MWANGI: The Trumpet has sounded, there’s nowhere for dictators to hide

To say that the election victory of United States President-elect Donald Trump upset a lot of people around the world would be an understatement. Going by the comments in newspapers and social sites in East Africa, one would be forgiven for thinking that our citizens were participating in the ballot.

Yet, there is good reason for the region – and the rest of the world as well – to take a deep interest in what happens in America. The policies of successive American governments have long had a deep impact on events all over the world, given the country’s almost unchallenged superpower status.

It was quite obvious that a majority of people around the world favoured Hillary Clinton’s candidature. And while she won the popular vote, America’s electoral college system swung the presidency Trump’s way. Still, the support for Mrs Clinton appeared to have been influenced more by sentiment than by hard facts, especially in the Third World.

Indeed, even the outgoing administration of President Barack Obama was no better than any other before it in terms of bringing about positive transformation that takes Africa’s interests into account. Obama simply used his roots in Africa to more easily advance the agenda of Western corporate giants at the continent’s expense. Mrs Clinton was expected to continue those same policies, but even more harshly.

It was during Obama’s presidency – with Mrs Clinton as Secretary of State – that the West took advantage of rebel insurrection in Libya to oust Gaddafi, in the process destroying a country that had achieved for its citizens the highest standards of living in Africa. The excuse that their intervention was humanitarian to prevent a genocide rang shallow, especially going by their support of other authoritarian regimes in the Middle East and elsewhere. Simply put, the attack on Libya was meant to protect their imperialist interests and continue exploiting Africa’s resources.

The cabal of Western capitalists that controls global resources also owns the international media that spins the narratives it desires. Trump is no angel, but the series of attacks that sought to portray him as unfit to hold office while glorifying Mrs Clinton were too biased to escape any neutral observer’s attention. This contributed to the partisan bandying around of opinion-poll figures to show Mrs Clinton winning and hopefully swing undecided voters in her favour, but all these efforts were brought to naught at the final poll.

That the forces that claim to champion democracy around the world thereafter rolled out a campaign of riots and petitions to try and stop Trump through the electoral college or whatever other means speaks volumes about their own faith – or the lack of it – in the democratic process.

Had the same thing happened in Africa or some other Third World country, there would have been knowledgeable nods of how democracy is a concept yet to take root in such a place. But with the US, everyone assumes it is quite fine for them to break basic rules of respect for processes and institutions.

Where does all this leave countries that have all along sought to ape Western models? This is a wake-up call to design our own solutions to problems based on our specific contexts, regardless of whether this agrees with Western thinking or not. That is not a justification for oppression, as is customary when our leaders want to free themselves of international obligations, but simply a recognition of the fact that Western models don’t always work to satisfaction, even in their own countries.

But of greater concern is the fallout from the Trump phenomenon. If there ever was any delusion that America cares about Africa that should now be gone. Western powers only seek to expand their influence and cultivate their own interests. A Trump presidency that won’t pamper African dictators with aid and other goodies – that are all paid back with great interest and end up being stolen by elites – can only be good news for citizens.

This will obviously have a domino effect, with dire consequences for ruling cliques as the masses are forced to rise up against the negative effects expected. Eventually, better governance, accountability, and leadership will be the result. That, certainly, will not entirely be to the West’s liking, but the man on the street has something to rejoice. Thank you, President Trump.