Even Africa Hates Obama

Jump to Comments

a few words about barack obama and raila odinga.

as an intro, the following article and video clip ( SOURCE ) by journalist mike flannery of cbs 2 chicago documents well a few things: barack obama was in kenya in august 2006, he sided with opposition party leader raila odinga (they both belong to the same luo tribe), and obama criticized the administration of president kibaki – who happens to be a member of the kikuyu tribe, which is often in conflict with the luo tribe. why does kibaki’s fragile democratic administration need to be supported rather than torn down? two reasons.

for one, tribal issues. there are sensitive tribal issues in kenya, that if interfered with can result in violence, which is exactly what happened when odinga lost the election: riots and murder ensued, blamed in large part to tribal conflict. obama clearly supported odinga (of the luo tribe), the tribe blamed for much of the violence in kenya. ( SOURCE ). obama should have spent equal time and given equal support to both candidates, who are now currently ruling together in a power-sharing agreement. but he did not, so much so that the kibaki administration spoke out against barack obama, where the kenyan ambassador (designate) to the us, mr peter oginga ogego stated in part: “i hereby wish to communicate to you the displeasure and disappointment of the government of kenya, (kenyan) embassy in washington dc, and majority of kenyans, with regards to your recent utterances while in kenya. your unprovoked and uncalled for statements were in bad taste…you deliberately, without real cause or reason, other than what appears (to be) to seek cheap publicity and inconsequential populism, chose to publicly attack the democratically elected government of kenya…rather than appreciate and even encourage the gallant and heroic efforts that our government and kenyans have put in dismantling the deeply embedded networks and chains of corruption, you carelessly, in a manner akin to political activism, chose to trash and sneer at us”. ( SOURCE, SOURCE ).

the traditionally ruling kikuyu tribe to which president kibaki belongs, brought kenya out of british colonial rule and into freedom and prosperity. ( SOURCE ). they may not do everything perfectly, but they have come such a long way thanks to the hardline kikuyu tribe’s great efforts. kodi barth of the christian science monitor makes the argument however that the root of violence after odinga lost the election was not tribal-based but based on “four things: a chauvinistic concept of power, skewed economics, weak institutions, and failed politics.” those are probably excellent factors to discuss, and i can see why barack obama would, for instance possibly criticize a ‘chauvinistic concept of power’ with respect to the long rule of a single tribe. but hey they’ve worked. if it’s not broke, don’t fix it. so in this sense tribal-based government is hard to depart from in kenya, especially considering there is now democracy in kenya thanks to the succession of leaders from the kikuyu tribe. but given time perhaps the next president of kenya will indeed be a luo or other tribal member. the kikuyu and luo tribes are the two biggest tribes in kenya that since about 1966 have been competing for ruling power. ( SOURCE ).

secondly, freedom and prosperity issues. kenya is a relatively prosperous nation compared to the absolute impoverishment of the rest of africa, a hub in this sense both democratically and economically. ( SOURCE, SOURCE, SOURCE ). but kenya is surrounded by poverty and corruption everywhere: al-qaida strongholds in neighboring sudan, somalia and in algeria to the north. meaning, the stability of kenya’s already established democratic government and wealth needs to be vigilantly maintained. despite tribal competitions and all the rest of kenya’s cultural and socioeconomic issues (just as exists in the united states), kibaki’s administration still successfully maintains somewhat of a democracy, economic growth and multiple benefits for it’s citizens, including free education, which was highly praised by bill clinton ( SOURCE, SOURCE ). the only difference with kenya though is that it’s democracy is young and fragile, and seeing it’s surrounded by dangerous instabilities like radical islam strongholds in sudan, somalia and algeria, and darfur in western sudan, radical change is not what kenya needs. support for their democracy is what kenya needs. ( SOURCE ). barack obama should not have been in kenya taking clear sides with the luo tribe by clearly supporting and campaigning for raila odinga. he was so well received by the kenyans and so clearly publicly visible with odinga that when odinga lost the election, there is no doubt that kenyans were emboldened to revolt. ‘inspired’ by barack obama their american hero?

raila odinga and barack obama have very similar campaign slogans: ‘hope and change’ for obama, ‘vote for change’ for odinga. ( SOURCE ). obama appears to be the hero to obama supporters and the liberal media both in american and kenya. obama supported raila odinga when he toured kenya in 2006. but what is raila odinga really like? and from this slice of what he’s like that is a theme of this blog, what does that tell us of barack obama? what does obama’s support for odinga tell us about obama’s vision and goals for america?

the memorandum of understanding (mou) which was agreed upon between the national muslim leaders forum and raila odinga is the core theme of this post. there are TWO versions of the mou however, not one.

