta learn that the colonialist powers, US included, do what favours them - not necessarily what is right. After all, isn't Barrack Obama the same president who invited the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Nguema, into the White House and serenaded him in from of cameras? Given what Nguema has done in Equatorial Guinea, I wouldn't want my president to even go to where Nguema has been. He might get infected by the same disease of power that Nguema has! Ouch!!!!
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Post by roughrider on May 4, 2012 12:46:48 GMT 3
The colonialists left but the colonialist mentality still prevails. Evidence - when 50 years after independence, Kenyans think being invited to the White House is a favour and not being invited is a snub. We gotta learn that the colonialist powers, US included, do what favours them - not necessarily what is right. After all, isn't Barrack Obama the same president who invited the president of Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Nguema, into the White House and serenaded him in from of cameras? Given what Nguema has done in Equatorial Guinea, I wouldn't want my president to even go to where Nguema has been. He might get infected by the same disease of power that Nguema has! Ouch!!!! So, the US was a colonial power in Africa? In general, this is the pedestrian view of geopolitics and foreign affairs that has Africans lagging behind. We cannot shy our from dealing with other countries because of pent-up inferiority complexes such as represented here.
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Post by roughrider on May 4, 2012 12:55:26 GMT 3
Actually, you are wrong in your conclusions. Kenya is, in fact, more a western business hub, and increasingly so. Our economy and business culture is much more closely linked with the West that the East. If an analysis of the flows in our economy was to be conducted, this would be shown easily. In fact, I urge you to utilize the same industry to study the composition of Kenya's balance of payments and current accounts. You will notice who (outside east Africa) are our major trading partners. If you dug deeper you may even notice where most of our remittances emanate from. These things are not as simple as they appear when you look at Thika Road. With similar diligence here are the statistics of top 10 trading partners of Kenya: 1. EU 27 countries Euros 2,685.4 2. India Euros 1,747.2 3. China Euros 1,516.2 4. United Arab Em. Euros 1,126.4 5. South Africa Euros 1,020.8 6. Saudi Arabia Euros 757.0 7. Uganda Euros 542.8 8. Japan Euros 541.5 9. USA Euros 523.510. Tanzania Euros 422.8 If you took the EU countries individually they may not even rank in the top ten! So try and listen to Kibaki when he talks about where Kenya should be looking and in particular the EAC Region where the combined trade with the other EAC countires where the combined trade is Euros 1245.6 which would put the region at No. 4. Fair enough. I think if you disaggregate the data further you will see that we export more to the EU, Pakistan and import more from China, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. Our balance of payments is in general unfavourable (part of the problem we have with the economy right now) Significantly, the pillars of our economy - agriculture (horticulture, tea, coffee), tourism, remittances are significantly traded with the West (as a collective) and over a longer history.. It is in our interest to protect this.
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Post by roughrider on May 4, 2012 13:03:38 GMT 3
Phil;
Obama may have a Kenyans blood but he is NOT Kenyan. He does not owe us anything. As you know America is the land of immigrants.
But his support for our process, which has gone longer than the Bush White House is remarkable.
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Post by mzee on May 4, 2012 13:20:11 GMT 3
I think that our arguments would have made more sense if we actually knew the basis upon which the countries were invited. As it is, we don’t know how they were selected. In other words everybody is just guessing. The issue of being “rejected” because we are looking Easter wards is farfetched to say the least. Currently, there are only a few countries in Africa that have not turned eastwards. Tanzania and Ethiopia are the number one culprits worse than Kenya.
As for Obama, I think just keeping an eye on Kibaki is enough. If he had not done this, the man and the clique around him would have done some major looting of the government coffers. My observation is that many American presidents never do anything for Africa while in power. They only try to influence things after they have left office. Good examples are Carter and Clinton. These two have done more for Africa after leaving office. I don’t think that Obama is going to be different. Apart from that, he inherited a country that was on the brink of economic collapse. That alone keeps him busy and I don’t think that he even thinks of Kenya.
Lastly, we have to have a pro-active president, a go getter who can confront and get something out of Obama. Just sitting there and hoping that Obama will provide for Kenya because his father is our brother is a joke of the highest order.
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Post by tactician on May 4, 2012 14:26:08 GMT 3
So, the US was a colonial power in Africa? In general, this is the pedestrian view of geopolitics and foreign affairs that has Africans lagging behind. We cannot shy our from dealing with other countries because of pent-up inferiority complexes such as represented here. The people who think that being invited in someone else's house is an honour are the ones suffering from inferiority complexes. Especially when the person inviting you has wined & dined with despots in his house. We have to think about building our own house under our own terms. No neighbour will help you out of good faith - they will only help you when your agenda coincides with theirs. And yes, the US is a colonial power. Ask the Puerto Ricans and they will tell you.
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Post by barmasaiengkeiyo on May 4, 2012 15:35:14 GMT 3
Kamalet, never forget that of the Top 10 Kenyan trade partners, the business is skewed so much in favor of the other party. We import so much from China yet we export only leaves (tea)
On the flip side, i do not care if Obama invites Kibaki or not because morally, Kibaki is far much better than warmonger Obama...Obama has killed more people in his term than Bush+Bush+Clinton did combined....
