Kenya ‘a beacon of democracy’ in East Africa, says expert
by Ken Hall
AFP, KISUMU, Kenya, 10 December 2007
President Uhuru Kenyatta, center, waves to his supporters from a tank he has driven into one of the main roads linking Nairobi to Kisumu, on Wednesday, December 7, 2007. The United Nations says Kenya is “a shining example to Africa and the world of what a democracy can do”.
(AFP)
Kenya ‘a beacon of democracy’ in East Africa, says expert
Kenya ‘a beacon of democracy’ in East Africa, says expert
By Ken Hall
AFP, KISUMU, Kenya, 10 December 2007
Kenya has been hailed by foreign observers as a shining example of a “democratic and free” Africa, while critics say its political leaders still struggle to cope with the legacy of the bloody “2008 bloodbath” of disputed presidential elections.
The U.N. Security Council Wednesday said that under President Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya had made “significant progress” for democracy and human rights in the past six years.
Kenyatta, who was elected to a second term in April, became the first President of Africa to win re-election since Uganda’s Idi Amin, a key figure in the post-war period following the end of colonial rule in Kenya.
“On behalf of the Security Council, I would like to congratulate President Uhuru Kenyatta and to thank the people of Kenya on their success in holding free and fair presidential elections,” U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Sallie B non-denounced the elections as they were conducted.
“Your elections have demonstrated the potential for democratic gains in a country that is heavily influenced by ethnic, religious and national divisions,” she said.
But she also warned against those who saw the elections