Kenyan concern at US travel ban

**The Kenyan government has expressed concern over a US threat to impose travel bans on 15 Kenyan officials who do not promote political reforms.**Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula told the BBC it was too soon to single out any individual for blocking reforms.

He said the reform agenda was being implemented regardless of what individuals thought about it.

In recent months the US has criticised Kenya for failing to investigate deadly clashes after the 2007 election.

The reform agenda is on

Moses Wetangula
Foreign minister

A number of Kenyan politicians have been accused of being the ringleaders of the violence.

Some 1,300 people died, but officials have resisted calls for a tribunal - which was agreed during a mediation process that led to the setting up of a coalition government.

On Thursday, US ambassador to Kenya Michael Ranneberger said letters had been sent to the officials urging them to back reforms and oppose the use of violence.

But Mr Wetangula said that holding different views about the process did not mean that people were opposing reform.

“The reform agenda is on. I am sure that people hold different views about different issues about reform. I have not seen so far people I can clearly identify as standing in the way of reform,” he told the BBC’s Network Africa programme.

The BBC’s Anne Waithera says the US has previously barred several Kenyan government officials from obtaining US visas over corruption allegations.

The latest threat comes days after Justice Minister Mutula Kilonzo said he would notify the International Criminal Court that the country would not be able to set up a local tribunal to try suspects of Kenya’s post-election violence.

The names of key suspects involved in violence after the 2007 Kenyan election have already been given to the ICC by Kofi Annan, who brokered the power-sharing deal.

The names on the list have not been made public.

In recent weeks the US has also criticised President Mwai Kibaki’s attempt to reappoint a much-criticised anti-corruption chief without parliament’s approval.