Robert A. Dowd, C.S.C., Chair of AFJN Board, Assistant Prof. of Political Science, Notre Dame University

Published  March 25, 2008 

Many observers have expressed at least some surprise at the post-election crisis in Kenya, a crisis that has so far left more than six hundred people dead, at least 200,000 people displaced and is affecting the economies of the entire region. Kenya has been known as one of Africa’s most stable and peaceful countries. The Kenyan economy has been growing over the last several years and tourists until a few weeks ago had started to return to the country’s national parks and Indian-Ocean beaches after being scared off by the 1998 U.S- embassy bombing, other terrorist activities along the coast and crime in Nairobi. How could things become so unhinged in Kenya when things were going so well?  The short answer is, things were not going so well for most Kenyans.

For anyone who has spent more than five minutes off the well-worn tourist paths, who knows something of the rapid rural to urban migration born of rural poverty, and who knows about the powers concentrated in the Kenyan presidency, the post-election crisis is terribly regrettable but not totally surprising. In part this is because the economic growth over the last few years has taken place without a corresponding improvement in the quality of life or standard of living for the majority of Kenyans, regardless of the ethnic group to which they belong. Although Gross Domestic Product per capita has been on the rise in the last few years, most Kenyans have struggled to find decent work and unemployment has hovered around forty percent. Every year, tens of thousands of young people leave impoverished villages to look for education and work, particularly in Nairobi. All too often they find neither. The competition for work is intense and family connections or links to one’s ethnic community are often the key to survival.

By Beth Tuckey

Published Feb 25, 2008

We’ve been told over and over again: the train has left the station. The new U.S. military command for Africa (AFRICOM) is already operational in Stuttgart, Germany. It has temporary funding, much of which has been transferred from other branches of the Department of Defense (DoD). It has a commander – General William “Kip” Ward. It has an agenda – counter terrorism on African soil, protect oil resources, and halt further movements by the Chinese on the continent.

At AFJN, we believe that the train may have left the station, but it can still be derailed at some point down the line. Or, if we are willing to work hard enough, it might never gather enough steam to reach its first stop. AFJN has been following US military involvement in the African continent since our publication of a document by Paul Rutayisire in 1986 entitled The Militarization of Sub-Saharan Africa. We continue to commit ourselves to working for an Africa that does not suffer at the mercy of Western interests and weaponry.

AFRICOM has been pushed through by the Bush Administration without a vote from Congress and without the consent of our African partners. It is a command still seeking a headquarters and a clear mandate. Make no mistake; those elements are slowly but surely being acquired – by President Bush, by the charm of General Ward, by neoconservatives, and by private military contractors – but the American people have the capability to act. We can join voices with our brothers and sisters in Africa and say ‘no’ to AFRICOM.

The current Chadian President Idriss Déby and his rebel group the Patriotic Salvation Movement overthrew former president of Chad Hissene Habre in 1990 with military support from both the Sudanese and Libyan governments.  In 2005, he campaigned for a referendum that amended the constitution thereby extending the presidential term beyond two years.  The referendum allowed him to run and win the presidential election for the third time in 2006 after wins in both 1996 and 2001. President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda has followed a similar course, changing the constitution in 2005 to allow himself a third run at the presidency. Museveni, once known as the first in a line of new, legitimate, and hopeful African leaders, has now been in power since 1986 and is growing increasingly corrupt with each year in office.

Through its community service program, Burundians have built 200 primary schools in addition to 300 built by the government.  Burundi provides free primary school education and free healthcare for all pregnant woman and every child under the age of 5.