US President Donald Trump’s ‘shithole’ epithet should prod us into action

NAIROBI, KENYA: My first surprise when I came to Nairobi as a schoolboy, fresh from the countryside was using a flush toilet and not a pit latrine or a ‘shithole’ as some would refer to it.

The speed at which water came gushing out was scary. By then, water shortage was rare in Nairobi; it was still the green city in the sun.

We need to look at President Donald Trump’s remarks over ‘shithole’ countries, in a wider context. ‘Shithole’ nations are seen as backward, the same way we regard the countryside because they use shitholes, sorry pit latrines.

The remarks have both racial and the economic connotations.

US audience

The racial part has attracted enough interest and ire from Africans who feel demeaned.

We must remember Trump was talking to his US audience. We are just collateral damage.

The six years I spent in America’s Deep South both as a student and a don made me better understand the American racial attitudes. The hard attitudes have deep roots in slavery and will take years to mellow despite efforts by the civil rights movement.

Both whites and people of colour, mostly blacks, have attitudes that perplex every outsider. While other races that make America came voluntarily, black people or African-Americans as they prefer to be called were forcibly brought to the US, the Caribbean and parts of South America. Why did slaves not settle in Europe?

My greatest surprise in America’s Deep South was that it was easier to interact with white Americans than African-Americans who saw me as a competitor for their resources, jobs and women.

The hard racial attitudes are espoused by segregated neighbourhoods. Dr David Otwoma, chief scientist at National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation and a don at the Technical University of Kenya suggests those against Trump’s remarks are fighting for honour without denying the filth in their country.

He sees this as an opportunity to fight against global bullying, deeply entrenched against Africa and allows constant ‘shitnisation’ of Africans no matter what they do.

Shithole countries are economically backward unlike Norway which is more advanced.

By preferring people from such a country, the implication is that they will put less strain on the economic system.

Remember in most developed countries like the US, the poor get lots of benefits from the government including unemployment allowances, subsidised housing and food.

Taxpayers feel that money should be used on citizens and not on outsiders or refugees. That is why a backlash against refugees in Europe left Germany’s Angela Merkel without an outright majority and far right parties almost got power in Austria.

Good politicians usually tell the voters what they want to hear and Trump has mastered that. You may not agree with me but I would not be surprised if Trump gets a second term.

Instead of throwing tantrums, why not think of how to turn our shithole countries into flush toilet countries? Entrepreneurs in Kenyan have already made tonnes of money from mobile shitholes, or the so-called mobile toilets.

Reforms in education

Ecloosive and other firms have made fortunes from shit!

A good education has traditionally been a good escape route from shitholes.

In fact, lots of captains of the Kenyan industry including chief executives of listed firms used shitholes at one time in their lives. That is why the current reforms in education should offer opportunities to all, to escape from the stench of shitholes.

No kid should be denied education because the parents are poor and use shitholes.

In developed countries, they use taxes efficiently to ensure even the poorest can escape the shithole. There is enough money to uplift lots of Kenyans from shitholes, some which are in the urban areas, espoused by slums.

Entrepreneurship is the other route out of shitholes.

The merging of several institutions from Uwezo, Women’s fund to Youth Enterprise Fund should release more funds desperately needed by entrepreneurs to escape from shitholes.

We should stop seeing entrepreneurship just as for failures. We hope one day the top K.C.P.E or K.C.S.E students will be quoted on radio or TV saying, “When I grow up, I want to be an entrepreneur”.

Fully employed professionals can be entrepreneurs too, to exploit their potential often constrained by traditions, rules and regulations.

Think of Uber or M-Pesa.

Entrepreneurship is the most solid route away from shitholes.

Remember being poor either as a country or individual makes you vulnerable to demeaning. We need our Googles, IBMs, Toyotas and IKEAs.

Entrepreneurship is more effective if it is cross fertilised with innovations. We file too few patents in Kenya.

The effectiveness of entrepreneurship against ‘shitnisation’ is supported by a Kikuyu proverb: Uthuri wa gitonga ndunungaga (a rich man’s fart is odourless). The best way to revenge against Donald Trump is to catalyse economic growth in poor countries.

South Korea, Singapore and other newly industrialised countries were once shitholes.

Even the UK before the industrial revolution was a shithole.

Ever read Charles Dickens’s Hard Times? Was Vision 2030 not a bold attempt to shift away from shitholes? What of Uhuru’s big four?

Why can’t we all get annoyed with Donald Trump and make Kenya a developed country by 2030 or earlier and make shitholes part of our history?

By going through all the political crises of last year, am convinced Kenya can now solve any problem.

Finally, one of our retired presidents called us Mavi ya kuku (a hean’s droppings) Did we complain?

-The writer teaches at the University of Nairobi