Kenyan Situation and Impact on other Regions: Foreign Affairs briefing

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International Relations

13 February 2008
Chairperson: Mr J Sithole (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The Department of Foreign Affairs gave an overview of the Kenyan experience. There would be an announcement from Kenya on 15 February regarding the mediation process that was currently in place under the leadership of Mr Kofi Annan. It was indicated that the post-electoral violence had affected every sector of society, and was also having an effect on regional stability. A number of causes were proferred, and the Department maintained that neither the election process alone, nor the ethnic problems alone, were the sole cause of the developments. Members questioned the stance of South Africa, whether it should express any view on the process or on the results, the proposal that Mr Ramaphosa step down from the team, the role of the European Union, the legitimacy of the courts, and the role that neighbouring countries had played. Further questions addressed the remaining political parties and their position, and where those who were displaced had gone. It was decided that a small team from this Committee and the Select Committee should draw up a draft statement on the Committee’s understanding of the situation and occurrences in Kenya and how South African parliamentarians should respond.

The Committee adopted its Annual Report, with amendments, its draft programme and minutes.

Meeting report

 

Latest Developments on Kenya presentation: Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) presentation
The Chairperson gave a brief explanation of the occurrences thus far in Kenya. He then opened the floor for the presenter.

Mr Mxolisi Nkosi, Deputy Director-General: Africa Bilateral: Department of Foreign Affairs, informed the Committee of the elections that was held in Kenya on 27 December 2007. During the run-up to the election there was enthusiasm shown for the campaign. It seemed that in all pre-election polls Raila Odinga (Leader of the Orange Democratic Movement) was slightly in the lead. There was sporadic pre-election violence in some areas of Kenya. The turnout on election day was 70%. The electoral process was generally considered to be free and fair. However, the final count and tallying process was allegedly flawed, especially at the Kenya International Conference Centre, which was the main centre. Concerns were raised about the manner in which tallying of results was handled. The Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) prematurely declared themselves the winners of the elections. The Chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) announced the results of the election and Mr Mwai Kibaki was sworn in an hour later as President of Kenya. Violence erupted all over Kenya. The ODM was troubled by the discrepancy between the legislative and presidential election results. The outcome of the legislative election was 99 seats for the ODM and 43 seats for the Party of National Unity (PNU) out of 210.

The humanitarian situation was tremulous. There were killings, rapes, displacement of peoples and destruction of property especially in the Rift Valley, Nyanza, Coast and Central Province, where clashes over land were continuing.  Thus far approximately 1 000 people had died and over 300 000 were displaced. There were assassinations of two ODM members of parliament (MPs) that caused the opposition to view the murders as part of a plot to reduce their majority in parliament.

The factors fuelling the crisis included the fact that Kenya had experienced post-electoral violence in 1992, 1997, and 2002. Many observers had stated that the violence in Kenya was more complex than mere ethnicity. There were additional problems such as landlessness, centralisation of power, unequal distribution of national resources between provinces, and uneven development.

The current political developments were that the Principles of Agreement had not been signed. Mr Kofi Annan and a team of eminent African personalities went to Kenya to continue with mediation efforts. The ODM conditions included that President Kibaki step down as President of Kenya, that there be formation of an interim government, a re-run of the presidential elections and President Kibaki and his team accept the international mediation efforts. The PNU position was that President Kibaki should be recognised as the duly elected President of Kenya, that the current mediation efforts should be regarded as merely a dialogue for peace and that those aggrieved by the outcomes of the elections should address their concerns to the courts. The document, Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation, was the basis of current negotiations.  Mr Cyril Ramaphosa joined the team in Kenya at the invitation of Mr Annan, however he withdrew when reservations were expressed by the PNU government.

Both parties had agree that the short term goals should be an immediate stop to the violence and a restoration of rights and liberties, immediate steps to address the humanitarian crisis and consideration of how to overcome the current political crisis arising from the disputed presidential poll. The long-term issues that were to be resolved within a year included constitutional and institutional reform, and tackling poverty inequality, as well as combating regional development imbalances.

The economic impact was devastating on the Kenyan economy and its neighbouring countries. The regional consequences were severe. The economies of Kenya and the Great Lakes Region as well as the road and railway infrastructure were disrupted. There had been loss of revenue as their ability to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) was affected. A month ago the Kenyan Treasury made an official announcement that the losses to the economy were about R6 billion.

Kenya had been the most stable country in the region and the turmoil had negatively affected the regional stability.

