WASHINGTON — On the eve of his second trip to sub-Saharan Africa, President Bush announced Thursday that he will dispatch Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to Kenya, a fresh sign of U.S. concern about the political discord that has troubled the East African nation.
Bush has come under pressure to involve his administration in efforts to stem the violence in Kenya, until weeks ago considered one of the most stable democracies in Africa.
Analysts speculated that Bush decided to send Rice to Kenya to defuse criticism that his six-day itinerary skirts troubled states and highlights successes. Bush is scheduled to depart today to visit the relatively stable countries of Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Liberia.
"There is growing criticism that the theme of this trip is, 'Aren't things rosy?' and that the president will be ducking the crises and tough issues," said J. Anthony Holmes, a former State Department official with the Council on Foreign Relations.
Rice will split off from Bush's party Monday and fly to Nairobi to meet with Kenyan leaders and former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who is trying to work out a power-sharing deal between President Mwai Kibaki and opposition Orange Democratic Movement leader Raila Odinga. The dispute has left more than 1,000 people dead since the Dec. 27 election.
Bush said Rice would "deliver a message directly to Kenya's leaders and people: There must be an immediate halt to violence, there must be justice for the victims of abuse, and there must be a full return to democracy."
Analysts say there is a limit to how much the administration will become involved. Both the Bush and Clinton administrations pursued a policy of urging African nations to solve their own problems with limited U.S. assistance. But the U.S. has important security interests in Kenya, which has cooperated in fighting Muslim extremism in the region.
In a speech Thursday at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of African Art, Bush outlined a broad U.S. role in Africa that would last beyond the end of his administration. He highlighted an agenda to promote economic and political development and expand a massive campaign against HIV/AIDS and malaria.
Bush sought to assure Africans that "the United States is committed to them today, tomorrow and long into their continent's bright future."
