US Assistant Secretary of State for democracy, human rights and labor makes first visit to Africa-Says building democracy important for continent
By Samson Haileyesus
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia-  David J. Kramer, US Assistant Secretary of State for democracy, human rights and labor this week made his first trip to Ethiopia following his appointment in March of this year, his first African state visit  so far.
Assistant Secretary Kramer during his three days visit to Ethiopia which kicked off on Wednesday held discussions with Ethiopian government officials including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, opposition members, media and representatives of civil society groups. According to the Assistant Secretary Kramer the discussions focused on what he called Washington’s ‘concerns’ with various issues in regards to the Ethiopian media law, the Civil Society Organizations legislation, elections and the interactions between the government and opposition groups in Ethiopia.
“In terms of human rights in Africa and Ethiopia it is a major concert in this continent and worldwide. President Bush in his second inaugural address in Jan 2005 made the promotion of freedom and liberty the key stone of his second term and we I think we have seen efforts by the secretary Rice, the administration as a whole and our embassies worldwide to place greater emphasis on respect of human rights and democracy”, said Assistant Secretary Kramer.
In regards to the conditionalities being imposed on African nations by the US in regards to trade pact such as the African Growth And Opportunity Act (AGOA) based on the human rights performances of nations he said: “Congress mandates certain conditionalities and we certainly abide by the legislation congress passes and the president signs. At the same time we tend to believe that engagement tends to be the best course of action in terms of helping African countries or elsewhere in terms of moving forwards on respect on human rights and other issue. At the same time where the human rights issue is utterly appalling for example in Zimbabwe where we feel that the situation there has not left us no choice not only to impose conditions but also to impose sanctions. That is why we tried to push through sanctions through the Security Council recently we regret that it did not pass but there are cases where the human rights records in certain countries were so appalling that we had no choice but to exert action”

A long-standing dispute over land ownership led to inter-communal violence in the district towards the end of 2006, displacing thousands of people and leaving hundreds dead.
The main returnee needs were shelter and food, a relief officer with the Kenya Red Cross Society (KRCS) in the district, Maurice Anyango, said. The KRCS was targeting 12,000 households in its food aid distribution.
Cheminingwa said farmers were likely to sell their harvest to meet other urgent livelihood needs because the majority had lost assets during the conflict, further contributing to a drop in the amount of food available.
The district, one of the key grain-producing areas in western Kenya, normally has a surplus of 418,500 bags of maize for sale to neighbouring districts. Cheminingwa said the district cereal bank had been depleted.
The price of 2kg of maize has increased to an average of KSh80 ($1.33) from KSh30 ($0.50) in 2007. •