1) the original mou, that was supposedly leaked, was posted by the evangelical alliance of kenya and contains the sharia law provisions. ( SOURCE ).

2) a later mou version (suspected as propaganda as it’s a very watered-down version of the original) was later released by the national muslim leaders forum. ( SOURCE, SOURCE, SOURCE ).

why would a ‘hero’ as obama support odinga’s agreement with the muslim community? so herein lies the paradox. many kenyans, kenyan professors, kenyan politicians and leaders of the evangelical alliance of kenya suspect the second version of the mou is propaganda and disinformation to cover the leak of the first original document. perhaps kenyan fondness of obama is naive. perhaps their sense of an honest candidate in raila odinga is naive as well. ( SOURCE, SOURCE, SOURCE ).

so that’s how it stands. no one knows which is the authentic document. one thing is for sure though, and that is the mou DOES exist and was in fact signed by raila odinga and the national muslim leaders forum, confirmed here in a kenyan press conference held by leaders of the national muslim leaders forum. this press conference at least confirms the document exits, but it is in large part referring to the second (suspected as propagandized) version. ( SOURCE, SOURCE ).

in addition to this, raila odinga purportedly denied the mou, and then later admitted that there was a deal between him and the muslims. ben agina of the standard reports of sheikh abdullahi abdi, the chairman of the national muslim leaders forum (namlef): “we met kibaki once and then met kalonzo and raila three times. it’s only raila who made a commitment,” abdullahi, who said namlef finally entered into the pact with raila and decided to support him for the presidency because of his “consistency, valour and statesmanship”.” agina further reports that in a statement released to newsrooms in november 2007 by the odm (the orange democratic movement), odinga states: “i subsequently mentioned this memorandum at other public events as well, since i have every intention of honouring what i have formally committed myself to.” ( SOURCE, SOURCE, SOURCE ).

it’d be worth checking out the interview between voice of america journalist peter clottey and paul mbatia, a kenyan political science professor at the university of nairobi. they discuss with utmost concern the issue of raila odinga’s denial of then admission to the mou. ( audio interview SOURCE ).

the muslim vote in kenya is significant, so the politics in kenya during the elections between kibaki and odinga was steeped deep in securing muslim support. ( SOURCE, SOURCE ).

in one article more insight is gained: “the chairman of the national muslim leaders forum, abdullahi abdi, speaks on behalf of 25 muslim organizations in kenya…abdi says kenyan muslims are also angry with the kibaki government because of its close cooperation with the united states and other allies in the u.s.-led war against global terrorism.” ( SOURCE ). this more or less shows that kibaki’s administration has worked closely with the united states to thwart terrorism. nothing wrong with that. in fact africa needs this badly. so why do muslim leaders in kenya side with raila odinga? well the memorandum of understanding just may tell us everything. the second mou merely stipulates equal rights of kenyan muslims and the cessation of unfair treatment of muslims. nothing wrong with that. the original mou, however, is more aggressive and includes sharia law provisions for muslims, that is, the re-writing of the kenyan constitution for ‘muslim-declared’ areas of kenya. that mou version is what troubles most kenyans, as kenya is 80% christian, and has enjoyed, relative to the rest of africa, strong democracy, and has experienced 7% economic growth recently, but which has dramatically fallen after odinga ran for president and after the violence that followed. ( SOURCE, SOURCE, SOURCE, SOURCE ). most kenyan’s don’t want their country falling into islamic sharia law rule. saudi arabia and libya, two sharia law-based governments, are notorious for human rights abuses, as stipulated by the u.s. department of state. ( SOURCE, SOURCE ). enter barack obama. why on earth would he support a candidate as raila odinga, who apparently was prepared to hand over ‘muslim-declared’ areas of kenya to islamic sharia rule? what on earth was obama thinking? surely the astute obama could not have been in the dark regarding the memorandum of understanding. no more in the dark than he is about rev. jeremiah wright’s views.

so, as you can see, the kenyan people and many prominent kenyan leaders have concluded that since odinga denied and then later admitted to the memorandum of understanding, they want to know what the content of the authentic mou is. they suspect the original mou was probably the real one, because after all, why would odinga have to deny it? one kenyan writes:

“if these are the contents of the mou, then there was no reason to deny that it had been signed, and even less reason to keep it secret. raila denied that an mou had been signed – in fact, he denied that there was an mou at all. so, if these are the provisions of the agreement, he ran unusually high risks for very little gain. in short, he showed extraordinary incompetence. whatever else he is, raila is a competent politician. this is not the mou.” ( SOURCE ).

