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
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?
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.
gaithomail@gmail.com Twitter: @MachariaGaitho
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