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Africa Needs it's Own Chavez |
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Graham Campbell, Chair of The African and Caribbean Network in Glasgow on the use of tribalism in the election campaign and after. As Chair of Glasgow's African & Caribbean Network I can confirm that Kibaki's supporters in Glasgow have continually raised the spectre of tribalism, saying Kenya would collapse if Odinga won. One Kikuyu friend of mine justified this view by saying "Better to have Kibaki and his friends who have already eaten from the pot, than Odinga's who haven't eaten yet". I pointed out that poor Kikuyus from the urban slum areas like Kibera were sick of the corruption and ruling class violence of the Mount Kenya elite and that Raila's movement was not tribalist, unlike Kibaki's naked appeal to it during the election campaign. I also raised all the obvious points on the Kibaki regime's corruption, its betrayal of the democratic principles on which NARC was elected; the loss of the 2005 referendum; the fact that ex-dictator Moi was backing him and was still living in Presidential accommodation; and that Kibaki had slavishly followed the IMF/World Bank neo-liberal diktat (I prefer the term "sado-monetarist" policies) and had collaborated in the US "War of terror". What progressive person could possibly vote for this programme and this President? By raising money from amongst poor Kenyan exiles in Scotland, evangelical churches here have clearly played some role in backing Kibaki. I would be interested to know if that is the case inside Kenya. Some Kenyans living here show contempt for grassroots democracy in Africa. Perhaps they fear the class forces Odinga could unleash against the wealth they have accumulated under Moi and Kibaki. Others demonstrate a slavish mentality which believes working people of Africa can't get better than what they have been getting. It is noticeable how quiet Gordon Brown has been. When presented with clear evidence of Kibaki trying to rig the elections - confirmed as unsafe by the EU monitors; Kibaki's government is still recognised by Britain and there's been no call for him to step down. Just as is Pakistan, Uganda, Egypt and Libya - African and Asian dictators are always preferred to legitimate grassroots movements who want not just the vote, but economic democracy too. That is a threat to the multi-national corporate global interests for which Western Governments stand, against the interests of Africans and of all the world's working people. What Africa needs today is a break from neo-liberalism. We desperately need our very own Chavez or Morales revolution like happened in Venezuela and Bolivia. I don’t know if Raila Odinga is that leader, but a victory for him is what most Kenyans voted for and their vote cannot be and must not be allowed to be stolen. Anything else would be a tremendous setback for the cause of democracy. It would be a rejection of Pan-African democratic values of unity in favour of pro-imperialist tribalism. Graham Campbell (Chair African & Caribbean Network, Glasgow, Scotland - in a personal capacity)
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