Editorial
Dilemma of the Diaspora
After more than five years away from home, your correspondent returned to East Africa. Making a pitstop in Dubai, I was reminded of how global the economy really is. Burger King fries in this part of the world taste exactly the same as those in New Orleans and in London.
In Nairobi, the road to my former apartment is now engorged the construction of new residences and roads as a result of all manner of foreign direct investment (FDI). Uganda is another story, though. In the first place, although the road between Entebbe International Airport is, like in Nairobi, filled with signs of progress, one cannot help – if they listen to opinion leaders – but fill their souls with fear and loathing. The Ugandan papers scream corruption and everyone will tell you to keep your opinions to yourself, lest you end up dead like one of the cantankerous members of Uganda’s Parliament did.
Over in Tanzania, after the relative speed of things in Nairobi and Kampala, Dar-es-Salaam was especially a breath of fresh, hot, sticky and sweaty sea air. Most of all, it was like time stood still for the former capital city. But it was a good place to settle down for a little R’n’R. And when I did, the reality of being in the Diaspora hit me: The task of bringing development to one’s people is much more arduous a task than one expects.
Helplessness. Trepidation. Fear. Loathing. Anguish. Cynicism. A few words to express the topline emotions on being home.
On the other hand, there was evidence of the Chinese everywhere. It was not just limited to the pots and pans and clothes – Made in China: There were billboards in Chinese alongside the KiSwahili and English ones in Nairobi. There was a sign apologizing for the inconveniences associated with the Chinese road construction right there in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia! A quick look at what that country is doing on the continent should attest to how much economic firepower the most significant Middle Kingdom has. There are new Chinese roads, hospitals, stadiums and buildings in all 54 African countries.
Now, with the alacrity that comes the pangs associated with away-from-home guilt, one is compelled to want to match what China is doing to the continent. Good or bad, the reality is that any sign of progress benefits the People.
For instance, whoever paid for and built the Northern Bypass highway in Kampala, Uganda, we will be more than happy to release 1,000 white doves to celebrate how much this road network helped us while we were there! Conversely, there are not as many of us in China as there may be in the US or in Europe and Middle East. Many of us want to take the very things we have now grown accustomed to back to our home countries: The basic freedoms, the health services, the road and infrastructure networks, and the financial services so we can reduce the debilitatingly high interest rates loan sharks and commercial banks charge business people!