Mr Nkosi noted that South Africa had called for an immediate end to the violence. It supported the initiatives to resolve the Kenyan Crisis through negotiations. South Africa also supported the position of the African Union and therefore the mediation process. There was to be an announcement on Friday 15 February 2008 regarding progress of the negotiations, based on the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation document.

Discussion

Mr B Holomisa (UDM) wanted to know role did the DFA play in the appointment of Mr Cyril Ramaphosa. He had heard that Deputy Minister Aziz Pahad questioned the decision that Mr Ramaphosa had stepped down.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon Sue van der Merwe replied that Mr Ramaphosa was invited by Mr Kofi Annan to be part of the process. There was a contestation of his impartiality, and he graciously decided to withdraw. The Department regretted that he had withdrawn and felt that he could have played a pivotal role. In the interest of ensuring that the process moved forward, however, his decision was accepted. There was no question of the legitimacy of the process.

Mr Holomisa wanted to know if the African Union (AU) policy on electoral guidelines on the Continent was applicable for implementation, or if there was there an inherent difference between the AU policy and individual countries’ policies.

Ms van der Merwe was not completely sure of the details of the electoral process but she would follow up on this and report back.

Mr T Leon (DA) thought that there were two aspects pertaining to the Kenyan issues that were important. He felt that the vital issue was that the incumbent President, to the minds of the observers, had been voted out, yet within one hour of election results had been sworn back in. Even though South Africa supported the process in Kenya at the moment, there had been no mention in the presentation of South Africa’s position on the electoral outcome. It was significant to South Africa and its own guidelines on electoral policy that if the electoral process was not deemed to be free and fair then the outcome was not legitimate. In this case the government could not be regarded as constitutional and should be removed. He read from a speech given by President Thabo Mbeki in September 1999 in Dar-Es Salaam.  He wanted to know what had South Africa and DFA done in the wake of the disputed election in Kenya.

Ms M Njobe (ANC) wanted to know what would South Africa’s view be if the country were to pronounce on the elections.

Ms van der Merwe replied that South Africa had not pronounced on the outcome of the election, and had not come out either in support of the government or against it. South Africa chose to support the AU process. South Africa reserved judgement because of that AU process. One of the elements of the document that was being discussed was to overcome the disputed elections and it was suggested that an enquiry should take place to investigate the process. She thought that they should wait for the outcome of the process on Friday.

Adv Z Madasa (ANC) found that in the background of the conflict there was one area of omission. Given the history of dictatorship in Kenya and the manner in which the political parties characterised themselves, there seemed to be a lack of political and democratic culture. A strong political party should support the long-term goals put in place by Kenya. Most of the Kenyan political parties were created to bring about regime change. There was no ultimate socio-economic goal and no clear political ideological framework. There was a relatively muted response from organisations such as the European Union (EU) and the Commonwealth, who were clearly not happy with the occurrences in Kenya but did not openly condemn the Kenyan government. Similar to this was the response from South Africa. 

Ms van der Merwe thought that Ms Madasa was making comments and not questions that the Department could answer. She hoped that the outcome of the mediation process would be a decision on the election process.

Mr M Sibande (ANC) commented that Kenya had a history of electoral violence. This was an indication that there was a larger issue that was the root cause of the problems in Kenya.

Mr Sibande wanted to know what was the role of the EU, as usually there would be some intervention.

Mr Nkosi replied that the EU supported the mediation process by Mr Kofi Annan.

Mr Sibande wanted to know how legitimate were the courts in Kenya since the PLU had suggested that those who disputed the legitimacy of the election results should have recourse to legal action. 

Mr Sibande wanted to what was the role of the neighbouring countries.

Mr Nkosi replied that Uganda was one of the first countries to recognise the outcome of the election, followed by Rwanda and Burundi. Other countries had supported Kofi Annan and there was no indication of any neighbouring countries being part of the conflict.

Dr S Pheko (PAC) sought clarity on the violence that apparently had affected the areas close to and including the Rift Valley. He suggested that the violence that affected those areas could be the issues around land. He asked for more information. 

Mr Nkosi replied that there was a tendency to characterise the conflict as an ethnic conflict. Although these were not homogenous ethnic entities, they were integrated. They did not want to indicate that a specific ethnic group was instigating the violence. They would need to examine further the causes of the violence in the Rift Valley.

Dr Pheko enquired about the other political parties since there were 210 seats in the Kenyan parliament, and 68 seats in Parliament were not accounted for.

Mr Nkosi replied that ODM entered into a number of alliances that allowed them to win the majority of the seats in parliament. This also gave them the possibility to nominate the Speaker.

Ms Njobe wanted to know more about the electoral law of Kenya and the process that followed the announcement of the results. She wanted to know if the electoral law was followed exactly.

