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The 44th US president will leave on his third official African visit on June 26, touring Senegal, South Africa and Tanzania, but his itinerary bypasses Kenya/FILE

Kenya

As Obama heads to Africa, Kenya eyes ICC trial impact

The ICC cases – used to rally nationalist votes during the elections – have also seen Kenyatta win overwhelming backing from the African Union, whose members came together at a summit meeting last month to voice their opposition to the trials.

But while the cases have drummed up domestic and regional support, the trials remain a diplomatic hurdle for others.

Kenya is a regional economic and strategic hub, and Western governments have “a difficult task in balancing their policy of ‘essential contact’ only… with managing their bilateral interests” with Nairobi, the International Crisis Group (ICG) wrote in a recent report.

Tom Maliti, a Kenyan journalist with the ICC Kenya Monitor website, backed by the Open Society Foundations, said that there had been “an expectation Obama would visit in his second term”, adding that the visit to Tanzania “can be characterised as a snub.”

“Some groups of Kenyans will be disappointed,” he said, adding it reflected Kenya’s “complex history with its Western allies.”

Both Kenyatta and Ruto deny the charges against them and have agreed to cooperate fully with the ICC.

Major problems would arise only if they choose to end cooperation, something there has been no indication of yet.

For most Kenyans, the lack of an Obama visit may be a disappointment, but they point out that he visited Kenya in 2006, shortly after he was elected to the Senate.

“He’ll be welcome when he does come again, but I can understand why he might think now is not the best time for a visit here,” said student Brian Ohun, drinking in a Nairobi bar.

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“Anyway, most people will think the traffic is bad enough in Nairobi as it is without an Obama visit.”

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