BRING DOWN THIS CHINESE STATUE

What is now known as Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi CBD was called Delamere Avenue in 1932. On the same street, across from the New Stanley Hotel stood and eight foot bronze statue of Hugh Cholomondely, 3^rd Boron Delamare;  the man who is credited for encouraging settlers to come to Kenya and therefore the conduit for colonialism in Kenya. President Kenyatta understood the negative power of colonial symbols and promptly embarked on street renaming and toppling statues  like that of Delamere. Symbols communicate subtlety and effectively. When you look at the cross or flag the meaning is conveyed subtly but powerfully and modifies your behavior or thought process without conscious awareness of the influence the symbol has had on you.

Those who erect statues and those that bring them down have something in common; they understand the power of symbolism. The Chinese understands this power and are effectively using it. I used the SGR for the first time early this year and I was overwhelmed by the obvious display of symbolism which must not be ignored.  

Though the trains on SGR have a tiny Kenyan Flag at the front (which most passengers don’t get to see), the predominant color is the Red and Yellow colors on the Chinese flag. The Kenyan hostess in their distinct Red and Yellow uniforms are essentially wearing a Chinese Flag.  The Exclamation mark of this powerful symbolism is the Chinese Statue at the Mombasa Terminus.  I was completely at a loss for words attempting to explain to my six year old son why the statue was there. I knew right away I had to start a conversation to rid these neocolonialist symbolism.

Chinese are simply financial creditors of this project but should not be allowed to capture our minds and especially those of our children to think of Chinese greatness first. I want my kids to think of the greatness of African first. When they know from an early age that Africans can be great and eternally memorialized for their contribution to Africa and the world, they internalize that they too can be great. At the Nairobi Terminus they are bombarded by Chinese Flag and subtle Chinese Characters on the wall, they are welcomed onboard by Chinese flag clad hostess and when they get to Mombasa they are greeted by the unmistakable Chinese statue. You might as well tell them we are in China. We are also simply telling them to be Chinese first if they are to be great leaders or accomplish great things like the SGR. Therein lies the power of these symbols.  It’s a powerful psych structuring especially for the young Kenyan at the end of this trip from Nairobi to Mombasa.

This problem has haunted Africa as our parents (the generation that experienced colonialism first hand) thought imported goods are superior to locally produced ones. In importing what they understood or misunderstood to be superior goods and services they proclaimed their inferiority complex to the world. Meanwhile, they didn’t aspire to BUILD PRODUCTS THEMSELVES or provide conditions for their children to build superior products consistent with the belief that their kids have a brain too and given the right training and environment they too can produce superior goods. As a legacy of the said generation, if it’s made in Kenya or Africa, we have come to believe that it’s substandard. I’ve heard that there’s one who imports drinking water from London but I digress. Think for a minute what we say about ourselves when we utter such a statement.

If we made our shoes, clothes, furniture, car parts and grew our own oranges and apples; we would not be grappling with the idleness that is robing Africa of its much needed potential. This idleness is expressed in unemployment (which is simply idle capacity.) This Idleness will express itself in alcoholism on one extreme (like in Central Kenya) and rebel fueled revolution on the other like (Central Africa). Meanwhile, the inferiority curse of our colonized collective minds, long after independence, continues to pave way for more importation of products that can and SHOULD be made in Kenya.

We must restructure our conversation about Chinese “helping us.” It is analogous to African leaders and the public misconstruing the loan we secure from US-AID, UK-AID or JICA as grants but oblivious to the fact that the “AID” is essentially a debt obligation. Even when the “AID” is not a loan, it pays itself a hundred fold as preference is given to “Donor’s” corporations to supply goods and services for which the “AID” was sought. This model is exactly what the Chinese have emulated where China’s EXIM Bank (Export Import Bank) will extend loans to African Countries as long as they provide the services (skilled and unskilled labor) and goods (imported construction materials readily available in Africa) from Chinese corporations.

When you borrow money from a bank to build, say a residential house, you do not go around telling your friends that the bank build you a house. You simply entered into a contractual agreement with the bank to provide you with money upfront which you will pay eventual. In other words, you are building, not the bank; for you had the vision.  It would be absurd if you painted your house in Equity Bank’s Brown or Barclays Bank’s Blue just because they extended you a mortgage or a construction loan. It’s equally absurd if we contractually agreed to have the said Chinese Flag colors on the trains and employees’ uniform and a Chinese statue for good measure in a Kenyan Terminus.  What we must internalize is that KENYA is building SGR, it’s just that we borrowed money to build it from China and admit too were equally foolish enough to bring in their employees to do that which we can or SHOULD do.  Whether we can service the loans and the attending risks to our sovereign assets is a different issue altogether.

Africa’s greatness can be found in be Kwame Nkruma, Jomo Kenyatta, Mwalimu Nyerere, Tom Mboya, Nelson Madera, Wangari Mathaai amongst others. If we have to erect statue in Africa we are spoilt for choice and this is what I want my children to know.  I do not think that when I recognize other leaders considered great outside of Africa I’m lessening the greatness of our African leaders.  And just before you label me a racist, I am not aware of a statue of Mboya in America, Jomo in Britain or Nyerere in China. And even when leaders like Mandera or Gandhi   are recognized or statues erected in their honor outside their cultures or borders, they are never given the prominence or exclusivity that the Chinese Statue enjoy in Mombasa.

If our trains must bear colors of any flag, it MUST be the Kenyan flag and the prominent statue erected at Mombasa Terminus paying homage to a Chinese leader that 47million Kenyans do not recognize (but whose message is obvious) must be brought down. Kenya yastahili heshima!!!

The Writer Robert Mwangi is the Author of the book DOLLAR ALTAR and holds an MBA in Finance.