allAfrica.com: Africa: Obama, Odinga, Zuma - What Do They Represent to the Future of Africa? (Page 1 of 2)

I woke up to the news that Senator Barak Obama had convincingly won the Iowa caucus and could not help but reflect on what his candidature and victory represents for Africa and, indeed, for the politics of the world. I listened to Obama's victory speech and many will agree that it was a message not only to Americans but to all of us in Africa who believe in a better tomorrow.

Indeed, it was inspirational and marks a historic and defining moment in human progress given the current unipolar global architecture dominated by America and some of its foundational values. This year will bring change to some parts of Africa and what is for certain in America is that President George W Bush will not be on the ballot box and even if Obama loses the Democratic nomination, America will never be the same again.

The context and content of Obama's daring entry into the American political landscape has important implications for Africa not only because he shares the same heritage as all of us but because he has challenged us to believe in hope and that we have a part to play in shaping our destinies.

Echoing the words of Oprah Winfrey in support of Obama when she said: "I am not here to tell you how to think but I am here to make you think." I thought it would be beneficial on this important day after Iowans have spoken to challenge my fellow brothers and sisters to deeply and critically think about Africa and its possibilities if we become as organised as Obama's supporters in investing in the change that we can believe in.

Obama and Odinga share the same Luo heritage and history has made it possible for them to share the same spotlight at this defining moment in Kenyan and American histories about hope and fear. The people of Kenya thought they had spoken when they joined long queues to express their choice about what kind of future they wanted but alas the change they sought is not what they have been given resulting in the current confusion and chaos that only serve to undermine the hope that through democratic means people can get the change they can believe in.

The Obama victory is more than symbolic it really should capture the imagination of all the people who live in fear and have surrendered their future to the politics of yesterday. He has challenged the establishment and those who felt that they were destined by history and circumstances to be the natural leaders. Ordinary men and women were energised by what Obama represented and yes there are many who argued that not in America would it be possible for a person like Obama to rise above pride and prejudice and emerge as a winner in Iowa with its racial configuration.

There are many of us in Africa who share the sentiments of the many in America who thought Obama was a passing phase only to find out that it is not about him but he represents the majority of the people who want change that they can believe in. Obama has provided an opportunity for Americans to only think about what kind of society they should be but about change itself. What does change mean to all of us?

Even Senator Hillary Clinton is talking about change but a different kind of change. Equally in Africa there is a lot of talk about change and yet the people who talk about this subject are not clear about what kind of change should visit disillusioned Africa. The euphoria of the dawn of independence has been replaced by complacency and fear. The politics of fear rather than hope is what dominates the African terrain to the extent that citizens have resigned themselves to believe that their future belongs to third parties and they have no role to play in shaping it.

Many of us would agree that the Africa we have today that can produce the kind of outcome that Kenyans have after the recent elections is not the kind of Africa we want to see. While we all agree that there is something fundamentally wrong in the way we as Africans have organised ourselves politically, we do not seem to have the kind of leadership that can galvanise and inspire us to invest in the outcomes we want to see. Surely, the people who voted in the Kenyan elections cannot be satisfied that the outcome that is being played on our televisions and in the media is the kind of outcome that they sought to have by voting.

What would make Africa and its leaders respect the will of the people? We have seen leaders in Africa try to politically engineer outcomes through a significant investment in fear to the extent that their legitimacy in power becomes a product of manipulation rather than a genuine expression of the preference of citizens.

If we really care about Africa's future we have no choice but to critically study how Obama has defied logic not by being afraid of the power of the estalishment but his ability to use the instruments of democracy to instil hope and not fear in citizens. What Obama has shown is that when citizens have a reason to believe in change the impossible can happen not in another lifetime but in our lifetime and on our terms.

The people shall govern how true and hollow this statement can be depending on which address you are located in Africa. In South Africa, the branch delegates of the African National Congress demonstrated that it is possible for people to take ownership of their future without the assistance of violence. Africa has been waiting for the Obama/Odinga/Zuma medicine for a long time. Independence from the exclusive politics of colonialism was meant to be the ultimate dividend for the suffering African masses but we are all too aware that this has not been the case not because Africans are not smart but they have been outsmarted by their own political servants who believe that no change is change.

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