U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken appealed Wednesday for the preservation of democracy in politically and ethnically fractured societies as he opened his first official visit to Africa in Kenya amid worsening crises in neighboring Ethiopia and Sudan.
In a lengthy, private meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and other top officials, Blinken hailed Kenya’s role in seeking to ease the conflict in Ethiopia and as an example of a vibrant, inclusive democracy despite challenges it has faced in its own recent elections.
Kenyatta visited Addis Ababa over the weekend in a bid to bolster an African Union-led mediation initiative to end the violence in Ethiopia that has engulfed the northern Tigray region and spread, prompting widespread fears of a spillover in the conflict.
Blinken spent an hour-and-a-half alone with Kenyatta in a one-on-one session that had been scheduled for only 10 minutes, the State Department said, although the exact topics of the discussion and any potential developments were not immediately clear.
“We continue to see atrocities being committed, people suffering, and regardless of what we call it, it needs to stop and there needs to be accountability,” Blinken later told reporters, adding that he will make a determination on whether the situation is genocide “once we get all the analysis that goes into looking at the facts.”
Kenyan Cabinet Secretary Raychelle Omamo told reporters that “we believe that a cease-fire is possible” but “in the end, these solutions will come from (the Ethiopian people).”
In earlier comments to Kenyan civic leaders, Blinken spoke about the importance of combatting “democratic recession” around the world, including challenges in the United States that show “just how fragile our democracy can be.” Kenya faces its own test of stability in a presidential election next year.
Blinken is looking to boost thus-far…
Source : france24
