Speaking at a gathering of US envoys to African states in Washington, Mrs Clinton said her government “kept hammering” at President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga in a series of “straight talking meetings” which she said had started yielding fruits.

Choosing blunt words that diplomats usually eschew, Mrs Clinton added: “We kept hammering on them, we kept calling them. We didn’t give them much rest.”

“And we had some of the most straight-talking meetings with the President, the Prime Minister, and Cabinet members that you could imagine,” the secretary of state continued. “And we, of course, carried a message from President Obama because of his personal connection with Kenya.”

When I said Kibaki and Raila would have preferred no, some people here doubted what I was saying. Let us give credit where it is due, Obama gave us a chance to re engineer ourselves without manipulation from local politicians, let us keep the fire burning.

as usual, america wants credit for success while playing the moral high ground. even the guys i believed in wazua are obsessed with america(propaganda machine)?

"“I see Secretary Clinton in the audience,” she recalled the Kenyan official (an assistant minister) as saying on that occasion. “She and America just kept telling us to quit killing each other, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”"

Basic lessons in diplo-speak should be made mandatory for all ministers, assistant ministers and senior civil servants. Remember a certain Canadian leader who got in trouble a few years ago for saying some games/event should not come to Africa out of fear that savages might boil and eat him up? You can see where he was coming from.