Ambassador of Kenya Yusuf A. Nzibo Kenya Recovers From Terror Outbreaks by Larry Luxner Yusuf Abdulrahman Nzibo was working only half a mile from the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi when it was ripped apart five years ago by a powerful car bomb. ìMy first reaction was that it was an internal coup. All the phones went dead,î he says, recalling that horrible day. ìBlood was flowing all over.î The August 1998 attack left 231 people dead and more than 5,000 injured. Besides the immediate destruction, it forever shattered the image of Kenyaósynonymous in American minds with majestic African safaris and ìThe Lion Kingîóas a peaceful country immune from the savagery of international terrorism. Nzibo, today Kenyaís ambassador to the United States, says the 1998 bombing and another one last year against an Israeli-owned hotel in Mombasa have scared away tourists and crippled an economy already weakened by corruption, AIDS and low commodity prices for Kenyaís main exports, tea and coffee. ìMany people felt that we were victims of an issue that didnít affect us directly,î Nzibo says, noting that right after the bom bings, ìambulance chasersî from New York came to Nairobi to encourage families of victims to file lawsuits. At the time of the 1998 attack, the government was immersed in bitter domestic squabbling. ìBut suddenly we realized we had to protect the nation. People came out and volunteered. I recall the former president [Daniel arap Moi] leading a demonstration for the first time in support of the Americans.î The United States eventually extended humanitarian assistance totaling more than $42 million to Kenyan victims of the bombing and their families, although Nzibo says some people felt ìthe American security personnel were more interested in rescuing their own people than the Kenyans, and over the years, many felt they were not adequately compensated.î Four years after the bombing, a new U.S. Embassyóthe largest in Africaówas inaugurated in Nairobi, amid hopes that such an attack would never happen again. Yet those hopes were dashed on Nov. 28, 2002, when a four-wheel-drive vehicle laden with explosives blew up in the lobby of the Israeli-owned Paradise Hotel in Mombasa, killing 17 people including three Israelis and three suicide bombers. Moments later, two missiles were launched at an Israeli airliner taking off from Mombasaís international airport, narrowly missing their target. ìWe live in a neighborhood thatís very unstable,î conceded Nzibo in a lengthy interview with The Washington Diplomat last month. ìWe share a very long, porous border with Somalia, and a few Kenyans may be collaborating with al Qaeda.î He added, ìKenya is a very cosmopolitan country, and people are very welcoming. Itís a multiracial society, life is comfortable, and our links with the Middle East, Europe and Asia are very good. You can fly in and out of Nairobi anytime.î As a result, individual members of al Qaeda ìtook advantage of our hospitality,î settling in Kenya and even marrying local girls. ìSince the attack on the Israeli hotel in Mombasa, the government has tried to sensitize the community and be careful about who they welcome,î the ambassador says. Particularly suspicious are the large numbers of Yemenis, Iraqis and other Arabs recruited by Saudi nongovernmental organizations that provide assistance to Kenya. ìWeíve worked very closely with American intelligence authorities to try and trap those involved,î Nzibo says, noting that a number of Kenyans have been arrested on suspicion of having ties to al Qaeda. Nzibo, born in Mombasa and raised in Nairobi, is Muslimóas are 30 percent of Kenyaís 29 million inhabitants. ìIslamic philosophy teaches that we belong to a brotherhood in which you easily accept Muslims wherever they are,î he says. ìEven so, weíve said very clearly over the years that no one can choose our friends for us. The Americans and the Israelis will always remain our friends. We recognize Israelís right to exist, but the Palestinians also have a right to have a home. Weíd like to see the two states coexist peacefully with each other.î Nziboís own story is unusual. In addition to English and Swahili, the 52-year-old diplomat speaks a little Spanish, thanks to a lifelong interest in Latin America. He earned a bachelorís degree in political science and history from Nairobi University, then went to Scotland and received a masterís in philosophy as well as a doctorate from the Institute of Latin American Studies at the University of Glasgow. After teaching political history at the University of Nairobi for 10 years, he then switched careers, earning a masterís of business administration and going into banking. Nzibo got involved in privatization issues and rose to the top of the Kenya Revenue Authority, Kenyaís equivalent of the IRS. In 1998, he was chosen ambassador to the Netherlands, Czech Republic and Slovakia, remaining at that post until his current appointment to Washington three years