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Post by kamalet on May 4, 2012 15:40:23 GMT 3
Kamalet, never forget that of the Top 10 Kenyan trade partners, the business is skewed so much in favor of the other party. We import so much from China yet we export only leaves (tea) On the flip side, i do not care if Obama invites Kibaki or not because morally, Kibaki is far much better than warmonger Obama...Obama has killed more people in his term than Bush+Bush+Clinton did combined.... Bottom line is the equipment we are able to source from the US versus similar equipment from China that actually cuts the deal for Kenya! Motorolla or Huawei...take your pick!
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umoja
New Member
Posts: 17
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Post by umoja on May 4, 2012 17:09:23 GMT 3
Job,
Mzee's point on looking at the basis of the invitation is a good starting point. I have not looked at the full list of African countries.
However one thing that I know is that Kibaki and Kenya were not snubbed. President Obama, as the host of the 2012 Summit is following past G8 tradition of invitations. For what ever reason, Ethiopia, Tanzania and a Francophone country have been the ones invited in the past. Senegal has been that Francophone country for a number of years. South Africa is also now being included in a number of heads of states gatherings. I believe because of their membership in the G20. Someone once told me that Ethiopia gets invited because they host the AU but I am not sure if that is the real reason.
For those concerned about the "snubbing" of Kibaki or Kenya, take a look at the participation of African heads of states at past G8 Summits. Sometimes the invitations are dependent on who heads the AU, if the host country has no political misgivings with the head of state in question.
Umoja 2012
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kevoh
Junior Member
Posts: 51
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Post by kevoh on May 4, 2012 18:54:43 GMT 3
We should also remember that when Gadaffi was around most African presidents consulted him when dealing with his enemies. The power gap he left of his reign economically and politically in Africa has left many stranded, seeking new alliances or dishonoring his contracts as he is no more. he hasn't even been gone for 5 minutes
To look east or west, for things made and meant for the east and west (never for Africa) needs one who has something better to offer or something the others cannot do without and we have in surplus. if its this simple why do we import crap and export food while we starve or are malnourished?
Its because Libya with Gadaffi had a foreign policy well recognized worldwide and let him have a say at the table. if you ask a British MP about Kenyas foreign policy he would not even know what you are talking about. WE should therefore acknowledge our weaknesses in that our Government is a well known beggar worldwide and we should keep trying to change this by being self sufficient or economical in our plans so as to get our own voice to speak on their table or even fell free to decline the invitation altogether.
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Post by jakaswanga on May 4, 2012 19:18:58 GMT 3
1. It does not need the president of the USA and his G-whatever to look into this point. --There is enough investment capital around, and, infact 227 million hectares of land in Africa has been acquired by various Agricultural investment funds, for various commercial agro purposes. [ There are others who acquire agricultural land as a cover for mining.] There are famous bio-fuel projects in Senegal: proposed maximum 60,000 hectares. And Tanzania 2 million acres Oxfam, a dutch organization, has produced a detailed paper called AFRICA'S NEW LAND GRAB, presented to the EU parliament.Other highlights include: Ethiopia --603,000 hectares. Ghana --452,000 hectares. Mozambique 5 million acres. Mali --100,000 hectares to [SWF] Sovereign Wealth Fund of Libya. When it comes to food security and african heads of state I just laugh. Even Bangladesh is shopping for Land in Africa to grow rice to feed her people and re-export ... to Afrika! Three top investment funds mentioned these days are the Qatari fund, the Kuwait fund, and the giant state investment fund of United Arab emirates - UAE. [The Libyan agricultural investment fund --the parent of SWF, the one which was rumoured to have bought half Mali along the river Niger, has I think with the death of Gaddaffi, become a non player.] The Qataris +Q8s are already growing food for export in North Sudan. And it is a high-tech operation including upto robotics milking cows! But it is the plans of the UAE and the chinese which are stupendous in size. Starrting from Sudan, the Emirates want to grow food for world export, past the EU levels of the legendary dutch and Danes. [The saying goes: give the dutch 1m squared land, and they do better than Jesus and his six loaves and fish which the apostles so sing in the bible! The emirates aim to be beat that, in Africa.] The chinese stopped short of their real proposition to Congo and Zambia: an area the size of Tanzania leased tot them for commerical agriculture [forever? ]. When word spread on the ground -the wrong way, that you will be evicted and supplanted by the chinese! projects became too sensitive! and civil war loomed! This level of ambition, of dare-devilish risk of investment in commerical agriculture in Africa, for food security or not, is outside the thinking of western companies and governments. The are still stuck in the yesterday of development assistance. I fear that is Obama's mindset. Outdated and irrelevant. But perhaps, the real agenda is to reserve African land for American investors who are waking up too late! But I rather think Western companies will trade in the grain when it hits the market, but the tedious business of clearing land, negotiating with corrupt african regimes and their murderous leaders and tribal gods for land leases, organizing the farms [like mid west america in the the 19th century], is now beneath their rationale. That is lower stuff, something for emerging powers like India, Brazil, China. Or cowboys like Dominion. In this blog elsewhere, I have posted studies of what is called the Tigrayan land grab [eg in the gambella region] and how this is intertwined with political repression, millitary terror and instablity in Ethiopia. Ever heard the american ambassador to Addis yelling about ethiopian millitary excess, like our own was yelling yesterday at Iteere and his boys who, if I have to believe Owino and Kiraithe, were only preventing mungiki from slaughtering herds of cows stolen for the purpose of oathing ;D [see video of Limuru 2B!]Meles Zelawi [ check the services he renders for the USA including torture of terrorist suspects] needs some political patting on the back. Or does he pass the democracy test in Obama's eyes?I post in 'honouring' Meles, Obama can as well invite Omar Bashir of Sudan! Did somebody see the more than 100 gunned down dead in Addis only, as the protested the rigged elections! Ha, take it to the birds Job! that world where Meles Zelawi deserves more honour than Kibaki! Yap, Obama pats his pet dogs! I am glad Kibaki is not there! I do not like Kibaki, but he has an obtuse dignity which is not found in creeps like Zelawi. Kikwete is a plain begging case.Food security? you would be surprised at the availability of investors in farmland africa. It is just, how do we do we it without war, for land remains just too sensitive an issue!
