US President Donald Trump may not have mentioned the African continent in his inauguration speech. But some in Africa may nonetheless see some good for their cause in his speech, and possibly append political careers here.
Here are some of the things from his speech that could provide fodder for political revival in Africa.
Under the departed administration of Joe Biden, aid and relations in general were tied to human rights, which included the ever-expanding list of sexual minorities, often listed as LGBTQ+. Now Trump says that the dichotomy on gender and sex will only be male or female.
In his inauguration speech, Trump said: “I will also end the government policy of trying to socially engineer race and gender into every aspect of public and private life.” His government, he said will be blind to skin colour and focus on merit only.
“As of today, it will henceforth be the official policy of the United States government that there are only two genders: male and female.”
The stance could benefit leaders as far as Uganda and Ghana, who have pushed for stringent rules on ‘unnatural’ sexuality. In Uganda, Speaker Anita Among was sanctioned by the US for overseeing the passage of an anti-LGBTQ+ law. The decision also led to Uganda being suspended from World Bank support programmes. Ms Among had previously signalled that the Trump presidency would water down the sanctions. She may have been pleased with Trump's stance on gender.
Donald Trump may be a transactional politician. But his promise to deal with conflicts, without giving specifics, promises a peaceful region. His predecessor struggled with the Sudan conflict, where warring factions often refused to honour ceasefire commitments. The conflict in Sudan has become the largest source of refugees in Africa, affecting almost every country in the Horn of Africa.
“We will measure our success not only by the battles we win but also by the wars that we end — and perhaps most importantly, the wars we never get into.
“My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier. That’s what I want to be: a peacemaker and a unifier,” he said.
It is unclear how, or if, Sudan will rank in the pecking order of global conflicts. But his record suggests that he prefers to end wars so he can do business. In Sudan, where he lifted sanctions on Khartoum as a state sponsor of terrorism, he will find Sudan’s warring factions under new sanctions. The State Department had signalled that the sanctions are meant to push the factions to seek peace, not just punish them. Trump could provide the incentive: Sign for peace and get them lifted.
Although Trump was short on elaborating on his human rights and good governance guarantees, he did promise to make America an arena for free speech. Of course, Trump has been critical of the mainstream media in the past, including calling the New York Times a fake news outlet. But his embrace of free speech could give pause to those who have preferred to curb those freedoms abroad, as in Africa, because there will be an example to follow.
Trump, who owns a social media platform called Truth Social, rose against the tide of left-wing media to win the presidency, also overcoming a barrage of legal hurdles.
“After years and years of illegal and unconstitutional federal efforts to restrict free expression, I also will sign an executive order to immediately stop all government censorship and bring back free speech to America,” he said.
“Never again will the immense power of the state be weaponised to persecute political opponents — something I know something about. We will not allow that to happen. It will not happen again.”
Trump’s victory and the attendant siege mentality to defeat those ruining freedoms of expression may just be good for the world. Whether the freedoms will extend to criticism of his decisions and administration remains to be seen.
The war on drugs
Drug trafficking is a global problem, with networks spanning from the US to West Africa to the East and Asia. In some West African countries in particular, government agencies have found themselves entangled in the web, finding that diplomats just as well as senior ministers are cogs to these networks.
Trump said he is going for the cartels operating from inside the US but have links to Mexico and elsewhere. His first decision? Categorising them as foreign terrorist agents.
“Under the orders I sign today, we will also be designating the cartels as foreign terrorist organisations. I will direct our government to use the full and immense power of federal and state law enforcement to eliminate the presence of all foreign gangs and criminal networks bringing devastating crime to US soil, including our cities and inner cities.”
That could mean that those cartels will carry same level of dirty as terror merchants like al-Qaeda or ISIS, potentially discouraging dealings with bad government officials on the African continent. But it will take more than that, as cartels have a habit of blending in.
Anti-vax political opportunity
Fighting against vaccines has often pooled campaigners in the US, as we saw with measles and Covid-19. But such opponents have often been in the minority, perceived as deviants. Under Trump, they may well be mainstream in the US and elsewhere.
“I will reinstate any service members who were unjustly expelled from our military for objecting to the Covid vaccine mandate with full back pay,” he said of those refused employment for rejecting the vaccine.
“And I will sign an order to stop our warriors from being subjected to radical political theories and social experiments while on duty. It’s going to end immediately. Our armed forces will be freed to focus on their sole mission: defeating America’s enemies.”
Trump’s stance may have targeted American audience. But people in Africa tend to follow trends set in America.
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