From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:KENYA: U.S. reserves judgment on elections
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 23:12:30 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: North America
Title: KENYA: U.S. reserves judgment on elections


washington, jan 4 (ips) -- the u.s. state department monday said
opposition challenges to last week's unprecedented multi-party
elections in kenya ''must be addressed'' by the government of
president daniel arap moi who was pronounced the winner of the
presidential race early monday.

but spokesperson joe snyder stressed to reporters that the
opposition, which has denounced the election as fraudulent, should
pursue its challenges ''through constitutional means''.

he also said that despite ''serious shortcomings'' in the way
the election was conducted, ''we believe the election served to
advance the establishment of democratic institutions in kenya and
provided kenya with a more representative government''.

as an example, he said, three opposition parties which between
them succeeded in denying moi's kenya african national union
(kanu) party the two-thirds majority it needed to gain control of
the parliament, ''have established themselves as a credible
political force''.

snyder said washington will not make a final judgment on the
elections until it receives a full report from the international
republican institute (iri), a branch of the republican party which
observed the dec. 29 elections.

the iri, which included in its observer delegation political
and academic specialists from 13 african and european countries,
says it will not issue its final report until late january.

according to u.s. officials who asked not to be identified,
snyder's remarks signalled that washington was unlikely to
reassess its policy towards kenya in light of the elections until
after president-elect bill clinton takes office jan. 20.

the u.s. congress cut all direct economic aid to moi's
government after a crackdown against the opposition two years ago.
u.s. assistance to kenya is limited to less than about 20 million
dollars in development aid channeled through non-governmental
organisations and a one-million-dollar military training
programme.

more importantly, washington has backed a freeze on all new aid
programmes adopted by all of kenya's major western donors at a
meeting of the country's donors in paris in nov. 1991. (more/ips)

kenya: u.s. reserves judgment on elections(2-e)

kenya: u.s. reserves (2)

the freeze dealt a major blow to the moi government which had
received an average of about 750 million dollars annually in
external aid in recent years.  since the freeze went into effect,
only the world bank has made new loans, which amount to a little
over 200 million dollars.

the donors said at the time that they would reconsider their
freeze policy in light of the country's progress in making
political and economic reforms.

immediately after the freeze went into effect, moi legalised
the opposition which, over the course of the year, split into
several factions, each of which presented their own presidential
candidates and parliamentary lists in last week's election.

with the elections now over, moi, who won the balloting with
far less than a majority of the presidential vote and also saw a
dozen of his cabinet ministers in their reelection bids, can be
expected to press washington and other donors hard to resume aid.

but u.s. officials told ips monday the aid decision here will
be left to the incoming clinton administration which has yet to
fill key positions in the policy-making bureaucracy which will
deal with africa.

the 'washington post' has urged that aid not be restored in
view of what it called ''abundant testimony that the flaws (in the
election) were obvious and the rigging blatant.''

in a monday editorial, the paper said moi failed to win the
confidence of the electorate, making it ''increasingly difficult
for his country's foreign friends to regard kenya as a good bet
for western investment, public or private.''

but ed snyder, the iri's director for africa and an observer at
last week's election, told ips monday that he favours restoring at
least some aid to kenya.

''i think aid should be restored in the same manner that
elections took place -- that is, halfway,'' he said, adding that
the resumption of major aid flows should be ''incremental'' over a
period of years.

''those who were hoping for a perfect election were going to be
disappointed from the outset,'' he said.  ''the important
elections in kenya will take place 10 years from now.''

he said all kenyan parties ''need to mature''.  with the
opposition gaining a ''toehold'' in parliament now, he said,
increasing aid should be conditioned to ensure that a multi-party
system takes root and grows strong.

he added that the opposition parties, which have called for new
elections, should ''accept the results, while pursuing their
challenges to the results through constitutional channels.

''at the end of the day, this is a political game, and the
opposition must understand that they will have to put aside their
differences with the government and get down to the serious
business of governing''. (end/ips/jl/yjc/92)