Obama aunt’s case is injurious to Kenya’s reputation

By George Nyabuga

Kenya has struggled with its image since the deleterious post-election violence. Images of people armed with crude weapons and machetes hacking others to death remain etched in the minds of many people around the world.

And perhaps for this reason, many people have the right to feel sufficiently fearful of the country, and its people. This is not helped by the sometimes rising crime, particularly in parts of Kenya where security agencies have been unable to maintain law and order, or protect people’s lives and property.

Such arguments have perhaps informed the decisions of some Kenyans in the diaspora on whether to return home or not. And this is perhaps the reason US President Barack Obama’s aunt Ms Zeituni Onyango fears returning home.

Paradoxically, a high-powered delegation led by Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka has in the past week been in the US trying to promote the country as a safe place to visit, live and invest.

For this reason, Kalonzo wants the US to lift travel advisories imposed on the country by the American Government. To him, the advisories send the wrong signal that Kenya is unsafe for visitors. Besides, the United Nations has also released a report indicating that security has improved in the country, and re-categorised Nairobi as a level B duty station up from C level.

These efforts are complemented by those of Brand Kenya, which has been on a charm offensive trying to sell the country to the international arena, and asking Kenyans to be proud of being Kenyans.

But these improvements and pleas mean nothing to Zeituni. To her, insecurity is still commonplace. Nairobi is still dangerous. Murderous gangs still walk the streets seeking to visit an orgy of violence on hapless Kenyans.

And these are sufficient grounds for her to fear for her life, and to consider a return to Kenya an anathema she cannot contemplate. Otherwise her determined struggle to remain in the United States would be unjustified. Whether her fears are founded or not we cannot tell, and it may be prudent to let the court proceedings conclude before making judgement. But the case in itself is a somewhat serious indictment on Kenya, and its outcome will definitely inform Americans’ view of the country, and the success of Kalonzo’s mission. While we pray that her case succeeds, and that she is granted her wish to continue living in the land of milk and honey (although many would now protest the dictum or disagree because of the debilitating consequences of last year’s credit crunch) a positive outcome would be more harmful to the country.

First, the reasons she has apparently advanced are not in tandem with recent developments, particularly those related to her fears. That the UN has pronounced Kenya a ‘safe’ place may shatter Zeituni’s dreams of staying in the US.

Secondly, although we live in a highly globalised world, labour as a factor of production is now highly immobile or transferable from one country to another.

This is mainly because of various factors but mostly unemployment rates, including in the US where Zeituni seeks to live and work. This is supported by sometimes flawed views that many African are not running away from their countries because of fear for their lives, or because of political reasons. To westerners who have had to deal with an upsurge of illegal immigration, the real reason is economic. Due to increasing cases of extreme nationalism even in once-tolerant western European countries, Africans are often considered, sometimes unreasonably, undesirables seeking to sponge benefits from systems not properly insulated from fraudsters. In fact, this was the reason for the massacre of numerous Africans in South Africa a few years ago. Impoverished and xenophobic South Africans felt African immigrants did not deserve their jobs and riches and were thus subjected to harrowing torture, sometimes to macabre lynchings.

Zeituni’s case would not have come at a worse time. Growing unemployment in the US, and increasing poverty have conspired against President Obama’s presidency. And for this Zeituni has become a burden. Obama’s iconic and demigod status around the world has not helped stem his falling ratings, and Zeituni’s case complicates things even though he does not in any way influence the American judicial process.

However, Zeituni’s case may not hold any water. In fact, the longer she stays there the more she alienates herself from Kenyans and others who seem to treat any Obama relation with awe. Look at Mama Sara Obama. She has put her status as an Obama relative to good use, and has achieved a bit merely because she is Barack’s grandmother. That is why I consider Zeituni’s argument that her relationship to President Obama would subject her to danger at home flawed, and injurious to Kenya’s reputation.

—Dr Nyabuga is the Managing Editor, Weekend Editions and Media Convergence. [email protected]