Kenyans don’t know about Donald Trump! But that has not stopped them from “voting” in the up coming Republican primaries. Whether you live in shauri moyo, or in the suburbs of Chicago, Kenyans have been speaking about Donald Trump. The verdict is in and it comes as no surprise that Kenyans think they will be deported from the United States if Donald Trump becomes president.
The most interesting conversations about Donald trump happen in Kenyan homes in the United States: you cannot say anything about Trump and expect people to be silent. One American Diaspora told me that my republican party is going to hell if ‘we’ elect Donald Trump! That is taking a diversion into the abase if you ask me. First of, I am a proud conservative who believes that the republican party is consistent with my core values on economics, international affairs, health care, taxation, and social issues like abortion, and gay marriage. On these I stand ‘guilty’, but proud conservative.
Back in Kenya I joined a loud Kenyan discussion on Trump. Many ‘quoted’ Trump as saying that the first thing he will do is ship all Kenyans back to their country beginning with Barack Obama. The other was that Trump is quoted as saying that Kenyans are nothing but a bunch of corrupt people who take all the public money and fill their pockets without a care for their fellow citizens! The other is that a Trump presidency would destroy the historical relationship between Kenya and the United States that was promoted by Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya in 2015.
The media shapes majority of Kenya’s Diaspora opinion in the United States. Majority of Kenyans in the United States watch nothing but CNN and MSNBC. These channels are the worst rated in viewer ship and are historically known to be mouthpieces of the Democratic Party. Very few Kenyans in America have a first hand contact with actual members of the Republican Party. Majority of Kenyans in the United States fellowship with their fellow Kenyans or live in Neighborhoods with Majority Black Americans who are 95% Democratic party members and therefore hate Donald Trump.
Kenyans in Kenya are shaped by CNN international which twist every report to depict anything Republican as Anti African and Racist. The ideology that is spilled by CNN reflects Kenyan’s hate for the Republican Party and Donald Trump.
The truth is, when Bill Clinton was the democratic President, the United States did very little for Kenya. When the republican President George W. Bush was President, the United States contributed much towards Kenyan health sector. During the reign of the Kenyan American Barack Obama, Kenya received nothing. In fact the only benefit Barack Obama’s visit to Kenya contributed to Kenya is the possibility of GE Building on his relationship with it’s CEO to tap wind energy for the its bottom line. Kenya has not benefited from the Presidency of Barack Obama.
Therefore, as a Diaspora Kenyan in America, I must ask myself the question; is any body justified in supporting Donald Trump? Many republicans are debating that issue right now. The right question should be; does any body have a right to run for their party’s nomination to be president? Yes. Does anybody have the right to vote for whosever in a democratic republic? Yes.
The personal question is; would I as a Kenyan in America vote for Donald Trump? Let me answer that question philosophically by asking whether there is benefit in voting for a president in the United States. What good does it have for my people in Kenya? Judging from history, a vote for a republican president guarantees that Kenya benefits financially. I would argue that the brokered peace after the post election violence was beneficial because Bush sent Condoleezza Rice to Kenya, and United States helped the office of the Prime minister (Raila Ondinga) financially.
In a perfect Christian world, my vote would go to Dr. Carson. But in this world of politics, Donald Trump might be nuts, but at least he might consider building a Trump Tower in Nairobi. This would employ several hundred young Kenyans who have no Jobs. And by the way, is Donald Trump wrong in calling Kenya a den of Corruption? Ask President Kenyatta whether Kenya is corrupt!
Teddy Njoroge Kamau (PhD)
HTBluff Associates. An EMG Consortium #HTTBluff.
Diaspora Messenger Senior Columnist
