Cowboy Obama

The upcoming constitutional referendum in Kenya is commanding a lot of attention, thanks to all the various groups who have a stake. The 'Yes' side is made up of a lot of the government, the Muslim groups, and the 'No's' are mainly the country's Christian population (+80% of the populace). This is because the proposed constitution allows for Sharia courts to govern the Muslims, and allows for them to set up mosques all over the country, not just in their historic coastal areas. It also allows for abortion in some cases, in a vaguely worded clause that the Christians worry will become a slippery slope towards abortion on demand.

It also contains provisions to counter Kenya's rampant corruption, so the 'Nos' are branded as obstructionists who are opposed to all reform, despite the issues they have brought up.

So the Obama administration, via his ambassador here and Joe Biden, has been interfering in a sovereign country's internal politics- in favor of the new constitution. Of course, getting involved all over the world is a proud American tradition going back many years, so I can't fault him too strongly for that. However, given the Obama administration's support for promoting abortion all over the world, and attempts to make Muslims like us more, this interference strikes me less as 'supporting the process,' and more using US taxpayer money to influence the outcome of the referendum.

Interestingly enough, this all came out when Patrick Kennedy (w/ Keith Ellison) began to request hearings into right-wing Christian support for the 'No' campaign. Of course, this money came from churches and NGOs; all of the taxpayer money involved has gone to the 'Yes' campaign. Kenyan 'No' supporters have called for Ambassador Ranneberger to be recalled, and many are angry at the way Obama is meddling in their internal affairs.

For much of the last eight years, we've heard how Bush was a COWBOY, swaggering around the world with a gun on his hip, offending our allies and alienating the rest. But now it seems that in Kenya, the land of his ancestors, his hope and change has come to another group of people who are no longer captivated by him. If the new constitution is confirmed, it may be partly because Biden hinted that Obama would visit if it passes, or because Obama himself says:

"…this is a singular opportunity to put Kenyan governance on a more solid footing that can move beyond ethnic violence; can move beyond corruption; can move the country towards a path of economic prosperity. And so, I hope that everybody participates, everybody takes advantage of this moment, and those who would try to undermine this process, I think, are making a big mistake."

But if it fails, Nairobi can be mentioned alongside Copenhagen and Washington as places where Obama's bloom is off the rose.


BACK TO THE BLOG:
-My camera was stolen out of my hotel room, so no pictures of Kenya. The hotel's security officer is on the case, so I may yet get it back before the weekend. I'm not holding my breath. My knife is also gone, but that fell out of my pocket in a cab after two weeks in Kigali.
-I've learned more about Kenyan politics in three days than I learned about Rwandan politics in three months.
-Talking to one of my colleagues about Obama's tendency to take on huge, ambitious, unpopular projects, she described him as 'Lone Ranger' and explained, "He's a lowlander."
-Work has been going great. Everyone is very professional, and I've had no problems getting time to meet with people or in conveying the purpose of the Micro journals.
-I need ideas for what to do this weekend. Basically anything cheap and not too far from Nairobi. I don't have to be at the airport until 8:00 Sunday night, so I'll need to occupy myself in between the hotel and the airport.
-Looking forward to being home. Some of the parks here have terrain that would be perfect for frisbee golfing, so I'm looking forward to that. Also, pizza and Chipotle.

Nairobi

As I told someone today, Kigali is to Nairobi as Colorado Springs is to Chicago. Kigali is hilly, dusty, and comparatively quiet; Nairobi is flat, sprawling, and has terrible roads.

I arrived Sunday afternoon, and checked into the Red Court hotel. Tried to change money, but francs might as well be denarii here. I'll have to hold on to it until I can make my way back to Rwanda, or settle for a terrible exchange rate when I get to an international airport. Which sucks, since I have about $150 tied up in Rwandan currency. Yes, I should have changed it in Kigali, but the last couple days there were pretty hectic.

I think everything at VFC is as good as it's going to be; not as much changed during my stay as I hoped, but I think they have all the right processes and training in place now. They just need to apply the proper resources to it- time will tell if anything changes.

The MFI in Nairobi, however, is quite a bit more advanced than VFC, and they have none of the problems with connectivity and translation (everything's in English!) that Rwanda has. So the week here will be more than sufficient, thanks to the three month training boot camp I went through in Kigali and the fact that we're working through things at the beginning, not five months after implementation.

So I'm expecting this week to be a good wind-down to end my time in Africa before returning home next Sunday. Maybe I'll get to go to a safari park over the weekend, and make sure that I don't return home without pictures of elephants.