“In and Out of Africa”  or “How not to visit Africa - The President Bush Visit”

 

President Bush made a historic trip to Africa.  He covered my favorite continent from one end to the other flying here and there from West to South to East with the press in tow.  He even visited a game park in Botswana for a whole 20 minutes, and something the western press did not report, some elephants were mating, not knowing the American President was at hand, I am sure it did not phase the rancher from Texas, after all he has a bunch animals running around his spread in Crawford Texas.

 

He blew or flew into Entebbe Airport, Uganda where the local residents were moved out of the homes in a security zone and know one was allowed to climb trees in order to get a better look at the man from Washington D.C., and yes, very few Ugandans got to see him, besides the ones that were paraded out during the four hour visit on Lake Victoria.  Many of them were Americans and a few select Ugandans, none from the opposition parties…hmmm.

 

Ugandans did make money on the deal, the local cell-phone king rented out 400 hundred of phones at 25 dollars per day for 14 days.  The phones had to be checked out for security. Some Ugandans were reimbursed for their inconvenience of having to move for the day, and they are waiting for President Bush to come back.

 

None of the local restaurants made any money, the food was catered in to meet the tastes and likes of the American palate. By the way, he is not the first President who did not eat Ugandan food.  President Clinton stayed two days in Kampala and ate a safe and sane American diet. (He did venture downstairs into the hotel lobby and buy a few souvenirs.

 

It would have been nice to see President Bush at the Curry Pot Restaurant on Kampala Avenue and munch away on some chicken and posho.  (Most western leaders travel to Africa with their own kitchen and chefs while on the other hand none of the African leaders do when they visit the western countries)

 

Angelique Kidjo, the vibrant singer from Benin, has a wonderful song “that speaks of “Welcome to my House.”  In it she talks about “my house is your house.”  That is the essence of the spirit of Africa, Welcome, stay awhile, eat, meet, and share heartfelt conversation, but most of all physical presence.  In the West we get to the point and move on, leaving abruptly, but in the African culture, time is meaningless, people are what is important and relationships between them.  You stay and talk and eventually what is really important will come out and be resolved and sometimes not, but we have spent time with one another and grown closer in our understanding of one another.

 

Ugandans often will greet you “You’re most welcome.”  Which does not mean you breeze in and out.  Mr. Bush, who is actually quite good on a one on one basis missed out on the best part of Africa, its people.  He might have made a few points with its leaders, but he did not build long lasting relationships, and I would fault his staff and handlers. 

 

If Mr. Bush, Mr. Clinton or any other Western leader want to win the hearts of Africans, they go where Africans live, their homes.  There is a real power, a dynamic in sharing a meal and in Uganda President Bush could have made a real impact if he had sat down in a nearby restaurant, surrounded by Ugandans, ordered some Posho, Matoke, ground nut sauce, some greens, and lots of roasted chicken, beef, (Beef just like in Crawford Texas, but the horns are longer than Texas Longhorns, but then, Texas is not the biggest in everything).  I would add some roasted goat, nothing like it, and of course President Bush does not drink, but the rest of the entourage like Condaleezza Rice could have some Nile Beer.  The ad for the beer says “Men went in search of the Nile”  and shows a Nile Beer on the billboard and Ugandans would be most impressed, but most likely they drank sanitized Castle Brew from South Africa instead of the beer from Jinja.

 

Besides eating the beef, President Bush should have gone and petted a few of President Museveni’s cows and maybe picked a few fresh pineapples or mangoes, chopped down some Matoke Banana, but no. President Bush came in and made some proclamations, left some money, shook a few hands and back down to the safe house in South Africa (hotel). Never seeing the people of Uganda, of Africa, just a few safe and sane or insane ones, no food, but the food brought, no drinks but the drinks brought…what it comes down to at the end of the day…is that “Kodak Moment.”  Is that what this is all about?  I am sure Mr. Bush did not want it that way, but that is how it turned out.

