"Why We Reject Communism"

Like many other leaders of new African nations, President Jomo Kenyatta has not found it easy to steer a middle course between East and West. His job has not been made easier by the activities of his own Vice President, Oginga Odinga, who admits that "Communism is like food to me" and has been trav eling through the countryside heaping Red-tinged scorn on Kenyatta's ties with the West.

Last week things reached a climax of sorts when Odinga, in his first direct attack on his President, rose at a rally on the shore of Lake Victoria to de clare that Kenyatta had fallen under imperialist influence and was all but taking his orders from the U.S. and Britain. It brought an outraged response from Kenyatta's Cabinet ministers, who called the attack "cheap politics" and "calculated to further the cause of Communism." Five party leaders, already angered by Odinga's role in Communist arms imports (TIME, April 23), signed a petition demanding his resignation from the government.

At first Kenyatta kept his counsel. Then he fired Odinga as chief Kenya delegate to this month's British Commonwealth Conference, and rose to speak about his young nation's direction.

"Let me say it quite plainly today that Kenya shall not exchange one master for a new master," Kenyatta declared. "We welcome cooperation and assistance, but we shall not be bought or blackmailed. We may be underdeveloped and our people may walk barefoot, but we are a proud people, proud of our heritage, our traditions and ancestry.

"Some people deliberately try to exploit the colonial hangover for their own selfish purposes, or in order to serve some external force. We must reject such people publicly. It is naive to think that there is no danger of imperialism from the East. In world power politics, the East has as many designs on us as the West. This is why we reject Communism. To us, Communism is as bad as imperialism. What we want is Kenya nationalism. There is no place for leaders who hope to build a nation of slogans."

The audience on Nairobi's Harambee Avenue broke into wild cheers, and beside Kenyatta, Oginga Odinga stared glumly ahead.

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