Ms van der Merwe reiterated that part of the outcome of the negotiation was to investigate whether the election was legitimate. She said that it had been thought that the election seemed to go very well, until the last minute of confusion.

The Chairperson realised that there was a fundamental issue that the Committee was interested in. He wanted to know if South Africa’s support for Mr Kofi Annan’s process meant that they did not recognise the outcome of the elections.

Dr A Luthuli (ANC) wanted to know whether the figure of 300 000 people had been internally displaced.

Ms van der Merwe replied that the 300 000 people were internally displaced.

Dr Luthuli asked for clarity on the long-term issues that were supposedly to be resolved in one year.

Ms van der Merwe replied that a framework should be established during the year to address those issues. She also felt that it was prudent to mention that during the African Peer Review Mechanism (ARPM) process these issues were also raised.

Mr M Ramgobin (ANC) commented that the problems had been there for a while, and had not started recently. The historical context and experience should not be dismissed. He thought that South Africa should not deny itself the opportunity and historical duty to announce on it. South Africa might be inhibited to take any active action, but to pronounce on an issue that South Africa believed in. The inauguration of the president, within an hour of the declaration that he had won, should not be taken lightly. It was an affront to international relations protocol. since there should at least be the courtesy of informing the results to the presidents of other countries. He suggested that the Committee needed to declare its position on the morality and validity of what has happened in Kenya.

The Chairperson found that it was interesting that the same electoral body that facilitated the election of the members of parliament and was found to be competent, was incompetent in the presidential electoral process. These elections happened on the same day, using the same process.

Ms van der Merwe replied that it should be acknowledged that there was a crisis and this was manifested in the violence stemming from the election result. South Africa supported the Kofi Annan process because it was the best way for all parties to find a solution. South Africa had always supported diplomatic dialogue to resolve conflicts that might arise in any country. It had supported the principle that the people themselves must come the diplomatic talks in order to assist in achieving solutions. It was clear that the leadership of Mr Annan and the involvement of other eminent African leaders on the panel would be the best hope to resolve the issues resulting from the electoral process. There were other matters that underlined the violence, and those should be dealt with as well. Mr Annan had indicated that there should be electoral reform. She suggested that the process should be allowed to run until the end of the allotted time on Friday.

Mr Nkosi replied that South Africa was not denying or accepting the government, nor was it denying that the election result had set off the violence. It was however saying that there were other issues that were contributing to the unrest in Kenya.

The Chairperson noted that when the tribal element took place the Kenyan ambassador had described this as ‘ethnic cleansing’. The Department, on the other hand, claimed that it was too simplistic to describe it as a ethnic issue. Therefore he wanted to know if South Africa was downplaying the issue.

The Chairperson felt that it was interesting that electoral law was always called into question whenever there were electoral problems or disputed results. The public would perpetually be told that the electoral law was flawed as opposed to the parties accepting that they had lost the election.

The Chairperson proposed that the Committee should draft a motion, regardless of party affiliation, on their view of the Kenyan experience and present it to Parliament.

Mr Ramgobin commented that the process of the Cabinet to communicate with the Department was understandable. As parliamentarians they were representatives of the people. South Africa should not be an instrument of embarrassment nor make a mockery of the African Renaissance. The continued silence could be seen as toleration of mockery against the African Renaissance. Other countries would or should take the lead.  South Africa needed to reaffirm its position to consolidate democracy on the African continent but also to inform South Africans of the views.

Ms A Mchunu (ANC) felt that this was a time to take a humble approach. She wanted to know if South Africa played a role in Kenya’s electoral process, as, if this was the case, it could impact on South Africa’s integrity. 

Dr Pheko commented that it was a problem of recognition. Recognition was important  - even if it had not occurred immediately it did not mean that it was not in place. He felt that South Africa should give the process in Kenya a chance to succeed. He suggested that the principle of recognition should be reassessed. He also thought peace and stability should be the primary issues, and that recognition should not be more important.

The Chairperson proposed that Messrs Ramgobin and Seremane draw up the draft statement on the Committee’s understanding of the situation and occurrences in Kenya and how South African parliamentarians should respond. 

The Chairperson of the Select Committee on Economic and Foreign Affairs indicated that Ms J Terblanche and Mr D Mkono would join the members from the Portfolio Committee to work on the draft.

Other Business: Adoption of the Committee Annual Report, Draft Programme and Minutes

The Chairperson suggested that the format of the Annual Report should be changed because it did not have any information pertaining to the meeting. The Annual Report, as amended, the Committee Programme and the Minutes were then adopted.
 
The meeting was adjourned.


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