Angelo Izama | Kampala
A former top diplomat for Africa in the George Bush administration has urged US President Barack Obama to meet President Yoweri Museveni and his Rwanda and Congolese peers, in what has been interpreted as thinly veiled lobbyist pressure mounted on Washington.Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Jendayi Frazer said the White House under Mr Obama should move beyond rhetoric to deepen Washington’s engagement with African leaders much in the mold of the out-gone Republican government.
While vilified in the West, the reputation of Mr Bush in Africa is rosier for his willingness to spend more on HIV/Aids and increase aid to Africa. Mr Bush also met regularly with African leaders including Mr Museveni.
“Mr Obama needs to spend more time meeting and engaging African leaders to address the continent’s challenges,” she said in her letter published last week. She argued that Mr Bush had helped reduce “interstate wars” between Uganda, Rwanda and Uganda by holding bilateral and tri-lateral meetings.
“Now Mr Obama needs to galvanise U.S. efforts to end the militia violence of Rwandan and Ugandan rebel groups still operating in the Congo,” she wrote.
Ms Frazer served as Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, a position now filled by former American Ambassador to Uganda Johnnie Carson. However, her letter titled “ Four ways to help Africa” which included a recommendation that the new US Africa Command (Africom) move to Liberia - will likely be viewed as crafted to help advance specific interests of African governments like Uganda. This is because Ms Jendayi is now a lobbyist.
Since she left the US government Ms Jendayi has taken up a position with the Uganda-government-contracted lobbyist Rosa Whitaker of the Whitaker Group. The Ministry of Finance in March 2008 signed a contract for “International Presidential Advisory Services in the political, social and economic fields” with the Group for a sum slightly above a million dollars (Shs2 billion). The contract, a copy of which this newspaper has seen, expires in December 2010.
Ms Frazer is listed as a “strategic advisor” on the Whitaker Group’s website. Parliamentarians have long opposed the work of the Whitaker Group. In April this year, there was hullabaloo over reports she had received $300,000 for among others background information on US President Barack Obama. A major criticism of Ms Whitaker’s firm is that her retainer was never approved by Parliament which also argued that she was duplicating the work of Ugandan embassies abroad.
Yesterday Ambassador James Mugume said the use of lobbyists was standard practice in Washington and that that the appeal by Ms Frazer was not unusual.
“Ms Frazer is a former senior Africa official and a defender of the Bush policies especially the work that America did in helping this region stabilise. That she works for a lobby firm is normal since most former officials are sought after by schools, institutions and lobby firms because of their insight and connections in government” he said.
Ms Whitaker is the most visible but not the only lobbyist that the Ugandan government uses. In the run-up to the Commonwealth summit in 2007, it emerged that a London based firm Hill and Knowlton which had among its clients embattled Zimbabwean government of Robert Mugabe had been retained. The government also splashed over a million dollars on a campaign on CNN international.
“Lobbyists are not a good idea because ideally you can deal directly between governments. If you pay a lot of money it’s often because you need to whitewash things because you are not clean,” said Mr Benson Obua (UPC, Moroto county).
Mr Mugume however insisted that “all government’s use lobbyists” as a matter of practice because of the competitive nature of international politics.
Ms Jendayi is following in the footsteps of another former government heavyweight, Baroness Lynda Chalker a former British minister for overseas development, who was a key player in reducing tension between Uganda and Rwanda in the 90’s while she was in government. After government she was reported to be doing business directly with the Ugandan leadership including representing British commercial interests.
The call by Ms Jendayi for Obama to meet with Mr Museveni may not be coincidental either. President Museveni was expected in Washington in early October but the visit has been cancelled. The President has had a busy travel schedule and has recently visited Russia and Iran. However it is traditionally with Washington that he has been associated with. That visit has not happened so far with the Obama administration which it has been reported holds a very dim view of the way Kampala has been running things.
Mr Mugume however insisted that “all government’s use lobbyists” as a matter of practice because of the competitive nature of international politics.
Ms Jendayi is following in the footsteps of another former government heavyweight, Baroness Lynda Chalker a former British minister for overseas development, who was a key player in reducing tension between Uganda and Rwanda in the 90’s while she was in government.
After government she was reported to be doing business directly with the Ugandan leadership including representing British commercial interests.
The call by Ms Jendayi for Obama to meet with Mr Museveni may not be coincidental either.
President Museveni was expected in Washington in early October but the visit has been cancelled. The President has had a busy travel schedule and has recently visited Russia and Iran.
However it is traditionally with Washington that he has been associated with. That visit has not happened so far with the Obama administration which it has been reported holds a very dim view of the way Kampala has been running things.
