As part of his confirmation hearing, Carson engaged in a wide-ranging
question-and-answer session with senators on various aspects of the
U.S.-Africa relationship. Carson is a career diplomat, former Peace
Corps volunteer in Tanzania and a lifelong friend of Africa. He served
as the U.S. ambassador to Kenya (1999-2003), Zimbabwe (1995-1997) and
Uganda (1991-1994) and in diplomatic posts in Portugal, Botswana,
Mozambique and Nigeria.
According to Carson, the ongoing piracy off the coast of Somalia is
directly related to the absence of any government or law enforcement
there and a breakdown of the formal and informal economy. The United
States, he said, needs to be positioned wherever we can with
diplomatic representation in the region to help facilitate the efforts
to find solutions in Somalia.
The chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African
Affairs, who chaired the hearing for the full committee, Democrat Russ
Feingold, told Carson the United States needs a full-court diplomatic
push to engage a wide range of actors within Somalia and stakeholders
in the wider region, both in the Horn of Africa and also in the Middle
East.
Carson said much of that push is already under way. The United States
is a part of a Contact Group of largely Western European and maritime
powers working to devise rules and regulations that will improve the
security of shipping through the Red Sea and the northern part of the
Indian Ocean, he told the lawmakers. The Contact Group has had a
number of meetings to work out details on how they can help address
this issue.
Carson cited an unprecedented level of cooperation among navies of the
world to deal with this issue, and said the United States government
has been very active in working with maritime shipping companies in the
United States, encouraging them to adopt policies that will make it
harder for pirates to capture or to attack their ships as they move
through the region.
Asked about the appointment of President Obama's new special envoy for
Sudan, retired Air Force Major General Scott Gration, Carson termed
that selection a wonderful choice. Carson described Gration as a man
who is very much dedicated to the job and the assignment that he has
been given and a man who has an enormous amount of experience in Africa
as well.
Turning to Zimbabwe, Carson called it an extraordinarily tragic case.
We have seen Robert Mugabe take Zimbabwe, a once very successful,
economically strong country, down to the lowest level. It is a country
that has extraordinary agricultural and mineral potential. It has a
citizenship that is broadly well educated for Africa. But under Robert
Mugabe's dictatorial, authoritarian leadership he has basically
destroyed the country in order to maintain himself and a small group of
leaders in power.
Carson said the United States has worked very hard for change there
and that effort has resulted in some progress. We now have a
transition government in place with the leader of the opposition,
Morgan Tsvangirai, serving as the prime minister, but Mugabe and the
key leadership of [Mugabe's political party] continue to control the
instruments of power in that country the intelligence services, the
police and the military. They also have enormous control over the
central bank and the reserve bank. Until we see changes in those areas,
it is unlikely we will see any real change in the governance of that
country.
Looking at the political situation in Kenya, Carson called Kenya the
strongest partner of the United States in the Horn of Africa. We
have our greatest economic ties there. We have our strongest military
ties there as well, and it has been an important partner with the
United States. Carson added that the United States is deeply
concerned over the stalemated political situation there and pledged
that, if confirmed, he would do everything he could to help address the
political impasse.
Asked to comment on reports of arbitrary arrests in Ethiopia, Carson
acknowledged that Ethiopia has, in fact, been a strong partner in the
effort to combat extremism emanating from Somalia. He added, however,
that the United States needs to have a broad and balanced relationship
with Ethiopia one that is based on a common set of shared ideals and
principles based on democratic values. He said it is extremely
important that Ethiopia try not to close down its democratic space,
that it allows its political opposition, its civil society to
participate broadly in the political life of that country. He also
called for Ethiopia to allow a free press and trade unions to operate
there.
On the broader issue of press freedom across the continent, Carson
underlined the importance of a free press as a major pillar of
democracy. He said press freedom has improved on the continent over the
past 20 years, aided by the introduction of electronic media,
telephones and Internet and radio broadcasts both local and
international. A free press, he said, provides information and a check
on government excesses. It allows individuals to make their governments
and organizations more accountable and is the backbone of good
democracies.
Carson said that, if confirmed, he will speak out against corruption,
which he called a cancer on the economy of any country. Corruption is
particularly devastating on the African economies, he said, because
they tend to be weak and small. In too many places around the
continent, Carson said, there is a misuse of resources that undermines
the integrity of government budgets and development objectives.
Carson's nomination is yet to be confirmed by the full Senate.
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Post published in: News