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Nduduzo Tshuma Political Editor
IF there is any lesson that American President Barack Obama took back to his country after his visit to Africa last week it is that the “status of superpower” doesn’t mean that you go around imposing things on sovereign nations.

Never mind the charade of the “Historic AU Summit address” that only exists in the minds of Western media or his lectures on how African leaders should conduct themselves in office, no that’s not the issue.

And what perfect land to get that lesson than his land of ancestry, Kenya, where he was told in no uncertain terms that the nation would not embrace gay rights as the practice was against African cultural and religious beliefs.

In the land where his father served in the government of founding President of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta, he found the remnant of the country’s founding fathers in the form of the present leader, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Not only in the flesh and DNA but also in strong beliefs of Africa making its own choices in determining what is right and wrong for its people.

Obama has been, everywhere he goes, spreading the gospel of gay rights, the language of many non-governmental organisations across many African countries to destabilise nations opposed to “the great American” views.

But Obama’s moment of truth came during a Press conference after rounding up his visit to Kenya when he was asked by an American reporter on what he had done in promoting gay rights.

“With respect to the rights of gays and lesbians, I’ve been consistent all across Africa on this. I believe in the principle of treating people equally under the law and that they’re deserving of equal protection under the law and that the State shouldn’t discriminate against the people based on their sexual orientation,” responded Obama.

“I say that recognising that there may be people who’ve different religious or cultural beliefs, but the issue is how does the State operate relative to people? . . . When a government gets in the habit of treating people differently, those habits can spread . . .

“The state doesn’t need to weigh in on religious doctrine, the State has to treat everybody equally under the law and then everybody else can have their opinions.”

But Kenyatta, like he had insisted prior to Obama’s visit that the issue of gay rights was a non issue, would not budge and was quick to remind Obama, in many words, that Kenya was not an extension of the United States.

“Just like President Obama, we also need to speak with courage on some of these things. The fact of the matter is that Kenya and the United States share so many values, our common love for democracy, entrepreneurship and value for families . . .

“But there are other things that we don’t share, our cultures, our societies don’t accept. It’s very difficult to impose on people that which they themselves don’t accept. This is why I repeatedly say that for Kenyans today, the issue of gay rights is really a non-issue. We want to focus on other areas that are day to day living for our people — the health issues that we’ve discussed with President Obama are critical. Issues of ensuring inclusivity of women . . .”

Kenyatta read from the script of President Robert Mugabe who has, without fear or equivocation, spoken against gays and lesbians saying the practice was an affront to the African culture and value system.

He also, after President Mugabe, reminded Obama that Africa was not an extension of the West and would not sacrifice its values to be seen as “democratic” in the eyes of foreigners.

President Mugabe in 2002 told former British Prime Minister Tony Blair that, “We’re Zimbabweans. We’re Africans. We’re not English. We’re not Europeans. We love Africa.

“We love Zimbabwe. We love our independence. We’re working together in our region to improve the lot of our people. Let no one interfere with our processes. Let no one who is negative want to spoil what we’re doing for ourselves in order to unite Africa.

“We belong to this continent. We don’t mind having and bearing sanctions banning us from Europe. We’re not Europeans. We haven’t asked for any inch of Europe or any square inch of that territory.”

And today, Africa still doesn’t want any interference or influence to what the continent values or not.

While, Obama has portioned himself the burden of international gay rights activist, black people still suffer many injustices at the hands of the racial system that he leads back in the United States.

As Obama was taking his gay rights in Africa, 28 year old African American Sandra Bland died under mysterious circumstances in police cells.

Bland had been roughed up by a police officer during her arrest as brutality on blacks continues unabated in “the land of opportunity”.

She joined the list of the likes of Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Freddie Gray, Renisha McBride, Aiyana Jones, Sakia Gunn and Trayvon Martin and hundreds of black people who have died this year due to systematic police violence.

Perhaps to explain Obama’s immoral campaign is that still in Kenya, he was alienated, and embarrassingly even failed to visit his father’s gravesite where his family wanted to hold a prayer.

When Obama won the American presidency many members of the black community were excited as hope was raised that their plight would finally be addressed given that the “most powerful”, man on the land understood too well their issues.

Some went on to imagine the joy fallen musicians like rapper Tupac Shakur would have felt after America had its first black President, a wish expressed in some of his music.

Sadly to those nothing has been done by Obama to address the aspirations of the black people carried in the music of Shakur that protested against institutionalised racism and race profiling that the American police still do.

The lyrics, “Cops give a damn about a negro? Pull the trigger, kill a nigga, he’s a hero,” from Tupac’s Changes still has relevance after its production in the 90s.

At the end and on the score of so-called gay rights, Kenyatta will go down as a principled leader who refused to bow to external pressure to taint the country’s moral fibre while Obama on the other hand, a black leader who presides over some of the greatest injustices on black people in America.