President Uhuru Kenyatta's just concluded visit to the United States was unusual and unique. Unlike any of his African counterparts and contrary to conventional wisdom barely a couple of years ago when then candidate Kenyatta was practically Hague bound as a criminal suspect for crimes against humanity, the president's visit this time was at the invitation by America's President Barack Obama to the USA-Africa Summit 2014 ( August 4-6). None of his invited counterparts have faced such odds in recent memory and came out so triumphant as Kenyatta. The change of fortunes for President Kenyatta on the world stage is simply outstanding. For those of us who believed and supported the president from his pre-candidate days through his now presidency this was the pinnacle that vindicated our belief in a just and fair process as well as a ratification of the Kenyan people's choice of their president. But to his opponents and detractors, and I am just speculating, it must have been deflating if not an outright repudiation of their long standing assertion that Kenyatta is unsuited for the office of President of the Republic of Kenya. So what happened in America during the president's visit?
Hits:
In addition to the symbolism cited above, the president meetings with President Obama and many business leaders who have interest to invest in Kenya foretells of good fortunes for the country overall if and when any pledges made to the president translate into tangible action. It is too soon to say what that would look like but suffice to say the president did not return home empty handed.
Kenyatta's major score with the Diaspora was his directive to his cabinet secretaries with respect to import duties levied on vehicles imported by diaspora who live in Left Hand Drive countries and therefore "Drive on the wrong side of the road" as the president facetiously put it. He said that those of us who find ourselves in such circumstances are entitled to import right hand vehicles from other countries and be entitled to relief from import duties on the same scale as those who live and import vehicles from right hand drive countries, it was a welcome announcement by the president.
The President also did very well in his personal presentation, he "free styled" in his speech and did not skip a beat. He even joined a group of kids who were entertaining him for a dance- bottom-line is President Kenyatta is a cool, down to earth and just a personable guy and that is really the main reason, in my view, why he endears himself to the masses.
Misses:
Against this backdrop of success, the President also missed a great opportunity to connect and engage Kenyans and whereas I do not blame the president personally for this, actually it is his handlers who appear to be suffering from the Kibaki era Syndrome of isolationism, the president failed to engage the Diaspora notwithstanding those constraints. It was a missed opportunity. Specifically, in Washington DC for example (there were two – the other one was in Dallas TX) the president's meeting was purported to be with the Diaspora and it was but the optics were way off base. First the logistics were improperly disseminated, the Embassy failed miserably to involve the Diaspora in planning for "the meeting" and opted to invite questions to the president online- I mean what was the point? We could just as easily send those questions directly to him in Nairobi if that were the case, we didn't need to meet with him just so we know he got the questions and read them, come on now! That was tacky and whacky. In the past visits by both Kibaki and Odinga, the Diaspora has generally had some direct role and participation in such meeting. This is the first time we have witnessed our own embassy barricade the president from meeting and engaging with his people and it was just not good. And as if to add insult to injury, the organizers clearly failed to recognize the ethnic sensitivities that have plagued Kenya for so long and which are currently a catalyst for referendum calls in Kenya. I thought I was the only who observed this but I wasn't- specifically, the optics of a Kikuyu President and two US based Kikuyu ambassadors presiding over a Diaspora meeting in the US simply failed the inclusion and diversity test. It displayed the aura of invincibility that feeds the now unfortunate but famous narrative that continues to plague the country that this is an ethnic-centric government whose supremacy is unquestionable and final. I do not see President Kenyatta in that light at all but he is ultimately responsible for what his administration does and the perception it creates, so to the President I would say, clean it up Sir.
Diaspora Relations:
It was clearly obvious that President Kenyatta is not privy to the substantive Diaspora concerns as he really should be. At the meeting he explicitly deferred that function to his Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Ms. Amina Mohamed. The president's newly appointed Director of Diaspora Affairs, Amb. Zachary Muburi-Muita was noticeably absent from the meeting which in itself was a major mistake in my opinion. This about this folks; a President in a meeting with the Diaspora and defers Diaspora issues to his Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary who has never interacted with the Diaspora but they both left the one person privy to Diaspora issues, the Director of Diaspora Affairs, in Nairobi. It is just awkward and pretty telling of the Diaspora's pecking order in the Administration's priorities – not very high. This disconnect was further amplified when the Amina Mohamed took to the podium to speak, oh Jesus of Nazareth! I thought Madam Secretary was speaking French.
Methinks that President Kenyatta and his team need to find Diaspora folks to help them address diaspora issues in a collaborative and inclusive manner. The notion that Nairobi will figure out the Diaspora on its own and serve its interests remotely just ain't gonna cut it and the sooner they realize that the better it will be for all stakeholders.
Diaspora Policy: - Secretary Amina Mohamed said that a "comprehensive" Diaspora policy has been launched that caters for Diaspora interests. I don't know what she meant or even whether or not she checked with Amb. Muburi-Muita first much less the Diaspora themselves before she made the pronouncements. The last I checked the Diaspora had debunked and effectively rejected the so-called policy for a myriad or reasons not the least of which was that it simply is NOT a "policy" but rather just a statement of findings and intent of action on the government's part. Nothing in the so-called policy even contains ONE (1) policy per se in the true meaning of the word "policy". - So I do not know what memo or script she was reading from but clearly it is not from the Diaspora itself. It was emblematic of the Kenya that, sadly, we know all too well. Someone sitting remotely somewhere in Nairobi thinks he or she knows best what is good for an entire segment of the population without as much of their input and then prescribes a "policy" with outcomes we are all too familiar with. The Diaspora is a little more sophisticated than the government gives them credit. My advice Secretary Mohamed, go back to the drawing. What she said was patently incorrect and it potentially discredits President Kenyatta's standing with the Diaspora.
Honorary Consuls: - Secretary Mohamed also talked of Honorary Consuls to be set up in several cities across America that Nairobi had announced several months ago supposedly to bring services closer to the Diaspora. Again, in my opinion, this is one of those instances where unilateral decisions are made/announced arbitrarily without a clear predefined purpose. Kenya has an embassy in Washington DC and two Consulates, one in New York and another in Los Angeles. From what I know, all three are operating at excess capacity, in other words, their utilization is way under par. The service at the Washington office has deteriorated in the recent past, some of the staff are out rightly rude to Kenyans and rather than provide service that we pay them for, they actually refer you to the embassy website. In other words, they have outsourced their jobs to a website. I don't know what the other two do to be honest with you. My point is simple, does it really now make sense to add more of these consuls that we have not requested for without a proper purpose? Why would the government duplicate these offices when we have too much redundancy and excess capacity already in existing offices? I am lost. On the other hand, what I believe this is about really is that the government stands to gain plenty of credit if it is seen to be serving the Diaspora and honorary consuls seem like an easy avenue to achieve that. As currently contemplated, these things are nothing but smokescreens and until there is real discernible substance and purpose in their formulation, I say hold off on "Honorary Consuls".
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