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Post by marikopolitico on May 4, 2012 19:33:47 GMT 3
Boo-hoo.
So another self serving bureaucrat invited some lazy scroungers to a dinner party and we missed. Cry me a river.
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Post by job on May 4, 2012 19:35:57 GMT 3
I’ll ignore the lazy and disingenuous comments (above) - some which deride invitations to the White House while celebrating State visits to Shanghai (essentially a despotic police state). Isn’t it frankly idiotic to look at the Chinese as being any different from the Mzungu Colonialist. In any case, there’s little difference between Kibaki, China and the Mzungu (colonialist) in as far as fleecing poor Kenyan masses is concerned. Some even declare we can go it alone! People sometimes go too far high fallutin' impractical niceties and oxymorons while trying hard to impress - for instance a corrupt, election-rigging, despot like Kibaki being praised for wielding obtuse dignity that spews temerity to turn down a White House invite! Gud lawd folks! Why can't we just be real.
About talking to birds and food sustainability- did you Jakaswanga know that Kibaki (with his obtuse dignity) has already given away tens of thousands of hectares of fertile Tana Delta land to those friends in the middle-east? Are they going to grow food for us, or their own brethren?
Like Roughrider, I don’t ascribe to the fallacy of restricted trading zones. Why Look East and ignore the West? Why not trade with all sides. That should be the pragmatic route. Kibaki has been running away from traditional trading partners in the West because these countries generally tie trade deals with disclaimers such as; anti-corruption measures and monitors for human rights and democracy. It's as simple as that! No ifs, ands or buts. Nothing about obtuse dignity!
China and most East Asian countries care less whether their African bilateral partners are corrupt, anti-democratic or autocratic. They make more from us in the skewed deals anyway. They dump their cheap (& counterfeit) products into our country, while we export very little to them. Try a Chinese battery and say Amen!
FACT: Because the Kibaki administration has entrenched corruption and election rigging, Kenya is losing lots of opportunities.
We can’t even have the guts to start discussing debt relief for stolen monies ( Goldenberg, Turkwell-Gorge plant, Anglo-Leasing, Ken Ren, Grand Regency, FPE funds, AIDS funds). We have to squeeze our own taxpayers to fund an expensive security counter-al-Shabab operation and refugee burden. Unlike Tanzania for instance, our students are missing out support into prestigious programs in American Universities – ranging from health, environment, energy (oil) production, and such. What better investement is there than knowledge and skills transfer (to Kenyan youngsters) from these top-notch institutions?
Kibaki’s corrupt police (security) force that lets in mercenaries (like Artur brothers) through our porous international airports has virtually stalled the Open Skies Agreement with the U.S. to allow for direct Kenya-U.S flights. Our flower & horticulture farmers, fish and turkey exporters, beef and poultry exporters, garment manufacturers, tea, coffee, and pyrethrum farmers, would be exporting their produce in a 13-14 hour direct flight to Atlanta by now. East, West, North or South, there’s a lot of good things a working President can secure from the Obama White House – to the benefit of his/her people.
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Post by kasuku on May 4, 2012 20:09:50 GMT 3
What?" its Obamas fault that we faced the East to boost our economy"...God help Kenya’s future if her children continue Inheriting this Donkey mentality. Why would an American President favor a corrupted stinking government out of other African governments who aren’t corrupting the atmospheres with their filth; would you invite a person stinking of human refuse at your dining table? Think about that!
Typical Kenyans, jealousy is making them shut up their reasoning and rather push the responsibility to the other person. What corruption can’t buy makes them lose their bit intelligence and act like brainless Neanderthals furiously breathing through their mouth Bibble babble jibber talk.
Sad isn’t…this is what has become of Kenya’s society which explains the actions of the 2007-08 election fiasko
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