Why we should build our national confidence

Supporters of a political party follow a rally through a window in Kibera. National elections have failed to deliver the respite sorely needed in Kenya. [File, Standard]

In former US President Barack Obama’s seminal autobiography, 'Dreams from My Father', the profundity of Obama Senior’s influence over his son is revealed. An excerpt from the book tells of a time when the older Obama was confronted by racists in a pub. Rather than cower in the face of bigotry, he walked over to them and proceeded to give a lecture on the folly of their ways. At the end of it all, everyone in the bar was clamouring to buy Obama a beer. It is this confidence that Obama Senior appears to have bequeathed his son.

The senior Obama's confidence stemmed from excellence in school and an anticipation of Kenya’s independence in 1963. It was expected that the educated would take over the political and economic reigns of the country. Then, national confidence was predicated on hope for better prospects.