Kenya Press Assails Wolpe for Criticism on His Visit

This country’s three daily newspapers launched a broad attack Wednesday on Rep. Howard Wolpe, chairman of the House subcommittee on African affairs, depicting him in an editorial cartoon as “Mr. Coward Wolfe” and accusing him of “insolence, reckless conduct and making undue demands” during his brief visit here last weekend.

The fusillade came after Wolpe, a Michigan Democrat, called a news conference here Sunday to say that he had seen evidence during his two-day stay of “a drastic increase in intimidation of individuals in Kenya who may be critical of government policies.”

Wolpe said that meetings scheduled for the weekend with church leaders, development organizations and a member of Parliament were either called off or broken up at the last minute by “state interference.”

Meeting Interrupted

A meeting with one clergyman, a frequent critic of the Kenyan government, was interrupted by a plainclothes policeman who called the pastor aside to tell him “it was not in the interest of the state to continue the meeting,” according to Stephen Weisman, a Wolpe aide who was present.

The congressman also said he had requested meetings with Kenyan President Daniel Arap Moi and government ministers, but had been told they were unavailable.

In a rebuttal Monday, Kenyan Foreign Minister Elijah Mwangale called Wolpe’s allegations “scandalous and unfounded.” Mwangale, the only ranking government official who met with Wolpe, also said Wolpe had given the Ministry of Foreign Affairs “hardly a week” to arrange meetings with top officials.

Wolpe said Kenya’s human rights record has deteriorated “and may suggest a trend that could be harmful in the long term, both in terms of Kenyan stability and in terms of the American-Kenyan relationship.”

Yearlong Crackdown

A yearlong government crackdown against political dissent has led to the arrests or detention without trial of dozens of people, including university professors and lawyers. Most of those arrested have been accused of ties with Mwakenya, a clandestine group that Moi contends is trying to bring down his government.

Kenya’s three newspapers focused mostly on Wolpe’s behavior while in Kenya. “Visitors Should Show Respect,” was the headline over an editorial in the Standard. The Standard, an independently owned newspaper, said Kenya’s “respect and adherence to human rights make nationals of many other countries envious.”

The Daily Nation, also independently owned, said Wolpe’s comments were “an example of how it should not be done.”

The Kenya Times, owned by the Kenya African National Union, the ruling party, said “it was unfortunate that (Wolpe) had the audacity to complain after he had failed to meet a number of ministers and other leading personalities during his whirlwind stopover.”

Moi, 62, who controls the country’s sole legal political party, has ruled Kenya since the 1978 death of Jomo Kenyatta. A coup attempt in 1982 was unsuccessful.