Embassy of the United States

News and Events

Kenya Subject of Talks Among Bush, Rice, Tanzanian Leader

(February 17, 2008)

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania -- The situation in Kenya was the subject of a briefing Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete gave to President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on the eve of Rice's mission to promote reconciliation in strife-torn Kenya.

The Tanzanian leader, who recently was elected chairman of the African Union, said February 17 that he appreciates that Bush and Rice have been engaged from the beginning in efforts to resolve the crisis that has gripped Kenya since the deeply flawed December 27, 2007, presidential election, according to White House press secretary Dana Perino.

Perino said that, based on that briefing, the feeling was that "obviously they [the Kenyans] have a ways to go, but they have come a long way as well.  The violence has substantially decreased -- which is important -- but still a concern" along with the fact that many, many people have been displaced over the past few weeks."

Both Bush and Rice have stressed they support former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan's plan of peace and reconciliation, she said.

According to Perino, Kikwete said during the briefing that he appreciates that point and lamented that "sometimes there is a belief that Africans can't solve African problems and that someone from the West has to try to solve it for them."

Reflecting on the secretary's visit to Kenya February 18, Perino said, "Secretary Rice does not expect ... to come away tomorrow with a final deal, but I do think that based on the discussion that we heard today, they are inching their way closer and need a little help to get there."