ago. When Nzibo isnít dealing with weighty issues such as terrorism, he spends time with his son and three daughters. Up until a year ago, he also maintained the embassyís Web site himself, and heís one of the few ambassadors in Washingtonómaybe the only oneówith his own Web site: www.nzibo.com. Nzibo says that despite frustrations with the State Departmentís May 2003 travel advisory against Kenya, which he calls an ìoverreaction,î Kenyaís relations with the United States are ìmuch warmerî with the Bush administration than when Bill Clinton was in the White House. ìDuring the Clinton administration, Uganda was the darling of Africa, much more than either Tanzania or ourselves,î says Nzibo. ìIn all the trips Clinton made to Africa, we were excluded. But Kenya was included in Bushís trip until this terrorist threat came up.î Politically, Nzibo says Kenya remains one of the most stable countries in East Africa, partly because its longtime president, Daniel arap Moi, was in power for 24 years. ìWe had free and fair elections in December, and the party that had ruled since 1963 was defeated,î he says. ìThere was fatigue in the country. People wanted change, but we had a very peaceful transition. Weíve always had elections every five years, and Kenya has been in the forefront of resolving conflicts throughout the region.î Nevertheless, Kenyaís new president, Mwai Kibaki, faces a slew of problems at home. According to statistics compiled by leading hotel groups and tour operators, U.S. travel to Kenya has fallen by 90 percent since the advisory was issued, putting a major dent in Kenyaís tourism sector, which employs more than 500,000 people. ìKenya is continuously being misrepresented as a destination because of this continuing travel warning. This erroneously portrays Kenya as an unsafe, insecure and unstable country,î said Adam Jillo, chairman of the Nairobi-based Incentive Travel & Motivation Exhibition 2003 Committee, in a Sept. 24 letter to Kibaki. ìWe request that you strongly urge the U.S. administration to lift the current travel warning as well as provide tourism recovery aid to mitigate the continuing economic crisis.î Another serious problem Kibaki faces is Kenyaís worsening AIDS crisis. One-third of all Kenyans are now infected with HIV, and more than 1.5 million people have died since the early 1980sóleaving behind more than 1 million orphans. Kenyaís death toll from AIDS will likely reach 2.6 million by 2005. ìWe declared HIV/AIDS a national disaster three years ago. Our problem was that we were in denial. Therefore, we didnít sensitize our people in time,î says Nzibo. ìUganda was the first country in East Africa to accept that they had a problem with AIDS and face it squarely. It took us 10 years to recognize that we also had a problem.î In response, Kenya has adopted an HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan that aims to reduce the prevalence of HIV to between 20 percent and 30 percent among people ages 15 to 24 by 2005, while increasing access to care and support for HIV-positive Kenyans. The effort is costing more than 14 billion Kenya shillings, or around $180 million. An equally big problem, perhaps even bigger, is the countryís enduring legacy of corruption. Even Nzibo admits that ìour economy has not been doing very well in the past few years. All [International Monetary Fund] assistance was suspended because of concern about corruption. Some donor countries like Norway and the Netherlands pulled out, so that created even more economic hardship.î Compounding the crisis are chronically low prices for tea and coffee, both of which bring millions of dollars in foreign exchange for Kenya. One bright spot, says Nzibo, is the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), launched in 2000 by the Clinton administration to entice 38 sub-Saharan African countries to open up their economies and build free markets. Specifically, AGOA removes U.S. duties and quotas on a wide range of apparel and textile products from sweaters and socks to T-shirts and underwear. According to the U.S. Trade Representativeís Office, thanks to AGOA, African textile and apparel exports to the United States more than doubled in 2002. AGOA has created more than 190,000 jobs and more than $340 million in new investments throughout Africa since the lawís passage three years ago. Last year, Kenyaís apparel and textile shipments to the U.S. market totaled $126 million, nearly double the $64.7 million recorded the year before, and three times the $39.5 million recorded in 1999. Exports for 2003 are expected to top $240 million. ìWe were the first country to qualify for AGOA,î says Nzibo. ìIt has helped revive our textile industry. Before, the industry was mismanaged and suffered from obsolete equipment and a flood of cheap, second-hand goods from Europe and elsewhere that hardly paid any duties. With AGOA, we now have more of an incentive to export.î Larry Luxner is a contributing writer for The Washington Diplomat.