Bush backs power-sharing deal to halt Kenyan violence

US President George Bush insisted today his administration is actively engaged in resolving turmoil in Africa, but said his trip to the continent is focused more on its successes than its conflicts.

“When you herald success, it helps others realise what is possible,” the president said in Benin on the first stop of a five-nation tour. “This is a large place with a lot of nations and no question not everything is perfect. On the other hand, there are a lot of great success stories and the US is pleased to be involved with those success stories.”

Even as Mr Bush defended an emphasis on the positive, he stepped into one of Africa’s most disturbing recent developments. December’s presidential elections in Kenya unleashed weeks of ethnic violence that left more than 1,000 people dead and displaced hundreds of thousands, a worrisome sign in a country typically regarded as one of Africa’s most stable.

Mr Bush endorsed a power-sharing agreement to help resolve the dispute. He is dispatching Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from his entourage on Monday to visit Nairobi.

Kenya’s political rivals announced a 10-point plan on Friday to resolve their political crisis after weeks of negotiations. They remained deadlocked over power sharing, however.

On the worsening violence in Sudan’s western Darfur region, which is now spilling over into escalating tensions with neighbouring Chad, Mr Bush said he “had a tough decision early on as to whether to send troops to Darfur”.

Once he decided not to, a decision he said was guided in part by recommendations from groups working in Darfur that he did not identify, Mr Bush said “there’s not many other avenues except for the United Nations and the peacekeeping forces”.

But he said he hopes to shine a spotlight on the need to speed up the deployment of a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping force to Darfur while in Rwanda on Tuesday.

Mr Bush intends to thank Rwandans for contributing the largest contingent of troops so far to that mission in a gentle nudge to nations he believes are not doing enough.

Mr Bush spent only three hours in Benin, the first US president to visit the West African country, before flying to Tanzania where he will stay three nights.

On a trip that will also take him to Rwanda in Central Africa and back to West Africa to Ghana and Liberia, Mr Bush is highlighting America’s commitment to improved health and economic development on the continent, an aspect of his foreign policy overshadowed by the war in Iraq. The image of the US has declined in many parts of the world, but remains high in Africa.

The president’s trip comes as conflict flared across the continent, with the new crises in Kenya and Chad and longer-running troubles in places such as the Horn of Africa, Congo and Zimbabwe. Mr Bush said he would address Africa’s conflicts while talking with leaders in the countries he is visiting.

“These meetings give me an opportunity to talk about ways forward in trouble spots,” he said. “We’ve been plenty active on these issues.”

Benin was chosen for the visit because it is one of Africa’s most-stable democracies – and because its location made it a convenient refuelling stop.

The nation has many political parties, a strong civil society and press freedoms, yet is one of world’s poorest countries, is severely underdeveloped and continues to struggle with corruption. The 2006 elections were nearly derailed when the government ran out of funds to finance its election machinery. Voters stepped in, raising cash, lending computers and using motorcycle headlights to illuminate ballot-counting centres.

Thomas Boni Yayi, the president of Benin, reiterated his commitment to battling corruption.

“Your fight against corruption is visible and easy for the people to see,” Mr Bush said. “This is such a good lesson ... because leaders around the world have got to understand that the US wants to partner with leaders and the people, but we’re not going to do so with people that steal money, pure and simple.”

Benin gave Bush the chance to tout one of the initiatives underpinning his trip to Africa, the Millennium Challenge Account. It provides US aid to countries that agree to govern justly, shun corruption, help their own people and support economic freedoms.

Benin is also one of 15 African countries targeted by an effort by Mr Bush to reduce malaria, a disease that is spread by infected mosquitoes.

Malaria kills more than 1 million people a year – many of them under five years old – mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Mr Bush’s effort – part of a trend of global outreach and awareness – is built around getting medicine, insecticide and mosquito-stopping bed nets to millions of people.