Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. WikiLeaks Revelations Could Have Serious Consequences for Africa, says Analyst Liesl Louw-Vaudran of South Africaâs Institute for Security Studies says cables could impact heavily on some parts of Africa Darren Taylor | Johannesburg, South Africa 09 December 2010 The WikiLeaks website is continuing to publish thousands of United States government secrets on the internet. The classified documents reveal secret correspondence between the US State Department in Washington, DC and its 270 embassies across the globe. The revelations are embarrassing and angering Washington and governments and political leaders worldwide - including in Africa. In some of the communications â known as cables â American diplomats criticize some of the continentâs most prominent personalities. Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, for example, is described as âflawedâ and âindecisive and closed-minded,â according to a leak reported in the New York Times. ASSOCIATED PRESS The Internet homepage of Wikileaks is shown in this photo taken in New York, Wednesday, Dec. 1, 2010. While some analysts have dismissed the WikiLeaks disclosures as mostly âgossip, personal insults and innuendo,â other observers say some of them could have serious consequences for Africa. Previously secret cables, for examples, show the US government asked its envoys to gather intelligence on African United Nations representatives, including South Africaâs Baso Sangqu and Uganda's Ruhakana Rugunda; that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was prepared to risk a nuclear disaster because he was angry with the UN, and that Kenya in 2008 covertly transported Ukrainian tanks to south Sudan. âThe WikiLeaks revelations have sent shudders through the international diplomatic community, thereâs no doubt about that,â says Liesl Louw-Vaudran, an analyst at South Africaâs Institute for Security Studies and editor of the think tankâs magazine, The African.org. âOne canât minimize the fact that these are confidential cables and no US ambassador in any African country ever intended it to be read by the entire world. So I donât think itâs feasible just to dismiss the leaks as gossip,â says Louw-Vaudran, who works throughout Africa, and also lectures international journalism at one of South Africaâs top universities. Nigeria The analyst, whoâs closely monitoring WikiLeaksâ publication of African-related material, says Nigeria is the âmost mentionedâ African country in the US cables released so far. âThe US interest in especially Nigeria is entirely logical,â she comments. âAny country that has dealings with Africa would focus on Nigeria, number one, because itâs Africaâs biggest oil producer; the US gets a large amount of oil from there. There are the (security) difficulties with the Niger Delta â the oil-producing area. We know that oil production has been cut by almost a third in the last couple of months because of rebel activity,â Louw-Vaudran explains. The Guardian newspaper reports that US diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks reveal that the Royal Dutch Shell oil giant has âsecondedâ officials to key Nigerian ministries, giving it access to politicians' âevery move.â Louw-Vaudran says, âThat the big oil firms have close relationships â some would say corrupt relationships - with Nigerian politicians is well known. But that one specific company would enjoy such a massive advantage in Nigeria, by enjoying a presence in government ministries, is shocking.â Kenya A lot of the secret diplomatic chatter revealed by WikiLeaks focuses on Kenya. Again, this doesnât surprise Louw-Vaudran, given that the country is East Africaâs most powerful economy and is Washingtonâs key ally against terrorism in the region, and âgiven the behaviorâ of successive American envoys to Nairobi. âThe UK and the US ambassadors in Kenya are extremely outspoken, and in fact, they are quite listened to and quoted in the (Kenyan) media,â she says. One US cable describes Kenya as a âswamp of flourishing corruptionâ and other cables speak of President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga with âdisdain,â according to German magazine Der Spiegel. Louw-Vaudran doesnât think information such as this will have a âmajor impactâ on Washington-Nairobi relations. âInside themselves, Kibaki and Odinga will probably be smarting for a while, but all these revelations of massive corruption schemes and whoâs involved are already out there. Theyâve been uncovered by Kenyaâs media, and are even listed in a book (Michaela Wrongâs Our Turn To Eat).