The Obama Factor in African politics

The Obama Factor in African politics

• Zimbabwe: banana republic or casino economy?

• My Zimbabwe and my Africa

• Who really controls post-colonial Africa?

• My lessons in post-colonial injustice

• Zimbabwe on road to nowhere

• The moral vacuity of Mugabe's Obama embrace

• Bridging gap between land ownership and economic progress

• Unholy alliance forms around KMAL carcass

• Unpacking the cabinet talks stalemate

• Chanakira: the unlikely foot soldier for expropriation schemes

• A conversation on nation, nation state and nationalism

• Mbeki is victim of a culture he helped create

• Towards a new Africanm identity

• Where is Zimbabwe's Obama?

• Power sharing versus power transfer

• Business has role as change agent in Africa

• Interrogating Ownership in Africa

• Actors might change, but Zimbabwe plot stays same

• The world according to Mandela and Mugabe

• Mugabe needs incentives to reform, not sanctions

• The agenda for change post-Sharm El-Sheikh

• What is the meaning of independence?

• Has Mugabe's war bluster won it?

• Imperialism no threat to organised people

• Mugabe using language of xenophobes

• SA's BEE project intersects with xenophobia

• A Rainbow Nation without black

• A post-election conversation with Mugabe

• Doubts aside, Tsvangirai now best bet for a New Zimbabwe

• African mines remain theatres for foreign operators

• Mugabe's self-help constitutional order

• The New Zimbabwe is almost upon us

• Zimbabweans have spoken, and the message is in the detail

• Mugabe's re-election would be disaster for private enterprise

• Zimbabweans at the polls: the great debates

• Change cannot wait for Madhuku's post-election ambitions

• Voting for change in Zimbabwe

• Can an independent win in Zimbabwe? Yes he can!

• Makoni: puppet, Zanu PF agent or national hero?

• Who is behind Makoni? Please count me in!

• Obama v Billary Clinton: lessons for Africa

• If Zuma is corrupt, who isn't?

• Charamba gives civil service a very bad name

• Be the change that you want to see

• The paradox of African liberation and change

• Zimbabwe and the Jacob Zuma factor

• The EU-Africa relationship post-colonialism

• Beyond Lisbon: setting the African agenda

• Implications of Zuma winning ANC presidency

• Africa's enduring economic apartheid

• Does indigenisation threaten law of succession?

• Defining the role of the State in post-colonial Africa

• Mushore's ordeal and the Zimbabwe we want

• Does rule of law pose a threat to Africa?

• Capitalism may challenge the poor, but it gives them hope

(www.mmawere.com)
Posted to the web: 26/01/2009 16:38:37
ON January 20, 2009, the inauguration of President Obama as the first African American head of state and government of the most powerful nation in the world brought the world to a standstill and millions braced the cold weather in Washington D.C. while others were glued to their televisions to witness a defining moment in history.

The story of Obama has indeed become part of our story and his journey will continue to inspire many who feel powerless to change their circumstances. After the Obama experience, we all can accept that the power lies in each and every person who has hitherto had the luxury to complain about lack of change without realising that no change will ever take place on its own.

Although Obama carries an African identity, it must be accepted that he is an American in all respects in as much as white people who chose Africa as a home are as African as I claim to be. The concept of citizenship is an important variable in uniting people to rally behind a cause and Africa’s heritage is more complex than a “black and white” characterisation that seems to inform African public policy.

There are many Americans like Obama who share an African heritage who may rightly or wrongly feel that they were more entitled to be America’s first citizen due to the long history of political alienation starting with slavery, but history has destined Obama as the ambassador of hope at a time when politics and politicians are the least trusted of all human actors. What is it about Obama that would endear him to the excluded and mostly cynical people?

Through Obama, Americans exposed the positive, entertaining and interesting side of politics. The world responded by watching the unfolding drama that in so many ways challenged many of the assumptions people make about politics i.e. the powerlessness of people who have no power to change their circumstances.

African politics presents its own challenges and limited opportunities. Many Africans have come to accept that the ballot has limited relevance to the change agenda and in many countries they ask the question of why they should even bother to vote. To what extent will the ‘Obama Factor’ help in deepening democracy and in making elections matter in Africa? That’s a question that can only be answered by our generation through our own actions.

Rights of citizenship also come with obligations. The culture of human rights is not yet entrenched in Africa and in as much as he may wish to considered as an American President, the world will naturally expect Obama to care about the state of democracy in Africa largely because for the last 53 years of uhuru, African despots found it easy to dismiss criticism from successive American administrations on the basis that the messengers, being white people, were not qualified to talk about democracy in Africa given the colonial and slavery legacy.

Obama brings a new twist to African conversations in that he can claim legitimately to be a direct beneficiary of a democratic constitutional order and would have no choice but to seek to deepen and broaden the envelope of democracy. It is common cause that it would be unthinkable for a person like Obama to get the kind of access to the media, justice and freedom of association that he enjoyed in America if he were an aspiring politician in Africa.

There can be no doubt that Obama is a historic inspirational giant not only for African Americans but all who may have doubted his ability to bring people together.

America needs renewal and, if anything, the emergence of Obama as the inspirational leader has given people a sense of hope and what is remarkable is that the leader is smart enough to realise that any sustainable change can only come from the people rather than from leaders.

It must be accepted that it is unreasonable to expect an electoral system to produce smart leaders because there is no way that the people who are vested with the power to choose among many contestants will ever be able to discharge their civic duties objectively.

Even Obama must realise that he has a 24 hours day like all human beings and will not be able to solve America’s complex challenges but all that must and should be expected of him is to provide the kind of leadership that inspires citizens to believe in the American project.

Regrettably most Africans do not believe in the African project and as a result the continent’s brain trust is firmly located in jurisdictions that respect the rule of law and have a culture of respecting human rights.

Can Africans rise up to the occasion during Obama’s Presidency? It is unlikely that we will be able to find a leadership that can inspire us to believe in Africa when we are our worst enemies. As individuals, we are less prepared to be the change that we want to see electing to leave it to politicians to provide the answers that we can provide for ourselves.

If the people who believed in Obama’s message of hope had left it to the traditional politicians they would still be dreaming and Obama would still be a junior senator from Illinois.

The Obama journey was full of drama and excitement. We were all electrified by the genius in the execution up to the inauguration itself. I consider myself to be privileged to be alive at the same time as Obama and only hope that we can as Africans overcome the challenges that confront us with the grace and wisdom displayed by Americans.

America can produce an Obama because the foundation of the republic was based on some fundamental principles and values although the execution was demonic.

Africa’s day will come when it would be possible through an electoral system to get maximum civic participation. Accountability of our political institutions must and should be a direct consequence of an investment in political literacy. We have no reason to complain if our actions expose our disinterest in the very things that we hold dear i.e. the need for a responsive, accountable and transparent government.

It would be naïve to expect any politician, however well intentioned, to solve the problems that we must and should address to deliver the promise of Africa to its people. What is that we have learned about the American system that is useful for Africa? How beneficial and relevant would an African American agenda be to Obama and to Africa? These are questions that we should attempt to answer in our many African conversations that seem to produce no outcomes that we can believe in.

Mutumwa Mawere's weekly column is published on New Zimbabwe.com every Monday. You can contact him at: mmawere@global.co.za
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