Little wonder, Jubilee cozies up to US despite Trump racial slur

This file photo taken on November 21, 2017 shows US President Donald Trump speaking to the press before departing from the south lawn of the White House in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO | ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS

What you need to know:

  • Trump is America, and America is Trump.
  • It was not until after the ICC cases collapsed that the West warmed up to the Jubilee leadership.

There are many words respectable newspapers and television stations do not utter. But when a rude word gets the imprimatur of none other than the President of the United States of America, they become legitimate currency.

So, here we go. President Donald J. Trump, with a sh**hole where his mouth ought to be, has gravely insulted us all.

Every Kenyan, every African, every Haitian, every black and non-White person across the world must be deeply offended by the drivel coming out of that American cavity.

AMERICAN

I use the collective here very deliberately because Donald Trump is not the ordinary American citizen: He was elected by millions of Americans in expression of solidarity with his message of xenophobia, white supremacy and racial hatred.

That he came across during election campaigns as a sexual predator and misogynist did not rob him of favour with American voters.

The lying, foul-mouthed, emotionally unstable and, maybe, somewhat unhinged ignoramus has been entrusted with leadership by Americans.

Trump is America, and America is Trump. That is why it behoves us, as a country, to seek clarification on what his primitive world views mean for our relations with USA.

It might be time for us to let the American people know that choices have consequences.

ISRAEL

Not so long ago, on another forum, I questioned Kenya’s spineless ‘wait and see’ foreign policy after our representatives at the United Nations played truant during the General Assembly vote against US intentions to move its embassy in Israel to the disputed territory of Jerusalem.

Leaders who shout so loudly about sovereignty, nationalism and patriotism turned tail and fled when some American proconsul warned that their vote was being watched.

At the time, the Jubilee social media robots were mobilised, in usual fashion, to launch a coordinated counter-assault.

Their main points, apart from the regular ethnic drivel, were that Kenya could not defy mighty Uncle Sam and that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was none of our business.

But this subservience to the US and other Western countries was not on display when certain individuals at the helm of Jubilee faced charges of crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court.

As for the Middle East conflict being none of our business, tell us that the next time we suffer another terrorist attack.

ROAD TRIP

Or just take a road trip from Tana River to Lamu, and onwards to Garissa, Wajir and Mandera, and encounter a nation that has surrendered to rabid religious extremists who draw inspiration from areas we supposedly have no interest.

I can expect that, even this time with the latest trumpery from President Trump, Kenya will continue sitting on its hands even as other African countries express outrage.
Or maybe something has changed?

We approached the 2013 elections with the US and its Western allies keeping Jubilee presidential candidate Uhuru Kenyatta and running mate William Ruto at arm’s length due to the ICC indictments.

They seemed to favour Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka of the then-Cord alliance.

It was not until after the ICC cases collapsed that the West warmed up to the Jubilee leadership.

STATUS QUO

With the continuing contestation of the presidential election of last year, the Western allies seem to have written off the opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa) duo of Mr Odinga and Mr Musyoka and settled for the Uhuru-Ruto status quo.

This is evident from the role being played by US Ambassador Robert Godec and his British and German counterparts in brokering a national dialogue led largely by Jubilee sympathisers in the Kenya Private Sector Alliance business lobby and religious leaders selected for their conservative, pro-Establishment views.

It cannot be by accident that some of the stakeholders involved in earlier mediation efforts — including the civil society, academia, media practitioners, trade unions and professional associations — have been left out of the new initiative.

It should, therefore, be no surprise that Mr Odinga and his Nasa partners are suspicious of the American-brokered initiative that seems structured around the Jubilee agenda.

It might be instructive that it is Mr Odinga, rather than the Kenyan government, calling on President Trump to apologise for his idiotic slur.

As long as my government remains mum, I also, personally, demand an explanation from Ambassador Godec.

[email protected] Twitter: @MachariaGaitho