Kenya's president said Wednesday that African nations should be free to cooperate with both the United States and China, warning that foreign powers were exacerbating the continent's divisions.

President Uhuru Kenyatta was speaking on a visit to Washington, where speculation has built that the United States will seek to negotiate a free-trade agreement with Kenya, in what would be a first with an African nation.

On the eve of his talks with President Donald Trump, Kenyatta said he was "very concerned" about a return to the Cold War era when Africans had to choose between the United States and the Soviet Union.

"Western countries, and their counterparts in Asia and the Middle East, are returned to competition over Africa, in some cases weaponizing divisions, pursuing proxy actions and behaving like Africa is for the taking.

"Well, I want to tell you it is not," Kenyatta said at the Atlantic Council think tank.

China has been funding billions of dollars worth of infrastructure around the world, including a modern new rail-line between Nairobi and the port of Mombasa, as part of its Belt and Road Initiative.

The United States has been increasingly vocal in urging developing nations to be wary, warning that they can be saddled with unpayable debts to Beijing for projects built largely with Chinese labor.

Asked about the criticism of China, Kenyatta said: "We don't want to be forced to choose. We want to work with everybody, and we believe that there is opportunity for everybody.

"There are those areas indeed where America stands out and has much, much better strengths in certain fields. On the other hand, you have the Chinese who build hospitals in seven days."

- First African trade pact? -

The White House said Trump would speak to Kenyatta about "new opportunities to advance cooperation and trade."

Scott Eisner of the US Chamber of Commerce said the private sector was increasingly paying attention to rumors that the US and Kenya would start free-trade negotiations.

"There's some big numbers you could hit over the next six to 10 years should a big deal come together," Eisner, head of the Chamber's US-Africa Business Center, told reporters on a conference call.

He pointed to Kenya's medical device industry, tech sector and textiles as areas for trade and said the country had proven to be a "good market entry point" to East Africa.

The United States has free-trade agreements with 20 countries but none are in Africa.

Bob Lighthizer, the US trade representative, said in 2018 that the Trump administration would choose one African country for a "model" free-trade agreement.

Driving the momentum for a trade deal, a US law that sets import preferences for African goods is set to expire in 2025.

Passed by Congress in 2000, the African Growth and Opportunity Act lets sub-Saharan nations export an array of products to the United States tariff-free if they meet conditions such as maintaining a market-based economy, protecting labor rights and combating corruption.

Trump is not known for his interest in Africa. But the State Department announced Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would pay his first visit to Africa from February 15 to 19, stopping in Senegal, Angola and Ethiopia.

Surviving WWII Congo troops honoured for colonial-era battles
Kinshasa (AFP) Feb 6, 2020 - Albert Kunyuku Ngoma was a young Congolese corporal in the colonial Belgian army when he was forced to battle in WWII as far away as Myanmar.

Now 97, Ngoma is one of only two surviving former members of the colonial "Public Force" military living in the DR Congo capital Kinshasa, who are honoured in a new documentary entitled "The Shadow of the Forgotten!".

Recalling the battles of six decades ago, Ngoma described fighting side by side with Belgium troops against the Japanese in Myanmar, which was then called Burma.

"In the trenches in Burma, we saw Belgian officers fall to enemy bullets," Ngoma said. "It was a real shock for us."

The Public Force was formed as a military unit when Belgium's King Leopold II controlled the colony. Thousands of Congolese were drafted as part of the colonial armed forces, and fought during WWII in east Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

Dressed in their worn-out former uniforms, Ngoma and his former brother-in-arms Daniel Miuki, 94, were praised as "living monuments" of Congolese history at a recent showing of the documentary by academic Jose Adolphe Voto.

In the film, the pair were shown proudly wearing their campaign medals on their chests as they recalled details of their postings from Leopoldville, as Kinshasa was once known, to the Middle East and to Burma, a former British colony invaded by the Japanese during the war.

Caps on their heads and canes in hand, two men leafed together through a yellowed photo album from Miuki's home showing pictures dating from 1940-1945.

American troops were not great shots, they recalled, but they praised the combat skills of the Japanese, Chinese and Korean troops on the ground.

-'Tossed aside like towels'-

Both remember the racial segregation they had to face even as they fought shoulder to shoulder with the Belgians.

"We were like slaves, because it was Belgium that brought us into this war. We could not say anything," Ngoma said.

"When the bombs began to fall, white and black would die the same way," said Miuki, a former infantry nurse.

As Belgium's premier visited the DR Congo this week, Miuki criticised what he called the "ungrateful" attitude of the former colonial ruler towards its Congolese ex-soldiers, saying they were tossed aside "like dirty towels".

"France still takes care of Second World War veterans from its former colonies, and their heirs," Ngoma said.

Congolese soldiers never received any compensation from the countries for whom they fought in 1940-45, according to a complaint filed in 2018 in the DR Congo by seven children of ex-combatants from the Public Force.

They accuse the former colonial power as well as France, Britain and the United States of neglecting their parents and claimed more than $7 million (6.3 million euros), according to the Belgian Ministry of Defense.

The case was in court late last year, but no judgment has been made.

"I wanted to pay tribute to those who gave their all, not only for the Congo but in the World War," said Voto, the documentary director.

"I wanted them to be rewarded morally. When I spoke with them, I was disappointed to learn that they have never been recognised by Belgium."

Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Sudan army agrees Burhan-Netanyahu meeting will boost security
Khartoum (AFP) Feb 5, 2020
Sudan's military announced Wednesday it backed a surprise meeting held between the country's leader and Israel's premier in Uganda this week, saying the opening would help boost national security. General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, chairman of Sudan's ruling sovereign council, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Entebbe on Monday in a meeting that was not pre-announced. Israel remains technically at war with Sudan, which supported hardline Islamists - including, for a period, Al-Qaeda ... read more