Why Obama visit is a non-issue

Barack Obama during his Kenya visit

Long after the euphoric acclamation and reception of POTUS, sobriety will check in and we shall realize that the president’s visit was a non-issue!

America has for long treated the third world countries as non-entities and subjected them to ‘their’ form of governance and leadership with little regard to local history, conditions and intricate social fabric. The ‘big’ brother syndrome has for long skewed trade and other forms of collaborations in favor of the US only for it to ‘give’ back a pittance through aid and grants that ensure the third world countries remain beggars and unequal at the negotiation table.

America only looks out for its own interest! The rest is sideshows and empty rhetoric. We have seen America ‘fabricate’ wars where it wanted oil and implemented economic instruments such as the Structural Adjustment Programs through the Breton Woods institutions to stifle economies that do not directly benefit them. Using their so called democracy, the US has managed to cause turmoil to stable nations and broken growing non allies who subscribe to a different school of thought. It has shown aggression to countries that openly defy it only to later try and use dagger-in-cloak diplomacy.

President Obama’s visit had nothing to do with his ancestral connection to Kenya. His visit had nothing to do with economic growth and women empowerment. His visit had all to do with re-establishing ties with Kenya which has been making enormous strides in the fields of energy, manufacturing, agriculture and mining. Not only has Kenya recently discovered vast amounts of mineral and oil deposits, we have positioned ourselves strategically to monopolize regional import and export trade via cheaper energy for manufacturing, superior ports and harbor operations, creation of an enormous pool of highly educated, technologically skilled and dexterous manpower, and the ability to provide a safety haven via superior weaponry & skilled force.

That Kenya has been increasingly looking east is no secret. President Uhuru’s pronouncement that Kenya was non-aligned was a strong message to the US that we are no longer a push over and the US has to work harder to reclaim its place in our agenda! America is facing a looming shortage of energy sources due to increase in demand and decrease in supply. Their fossil fuel deposits will deplete in the near future and their strained relations with Russia thus denying them much needed oil is a cause for concern. The Arab world which is the world’s biggest producers of oil are reluctant sellers and are not easily manipulated and rebuff any form of foreign domination regardless whether it comes clothed with dollars.

Due to the vibrant political space, green activist have increasingly piled pressure on the US government to seek alternative sources of energy and desist from offshore drilling. Africa thus naturally was a soft target for sourcing this much needed energy. The ousting of Col Muammar Gaddafi the benevolent leader of Libya heralded unspoken suffering and misery and the country now remains a pale shadow of its former glorious self with internal strife at its peak. If this is the extent America is willing to go to impose their interests, then Kenya should be worried with the Turkana oil.

That said, I wouldn’t wish to throw the baby with the bath water. The articulation of women and youth rights by president Obama was timely though it has always been domiciled in the new constitution thus you can only blame the implementers. The endorsement of president Uhuru’s reign is a big plus. The watering down of the opposition’s lame duck tactics is a good thing too hoping it will give rise to new age vibrant, non-ethnic leaders who shall fill that void.

President Uhuru should of course show commitment in the fight against corruption. He should also seek to fight the cronyism rampant in both the national and county governments. He seems heavy laden with policy and administrative duties that should be handled by his cabinet. I suggest he reshuffles that cabinet and show resolve by relieving non-performers of their duty.