Echoing the Concerns of Africa's Oppositions, albeit Colorfully

Somewhere in the hotbed of (fill in the blank) or shithole , Raila Amolo Odinga (and other members of Africas beleaguered opposition fraternity Morgan Tsvangirai (Zimbabwe), Kizza Besigye (Uganda), Diane Rwigara (Rwanda), Tundu Lissu (Tanzania) etc.) are either gleefully dancing to some back-breaking Ohangla song (or preferred national dance style) or they are simmering in absolute frustration.

Raila Odinga, someone I have written about in the past as a consistent voice in Kenyas fight against shitholetitis, found an unusual ally in Donald J. Trump in his fight against corruption and impunity.

With Trumps recent missives against incompetence- and corruption-induced living conditions in Africa (and Haiti), the doyen of opposition politics in Kenya is either tossing back a handful of ondelo (Luo for popcorn) and washing it down with a glass of Del Monte or bottle of Dasani even as he smiles and says ase bedo kawacho nu that corruption and incompetence is responsible for the dire conditions most citizens live in and what do I hear in response? That I will nefa be president. Now look! (I have been telling you that corruption and incompetence is responsible.....)

Frankly if I was advising the man, Id have allowed him a couple of days of schadenfreude. I would have also joined Raila in embracing a truism finally out on blast thanks to the global megaphone of the American presidency i.e. Donald Trump s characterization that Africa, and by extension Kenya, is a shithole.

On the other hand, RAO might be tearing off the remaining gray strands of his hair while tossing back a stiff Johnnie ma Wuotho (Johnnie Walker scotch) wondering why it had to come to this. Why it had to be the now-universally reviled Donald Trump pointing out, in the crudest way possible, the truth everyday Africans know only too well:

That their lives and living conditions are truly deplorable really!

Lets set aside the very obvious parasitic and extractive relationship America, Britain, the west writ large and now China have had and continue to have with African countries; relationships that line the pockets/bank accounts of the continents ruling class while creating the very conditions Donald Trump characterized in such colorful language.

Even more specific to Trumps America, lets set aside what Daily Nations Rasna Warah points out: That had it not been for the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade and the free labour provided by Africans, America would not have become a wealthy nation and there would be fewer blacks living there.

Lets also set aside the very racist and bigoted nature of Trumps characterization. It is now obvious to all, except the 35-40% that would continue to support him even if he stood in the middle of 5th Avenue and shot someone, that the man is a racist and xenophobic bigot.

Put aside the patently segregationist and white supremacist timbre of the mans comment as reflected in his immigrants of choice Norwegians. To be clear, said preference is a window into his ideal immigration policy.

Finally, lets set aside the ironic and laughable idea that people from a society that has one of the worlds best social safety net (Norway) would board a plane and come to a society (America) whose leader and legislature have been hell-bent on removing the remaining vestiges of basic healthcare and welfare support for those who need it most.

The fact is Raila has spoken out against the grand corruption and impunity that have combined to create the conditions that should not be commonplace in Kenya and most African countries all entering their sixth decade of independence.

And no, Raila Odinga has never been Kenyas chief executive nor is he as white as cotton the latter a straw-man re: his corruptibility his critics saddle him with so as to make tearing him down that much easier.

In fact, his role as Prime Minister in the Coalition Government of 2008 i.e. the Nusu Mkate (half a loaf) Government was and continues to be relentlessly ridiculed by his detractors and political opponents alike. The fact is Railas role in creating and/or exacerbating the condition/s that prompted Trumps slur has been unwittingly and fortuitously limited and impeded by the same detractors and political opponents.

Id even offer that RAOs comparatively limited role in grand corruption and impunity (when compared to Kenyas presidents past and present) is what has provided him the moral underpinning on which to base his statement against Donald Trumps racist comments.

Somehow, I am not surprised that Uhuru Kenyatta, the self-described Pan-Africanist and arbiter of what constitutes Kenyas national pride, has remained curiously mum even as the rest of the world and the African Union (AU) have collectively cried foul over Trumps comment.

Could it be because the incompetence of his Jubilee government on matters of incorruptibility and good governance is responsible for exacerbating the shithole Donald Trump crudely called out?

Maybe Kenyans should have heeded Railas warnings.

Maybe African government should have heeded their respective oppositions.