 

P.S.  It is always the same, even those African trips of Political celebrities, Singers or Actors they come to take pictures, or to assess the situation – Africa has been assessed to death.  Then there are those statements that they formulated back in the West without seeing firsthand what is really needed…assumption and you know what that does to one…so the next time you go to Africa…enjoy the meal, enjoy the people and don’t forget, in Uganda, at home, we still eat with our hands, now that Mr. Bush would have been a Kodak moment…and that is the way to visit Africa...jon

 

Below is an editorial from the "New Vision" newspaper in Uganda regarding the President's visit to Africa.  I thought it was interesting, but it shows another viewpoint from Africa. The writer works for the government newspaper.

ONAPITO EKOMOLOIT to the point:  (From the New Vision Newspaper - Uganda)

If a question were put to many a Ugandan as to what four countries one would love to live in, it would not be far-fetched to get an answer saying: (a) USA. (b) USA. (c) USA. (d) USA.

Such a reply would only confirm the zeal with which lots of people all over the world desire to share in the so-called American dream. As US President George. W. Bush, a.k.a. Baby Bush, visits Uganda today only ostriches are not excited.

When world citizens — young and old — crave for things American, from Colas to dollars, some call it cultural imperialism, etc. But because the American magic pleases the body and soul, we swallow it with relish.

Moreover, for Africans calling Americans imperialists is rather ironic. History has it clearly that Americans having suffered the British colonial yoke, were with Africans in kicking out the crown.
Well, someone could be quick to add that it was Americans who enslaved Africans in the first place. Granted. But we should not also forget that it was mainly under American masters that African slaves at least survived and eventually took their place under the sun.

African slaves were equally taken in huge numbers to the Arab world, but where are they today? Wouldn’t black people in the Arab world be in millions? Where are the Arab Colin Powells, Condoleezza Rices, Rosa Whitakers, who would be walking the corridors of power? Is it true that male African slaves in the Arab world were castrated to deny them reproduction?

The survival of the African slaves to become part of modern America explains one key aspect in the strength of the United States. Sticking to its roots as a land of immigrants, the United States absorbs people from other parts of the world with ease as its citizens. Immigrants naturally tend to represent ambition and stronger survival traits.

Even after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington DC, America continues to open its gates to the world, albeit with more caution. Those who get in have only themselves to blame if they fail to join the endless list of rags to riches stories that abound in the land.
Just the other day, your columnist heard someone relate how southern Sudanese young men, who left their homeland only a few years ago, have risen to ranks as high as lieutenant-colonels in the US military! They are even being trusted as Arabic interpreters in Iraq. At US universities, foreign students are almost outnumbering Americans. Of course, after biting the burger bug (no pun meant), a good number scheme for the green card. The rest, even if they go back home, become American in everything but citizenship.
We ape the Americans even when we disagree with them. Our opposition here, for example, claims the Bush visit lends credence to the “Museveni dictatorship”.

Yet the same opposition is busy ingratiating themselves with the Americans, through the likes of Reform Agenda’s Anne Mugisha in DC, hoping for US help to get to power!
Even the bigger boys of the world are often lost when it comes to dealing with the American bully. With the Americans bashing world terrorists/dictators out of power with abandon, the others in jealousy — the French, et al — cling to impotent arguments about UN resolutions blah, blah.

The smarter ones, like those in the defeated and defunct Warsaw Pact, have in droves flocked to the NATO Alliance — a Cold War relic — but a face-saving way of surrendering to Americanism.
But the lot that really stinks in their purported challenging of the unchallengeable are the hapless terrorists. Having failed to match the overwhelming influence of American doctrines and technology, they have exported their frustration to soft targets.

As a result, Africans too have become innocent and unsuspecting victims. Sometimes, using the oil money, the terrorists have hoodwinked our own people into the so-called religious war against American infidels. The result has been the likes of the Allied Democratic Front (ADF), whose terrorism Kampalans saw live with blood and tears. That is why when President Bush speaks about terrorism at Entebbe today, we should know it is about our own very survival. If the terrorists want to hurt us for ostensibly embracing American values — as if they offer anything better — it is reason enough to stand with Americans.

The argument that Bush is here to prop Museveni’s stay in power does not fly. When President Museveni binds our country to the American fight against terrorism, it is for our common good. The point is, if terrorists blew up an office complex in Kampala — like they did in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam — it is unlikely that Bush or Museveni would be inside.
Ends

Published on: Friday, 11th July, 2003 

The New Vision