Kenya accuses West of "colonial" meddling

By Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya accused Western envoys on Friday of "shameless blackmail" and gross condescension for trying to force the head of the electoral commission to resign over a chaotic presidential poll that led to months of violence.

Diplomats said the government was exaggerating the envoys' role even though they agreed the election boss needed to go for mishandling the vote last December.

The row reflects both ongoing recriminations over Kenya's post-election crisis and foreign donor impatience with the pace of political reform in east Africa's largest economy.

Local media reported that U.S. and European Union ambassadors had this week visited Samuel Kivuitu, chairman of the Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK), to urge his resignation. Washington had threatened a travel ban, media said.

Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula said he was outraged by the "audacious and blatant breach of protocol" by the envoys.

"It is unacceptable for an ambassador accredited to Kenya to physically walk into an office of a holder of a constitutional office and directly confront him with the aim of attempting to force his resignation," he said.

"Such shameless blackmail, applied through open disregard of established norms of conduct of diplomats, in favour of a style and tone reminiscent of colonial mindset, is an insult to the Kenyan public."

U.S. CRITICISM