5/24/08

Obama's election victory augurs well for Kenya and Africa

 
 


Publication Date: 5/24/2008
Barring any surprises or the intervention of a force majeure, or an act of God, Illinois senator Barack Obama will become the US Democratic Party presidential candidate.

And his becoming president, as is likely, will be of great significance to the people of Kenya and Africa, as well as other races with African ancestry.

His win will not just bolster their image, but may also emancipate an entire race from the greatly hyped but seriously flawed myth of Africanity. The depiction of the African people has suffered greatly in the past two decades.

Claims of endemic corruption, incompetence and outright intellectual incapacity have seen the African people discriminated against and treated as less human in many parts of the world.

The rest of the world has perfected the art of associating Africa and its people with natural and human catastrophes such as war, drought, famine and disease. Just recently, James Watson, an eminent scientist and Nobel laureate, made claims that the average African has less intelligence than his contemporary of other racial groups.  This myth of Africanity is also perpetuated by the media, artists, filmmakers, historians, writers, scientists and foreign politicians through literary works and publications that paint Africans as inferior people who are inherently corrupt and inept.

In the 1990s, many African nations were forced to implement the Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) to shore up their economies, which were reeling under the weight of foreign debt. The structural adjustment policies and other conditionalities driven by  the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank saw the replacement of many senior Africans in the civil service and state enterprises with expatriate managers.

The policies which were renamed the Poverty Reduction Strategies in 2002, also served to entrench the myth of Africanity. As a result, African political and professional leadership suffered and continues to suffer from a crisis of confidence and credibility.

Sen Obama's win will help to shatter this myth of Africanity. His relationship with Africa is present and palpable. It has no connection with the nostalgic past history of slavery and forced migration. His African relatives are alive and well known in Kenya. His African ancestry is not doubtful and is not an issue.

It is therefore very important for Kenya, Africa and the entire world that Sen Obama wins the Democratic Party presidential ticket.

His win will be the clearest evidence that inter-racial relations in the world have gone the full cycle. It will be proof that any talented individual can achieve their highest aspirations in the world, racial background notwithstanding.

In the short term, an Obama victory will turn the focus of attention to Kenya, which might result in increased visits by tourists. This may just be the anecdote for the faltering tourism sector, which was almost ruined by the post-election violence that rocked the country early this year after the announcement of disputed presidential poll results in December 2007.

(Retired) CAPT COLLINS WANDERI,
Nairobi.






--
Jean-Louis Kayitenkore
Procurement Consultant
Gsm: +250-08470205
Home: +250-55104140
P.O. Box 3867
Kigali-Rwanda
East Africa
Blog: http://www.cepgl.blogspot.com
Skype ID : Kayisa66

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