â A handful of anti-corruption demonstrators hold a chain during a protest in downtown Nairobi, 17 Feb 2010 (file photo) AP A handful of anti-corruption demonstrators hold a chain during a protest in downtown Nairobi, 17 Feb 2010 (file photo) Another cable released by WikiLeaks, according to the Guardian, contains evidence, from satellite photographs, that a shipment of tanks from Ukraine was transported through Kenya to south Sudan in 2008. At the time, Kenyan officials insisted the weapons were for its military. Observers say this leak is likely to further strain Nairobiâs already fraught relationship with Khartoum. Libya Secret American communiqués as revealed by WikiLeaks and reported by the Guardian show that Libyaâs Colonel Muammar Gaddafi in late 2009 left radioactive uranium poorly protected. That in turn raised concern that it could be stolen by terrorists, risking a nuclear disaster that could have resulted in the deaths of many people. For a significant period of time, the material that could have been used to make a nuclear bomb was guarded by a single soldier. Gaddafiâs motivation for acting so âirresponsibly,â according to the confidential cable, was that he was angry at the UNâs refusal to allow him to pitch his tent outside the organizationâs headquarters in New York at an earlier UN meeting. After intense lobbying from US and Russian diplomats, Libyan officials finally allowed a Russian plane to load the uranium and transport it to safety, after initially refusing clearance for the aircraft to land in Libya. Louw-Vaudran describes this news as âvery shocking, (but) I think African governments have long been aware that (Gaddafi) is a very unpredictable character; untrustworthy â¦â Because most African leaders consider Gaddafi to be âa bit of a liability to the continent and its image as a whole,â says the analyst, the African Union has âsidelinedâ him âto a degreeâ and limited him to a âsort of symbolic leadership role, where he hosts summits, for example, but isnât allowed to push through his plans for a single âUnited States of Africa.ââ Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi talks during the first session of the 3rd Africa-EU Summit in Tripoli, Libya, 29 Nov 2010. AP Leaked cables say US officials were concerned that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had left radioactive uranium unprotected In another US diplomatic wire from 2008 leaked to WikiLeaks, and seen by the Guardian, itâs said that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni feared being assassinated by Gaddafi, because the two had argued about the Libyan leaderâs vision of a united Africa. Museveni was apparently afraid that Gaddafi would attack his plane. âMuseveniâs fears may sound far-fetched, but they donât surprise me,â says Louw. âI donât think any African leader has any illusions of the type of person youâre dealing with in Gaddafi. When you see him at these summits, the way he dresses, surrounded by all these heavily armed and attractive female bodyguards â itâs crazy - and the things he says when he goes on trips to Europe are absolutely ridiculous.â US gathering information on prominent Africans According to the Guardian, cables published by Wikileaks also reveal that Washington has instructed US diplomats to gather information on various countriesâ UN delegates â including African UN representatives - and collect their email passwords, credit card account numbers, frequent flyer account numbers and work schedules. The Guardian reports that a secret diplomatic note sent to American diplomatic missions in the name of Secretary of State Hilary Clinton in April 2009 sought personal details â including fingerprints, DNA and iris scans â of leaders in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gambia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Rwanda and Senegal - including major political, military, business and religious figures. âIt seems surprising, but I suppose thatâs just the tip of the iceberg of things that we donât know about covert operations or the (US) secret service and how it operates throughout Africa,â Louw-Vaudran states, adding, âNow many people involved in intelligence analysis will tell you that a significant portion of many countriesâ â not just the USâs â embassies are people who are more aligned to secret service than foreign service ⦠But to spy on the UN does take it a bit far.â China in Africa A US cable obtained by WikiLeaks and reported by the Guardian reveals that some African states, including Nigeria, have complained to Washington that China is âlosing friends worldwideâ because of its âaggression.â China has been pursuing close relationships with African states in recent years, offering lucrative infrastructure deals in exchange for access to African markets and resources such as oil. In the secret communication, a Nigerian official suggests poorer countries are being âcoercedâ into aid-for-resources deals. Other cables reported by the New York Times suggest some African diplomats are âsuspiciousâ and âresentfulâ of Chinaâs role in their countries. Louw-Vaudran says, âI think a lot of Africans have got suspicions of China, but I also think that Africaâs former colonial powers and the continentâs traditional trading partners in Europe have been very, very good at demonizing the Chinese. Somehow it seems as if some of the African leaders have bought that.