1 thought on ““THE DEBACLE OF 2007” – my piece in The Elephant on how Kenya’s politics was frozen and an election stolen . . .”
The facts show an unconscionable –and still inexplicable– level of interference by Ambassador Ranneberger; his continuing silence is extremely disturbing especially as he retired from the Foreign Service to live in Kenya. There seems more than merely a hint of impropriety underlying US Embassy interventions wirhout any suggestion that American foreign policy interests would be affected in any way by the electoral outcome of the 2007 Kenya elections.
Ten years later and there seems little doubt that perceptions about how America’s global war on terror will be impacted will colour USG actions and reactions during the 2017 general elections; whether credible elections can be held on 8 August 2017 is less important than that elections be held and violence be avoided or contained. As the only foreigner –and US Citizen–whose applications for IEBC Chairman or Commssioner were submitted on 7 November 2016, gazetted as received and promptly trashed without explanation from the IEBC Selection Panel nor any comment from US Ambasssador Robert Godec all I can conclude is that USG objectives have little to do with democracy in Kenya than in some real or imagined strategic advantages in our war against Al Qaeda!
The facts show an unconscionable –and still inexplicable– level of interference by Ambassador Ranneberger; his continuing silence is extremely disturbing especially as he retired from the Foreign Service to live in Kenya. There seems more than merely a hint of impropriety underlying US Embassy interventions wirhout any suggestion that American foreign policy interests would be affected in any way by the electoral outcome of the 2007 Kenya elections.
Ten years later and there seems little doubt that perceptions about how America’s global war on terror will be impacted will colour USG actions and reactions during the 2017 general elections; whether credible elections can be held on 8 August 2017 is less important than that elections be held and violence be avoided or contained. As the only foreigner –and US Citizen–whose applications for IEBC Chairman or Commssioner were submitted on 7 November 2016, gazetted as received and promptly trashed without explanation from the IEBC Selection Panel nor any comment from US Ambasssador Robert Godec all I can conclude is that USG objectives have little to do with democracy in Kenya than in some real or imagined strategic advantages in our war against Al Qaeda!