Kenya PM dropped from Obama luncheon

Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga arrived in the United States of America on Saturday night to news of cancellation of a luncheon with US President Barack Obama which had earlier been scheduled for later this week.

The news followed a round of confusion over whether he would attend the luncheon, hosted by the White House for selected leaders from sub-Saharan Africa on the sidelines of the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly in New York.

New York-based Kenyan ambassador to the UN Zachary Muburi-Muita told the Nation on Saturday night that the State Department contacted him on Friday to “disinvite” Mr Odinga from the September 22 luncheon with President Obama in New York for African leaders.

The ambassador last Monday confirmed to the Nation that he had received an invitation letter for the PM to attend the luncheon. A dispatch to the Foreign Affairs ministry from Kenya’s Ambassador to Washington, Mr Peter Ogego, seen by the Nation confirmed the cancellation.

On Saturday, the Mr Muburi-Muita said State Department officials told him that the earlier invitation was sent accidentally; that the luncheon is actually only for African heads of State and not heads of government.

But at the White House Press briefing on Friday, US ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said the following: “The President will also host on the 22nd a lunch for heads of state and government from sub-Saharan Africa.”

Mr Muburi-Muita said the cancellation was disappointing and did not know why the invitation was issued in the first place, only to be rescinded. “This is something we expect from a third world country, not from the United States,” he said. Mr Odinga will participate in the Opening of the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly and General Debate.

The Prime Minister will make his addresses to the General Assembly on the afternoon of Friday as the 12th speaker. While in the US, the PM will address a number of gatherings and bilateral meetings on critical issues in Kenya.

He is also scheduled to hold discussions with various Heads of State and Government. On Saturday, the Nation learnt from other government sources quoting a dispatch from Kenya’s ambassador to the US Peter Ogego, that no arrangements had been made for Mr Odinga and President Obama to meet.

In Nairobi, neither Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetang’ula nor his PS Mwangi Thuita returned our calls. President Obama, the son of a Kenyan father, has kept his distance from both President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Odinga as a signal of US displeasure with Kenya’s response to official corruption, ethnic violence and police abuses.

The American leader chose Ghana as his first official destination in Africa, and he did not invite Mr Odinga to a White House meeting when the Prime Minister visited the US in June.

Kenya has been left out of the list of 40-plus countries invited to the luncheon, and will be among nations the US is snubbing because of disputes over their governance or an antagonistic relationship with Washington. They include Eritrea, Guinea, Madagascar, Niger, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

“We are looking to have a dialogue with responsible leaders about the future of Africa’s economic and social development,” Susan Rice said on Monday in announcing the luncheon.

It has however been confirmed that Mr Odinga will attend a High-Level Meeting on Climate Change at the UN General Assembly and hold a number of bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the Assembly and another on Level Event on Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries.

He will hold discussions with the Clinton Global Initiative, attend the Africa Investor Index Series Summit and be at the Head of State/Government Roundtable within the General Assembly. The PM will also hold discussions with the International Contact Group on Somalia to discuss the situation in the neighbouring country.

On Thursday, the PM will deliver a lecture at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Public Administration on his Vision on the Challenges of Democratic Transition and Transfer of Power in Africa. Mr Odinga is accompanied by Cabinet ministers John Michuki, Beth Mugo and Wycliffe Oparanya.

Yes, his complete name is Fidel Castro Odinga. He is the eldest son of Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga and a first cousin to Barack Hussein Obama. The late Obama Sr. was the prime minister's maternal uncle. Although Obama Sr. was educated at Harvard and Odinga in East Germany, uncle and nephew were friends and political allies.

Today it is Barack Obama and Raila Odinga who have formed a transcontinental political alliance. In fact, Senator Obama, in an unprecedented breech of protocal, went to Kenya in 2006 to campaign on his cousin's behalf in that country's presidential election.

Raila lost the election when a secret pact was revealed with Kenya's Muslim Brotherhood to institute sharia law in all the country's courts in exchange for their support of his candidacy. This is all the more remarkable because it is Christianity (66%), not Islam (10%), which is the largest religion in Kenya, and English common law, not the Koran, which is the basis for its legal system. Or, perhaps, it is not so remarkable, after all, since both the Odingas and Obamas belong to the 10 percent.

Although not an observant Muslim, Odinga does represent Moammar Qaffafy's oil interests in southern Africa, which may better explain his willingness to tranform his non-Muslim country into a Muslim state as Idi Amin did in Uganda when he was the recipient of the colonel's largesse 30 years ago.

Odinga's connection to Barack Obama, however, has proved more useful in his political career than Qadaffy's billions. It was in the expectation of Obama's election as president, and to ingratiate himself to him, that Odinga's political rival offered him the premiership as a consolation prize.

When Prime Minister Odinga named his son "Fidel Castro," he broke with Kenyan tradition as he should have named him for the boy's grandfather Oginga Odinga (the Kenyan "Fidel Castro"), a Marxist-Leninist revolutionary who led an unsuccessful coup to topple the government of Kenya on behalf of the Soviets.

It is not known whether Oginga Odinga's brother-in-law, Obama Sr., was involved in the coup, though given the tribal character of politics in Kenya it would be difficult to imagine that he wasn't at least aware of it or wouldn't have profited by it even if he didn't contribute to it. Indeed, that may have been the reason for Obama Sr.'s failed political career in Kenya.

It is certainly ironic that Obama Sr.'s star eclipsed because of his relationship to Oginga Odinga, whereas his son Raila's rose because of his connection to Obama Jr.

We wonder how things might have turned out if Obama Sr., the Harvard-trained economist, had followed his cousin's example and named his American-born son "John Maynard Keynes Obama." Posted by Manuel A.Tellechea

[I can’t comprehend why they would still be talking about her]

Ahh, many comments about her and Sarah being a great team! Now I may not be the most politic around here but I think it’s getting silly.

Lazio,- I liked him at the time and thought he did have charisma. I thought it was all of Hillary’s liberal women who had a fit about him invading her space. But maybe I missed something.

It’s late and I’m tired.
I need to find a tag line too, maybe tomorrow.

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