a native of kenya and a baptist minister who spent years in texas, dr. solomon kimuyu offers a valuable slice of kenyan politics. he returned to kenya recently to run for parliament there, but unfortunately lost. dr. kimuyu’s deeply embedded insights of kenyan politics are noted by managing editor ken camp of the baptist standard:

“but when the party that nominated him was folded into a coalition party of national unity, another candidate was given the new party’s endorsement. kimuyu ran as the united democratic party of kenya candidate, but he was soundly defeated. while violence in kenya has been portrayed as a spontaneous reaction to injustice and vote fraud, muslim radicals planned much of it in advance, kimuyu insisted. and while “we will never know” if the election was rigged by the party in control, he maintains voters unquestionably were threatened and harassed by muslim supporters of the opposition party. “people were prevented from going to the polls, and people were prevented from counting votes,” he said.” ( SOURCE ).

surely barack obama knows the intricate workings of kenyan politics: tribal conflict, muslim-christian conflict, and especially behind the scenes deal-making that is such an integral element to all politics everywhere, since ancient times. come on now, a harvard graduate, and u.s. senator is unaware of these elements? i suggest obama is deeply entrenched in full knowledge of the odinga-national muslim leaders forum talks. hey i know these things. surely barack obama must know more?

dr. solomon kimuyu offers expert overview of kenya and would be well worth one’s time reading his views of the heart of kenyan politics. ( SOURCE, SOURCE ).

as a final but very important note, there is a much earlier mou (that is, not to be confused with the two mou’s discussed in this post). this earliest mou was agreed upon by president kibaki and raila odinga, which when not kept by kibaki was the original cause of the split between odinga and kibaki. in 2002, “president kibaki did not appoint raila odinga prime minister on assuming office as perceived to have been agreed in the memorandum of understanding…”. ( SOURCE ). when a kibaki-written draft constitution was put to referendum in 2005, kibaki lost 57% to 43% and consequently dismissed his entire cabinet, including raila odinga, which led to the formation of the orange democratic movement lead by odinga. ( SOURCE, SOURCE, SOURCE ).

gwen thompkins of national public radio reports that a daily nation (kenya’s largest newspaper) columnist was one of the few people to see the document, and says: “they sat together at the nirobi club and signed some documents, some secret document, power-sharing. when kibaki go into power he trust the whole thing…that document outlines specific positions. raila wanted to be made prime minister, various other players of different positions. it was fairly elaborate power-sharing plan. it was never made public. but it existed.” ( audio interview SOURCE).

the timeline in this scenario may be obama’s way out with respect to his knowledge of the mou, but not a way out with respect to taking his part in inciting the luo tribal violence that happened post-election. obama’s visit to odinga in kenya was in august 2006, and the agreement odinga made with the muslim community was signed by odinga in august 2007. this does not mean, however, obama was not aware of odinga’s electoral deal with the national muslim leaders forum, which talks were no doubt going on for a while, way before it was signed. considering the very close relationship barack obama has with raila odinga ( odinga says he is obama’s cousin: SOURCE, SOURCE ), chances are obama knew in 2006 what connections odinga had been cultivating in kenya. ( SOURCE ). obama may have even counseled raila odinga in the matter. we may never know. but, if he didn’t know then, HE CERTAINLY KNOWS NOW. and there is no public statement on obama’s part repudiating odinga’s sharia law sympathizing activity in kenya, if that’s what really happened.

big politics is about behind the scenes documents like the memorandum of understanding. close associations with key people give opportunity for intimate political knowledge. does barack obama know something? chances are he does, but won’t tell you on the campaign trail.

this seems to be a recurring theme with barack obama, clear ties to people connected to anti-american, anti-democratic activities. why would obama pick a church that has clear ties to louis farrakhan, given a lifetime achievement award by obama’s church, the leader of the nation of islam, a known racist and supporter of terrorists like moammar kadafi of libya, whom he visited once. and obama’s camp is reported to have said that he is ‘friendly’ with william ayers, a confessed american terrorist, who held an organizational meeting in his house for obama’s campaign for the illinois state senate that obama attended, which story is being diligently reported by fox new’s ‘hannity and colmes’ ( SOURCE ), and made a prominent issue by debate moderator george stephanopoulos in the recent april 16th abc news democratic debate between senators clinton and obama ( SOURCE ).

the company obama keeps tells us a lot about him and his motives for the future of america.

1 Comment

Filed under Barack Obama