The Washington Post publishes a hard line blaming Britain for Kenya's problems and points out the spiraling discord of Merry old England priding itself as "a purveyor of global democracy". Then:
Daniel arap Moi, a member of the Kalenjin ethnic minority, assumed dictatorial power in 1978. He managed to hang on for more than two decades.
And whatever basis there is for one to heap praise upon Ambassador Smith Hempstone, leaving a dictator to have the run his own electoral process so he can 'earn' the next administration's generous support by playing tiddlywinks with the loyalties of his countrymen probably isn't it.
And so it goes, Moi "managed to hang on". This brings us back to Caroline Elkins in the WaPo:
the wonder is not that Kenya is descending into ethnic violence. The wonder is that it didn't happen sooner.
It's a wonder that Moi's dictatorship, and the state he left behind, isn't remembered as ethnic violence institutionalized.
:: posted by buermann @ 2008-01-07 17:41:36 CST |
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