â afp But, she says some African leaders are being âvery hypocriticalâ in âattacking and criticizingâ China âbehind Beijingâs backâ to America, âbecause they love to take money from China for infrastructure projects in return for mineral resources, and so on. If I was the Chinese, Iâd be pretty upset by what WikiLeaks has revealed in this respect.â But some US documents given to WikiLeaks and published by the Guardian also reveal African support for China. In one cable, for example, a US diplomat reports Julius Ole Sunkuli, Kenyaâs ambassador to China, as saying âAfrica was better off thanks to Chinaâs practical, bilateral approach to development assistance and (Sunkuli) was concerned that this would be changed by âwesternâ interference.â Reaction in Africa Louw-Vaudran says sheâs spoken to many people âfrom all walks of lifeâ around Africa to get their reaction to the information so far revealed by WikiLeaks. âI think many Africans are a little bit disgusted, a little bit shocked, at the sort of flippant way that these American diplomats are talking about, ultimately, African heads of state,â she says. Louw-Vaudran comments that while many Africans also find some of the leaks âvery humorous indeed,â theyâre also now questioning the role of US diplomats, given all the âmeddling chitchatâ contained within the WikiLeaks revelations. Liesl Louw-Vaudran of South Africa's Institute for Security Studies D. Taylor Liesl Louw-Vaudran of South Africa's Institute for Security Studies âWhen Africans realize that the Americans are concerned that (Libyan leader Muammar) Gaddafi is sleeping with a âvoluptuous blondeâ Ukrainian nurse, it makes them think, âoh, US diplomats get paid to collect gossip and to make personal insults,ââ she says. âPeople say, âbut what are these ambassadors actually doing here; sitting around here and saying, oh, Muammar Gaddafi is sleeping with this one and that one and that (Italian Prime Minister Silvio) Berlusconi has parties. It almost degrades their job as highly paid ambassadors.â Consequences for US and Africa Louw-Vaudran says âthe whole WikiLeaks debacleâ is âsomething that certainly embarrasses the US.â She adds that the incident is âonce again forcing Africans to question the USâs roleâ on their continent, and to âvoice serious doubts about the US.â The leaks, Louw-Vaudran says, âbeg the question, and Africans are asking this logical question, that if the US cannot protect its secrets, how on earth will they be able to protect people from terrorist attacks, for example?â She says the spilling of US government secrets to WikiLeaks is yet another âsevere blow to Americaâs image as the superpower of the world. It further destroys the aura of invincibility that the US once had â especially in Africa â and that weâve seen eroded since the 9/11 attacks and invasion of Iraq.â Louw-Vaudran says many of her contacts across Africa, from high-ranking government officials to prominent businesspeople, are not surprised by the revelations contained within the WikiLeaks cables, but are rather âshockedâ that such a powerful country as the US failed to prevent such a âhuge leakâ from occurring. âWe will probably see the US government being much more on guard regarding the information it gathers, and where and how it is stored, how it is channeled and who has access to it,â she comments. Louw-Vaudran adds that the WikiLeaks revelations are going to make not only Washington, but governments around the world, âvery jitteryâ and âeven paranoid.â âGovernments feel that they canât control information in this globalized, internet society, and that makes them extremely anxious, and that makes them run around doing things like trying to find ways of blocking websitesâ¦.â But, she says âin this age of computer hackers and so on, and with so many computer savvy people out there, thereâs no way that any government can ever be totally sure that they have measures to prevent information from leaking out.â Louw-Vaudran warns that the WikiLeaks incident could inspire some states â especially in Africa - to pass laws to crack down âtoo excessivelyâ on access to information, âwhich could impact very negatively on peopleâs right to know most of what their governments are up to.â She says, âItâll give a justification to governments to say, âlook what happened to the US; all weâre doing is protecting our national interests by preventing what happened to the US from happening to us. Itâs very scary.â Louw-Vaudranâs convinced the leak will result in âsome changesâ in the ways in which diplomats in Africa interact with presidents, government members, and so on. âFrom now on, when there is a meeting and an ambassador is invited for dinner for a confidential chat, it will be a bit difficult to have that confidential chat, because thereâs no guarantee that anything that is being said wonât be splashed over the newspapers tomorrow.â On the other hand, she hopes that this âtemporary paranoiaâ doesnât prevent ambassadors and governments from sharing confidential information that could save lives. âGossip and insult is one thing, but if this type of information isnât shared in good time, then we have a big problem.â .