African Nation Believes Attention Can Block Somali Republic Aid to Guerrillas - Unlike most African countries, which like to pooh-pooh internal troubles, the government of Kenya is trying to end a guerrilla insurrection in the north by telling the world about it. Kenya believes that the guerrilla movement would disintegrate without help from the neighboring Somali Republic. Through an intense publicity and diplomatic campaign, Kenya hopes to pressure the Somali Republic into withdrawing its support from the guerrillas. That is why Kenya issued a white paper last week detailing four years of bloodshed in the northern frontier district, a desert wasteland that makes up one-fourth of the country but has only 200,000 people. At the same time, Kenya notified the United Nations that it may have to use its "inherent right of self defense" to halt what it called Somali aggression. More than half the people who live in the northern frontier district are nomads of Somali descent. For this reason, the Somali Republic looks on the Kenya district as a lost territory...

Referendum Could Reflect Minority Wish Since Many Residents Aren't Citizens - The voters of French Somaliland, the last French colony in Africa, are expected to reject independence today in favor of continued rule by France. The results of the referendum, however, may not reflect the desires of the majority of the people who live in French Somaliland. The electoral procedures work in a way that benefits the Danakils, a minority tribe that fears independence and wants the protection of France. But, whether fair or not, a vote for continued French rule could ease tensions in this eastern tip of Africa, at least for a while. It is hard to believe that an independent French Somaliland would stay independent very long, for it is a little piece of hot desert land on the Red Sea with nothing productive but the busy port of Djibouti. Its two large neighbors, Ethiopia and the Somali Republic, claim it as their own and are ready to go to war over it...

Internal Trouble Weakening Empire Just as It Faces Crisis With Somali Republic - Guerrilla insurrections are growing more intense in Ethiopia, weakening the empire just as it faces a crisis that could lead to war with the Somali Republic. The internal trouble, in fact, may help avert war by making Ethiopia more cautious in its dealings with the Somali Republic. The crisis centers on Sunday's referendum in French Somaliland, a nub of coastal land between Ethiopia and the Somalia Republic. The tiny territory will decide whether it wants independence or continued French control. If the French withdraw, the territory of 82,000 people may find itself too weak economically to stay independent very long. But the Somali Republic, which claims the territory as its own, says it will never tolerate Ethiopian control. And Ethiopia, which depends heavily on the territory's port of Djibouti, says it will never tolerate Somali control...

Coping With Help Becomes Big Economic Problem; Little Shown for Millions Spent - This nation receives more foreign aid per person than any other underdeveloped country in Africa and shows almost nothing for it. The country is about as poor as it was when all the aid started. In fact, coping with aid has become a major economic problem. "Our problem is how to make use of the aid we have now," said Prime Minister Abdirazak Haji Hussein in an interview, "not get more of it." "It's easy to receive aid," he continued, "but it's not equally easy to make use of it." Abdirazak said foreign aid had created burdens for the country because Somalis - almost 90% illiterate - often lack the managerial skills and the capital to use and run plants, equipment, and other gifts. In addition, loans make up 42% of the foreign aid, and this country has difficulty repaying them...

French Somaliland Could Become Theater of War if Citizens Vote for Independence - The prime minister of Somalia disclosed Monday that he has moved troops toward French Somaliland, countering what he called a huge massing of Ethiopian troops near there. Prime Minister Abdirazak Haji Hussein described his troops as "few - just a symbolic presence," but he also said Somalia will not hesitate to intervene if Ethiopian troops march into French Somaliland. The remarks of Abdirazak, made in an interview, raised the possibility of war in the eastern tip of Africa. However, most observers here believe the possibility is slim. Trouble is likeliest if French Somaliland votes itself independent of France in the plebiscite March 19, and even Abdirazak - who supports independence in French Somaliland - doubts that the French dependency will vote a clean break...