June 28: Kenya rises abroad, falters at home

In which, African news leads the way this week amidst surging political instability and violence, and I wax philosophical on American national culture as we prepare for the Fourth.

Kenya rises abroad, falters at home

Kenya barely made a blip on American headlines this week, but the strategic East African democracy was causing quite a stir outside the silo that is the American media ecosystem.

First, after much back and forth, legal challenges, funding and logistics challenges, etc., etcThe long-awaited Kenyan police force is “boots on the ground” in Haiti. The mission of the force is to quell rampant gang violence and hopefully provide some space and time for the new Haitian government to start rebuilding the tattered Caribbean state. However, the Kenyan police are not without their critics, and some wonder if they have the ability to make a difference. Still, it’s a high profile moment for Kenya.

The low moments, however, came as a new tax bill was being voted on in the Kenya Parliament. The bill was hotly contested by voters and large demonstrations in the streets led to substantive violence that saw dozens dead as protesters stormed the parliament building. The sudden and unexpected bloodletting made President William Ruto pull the plug on the proposed bill, but protesters remain in the street as of this writing, suggesting that the tax bill was the target of a bigger/deeper movement and set of concerns.

Elsewhere in Africa…

Russia continues to make inroads into the continents (many) security vacuums. Just over one year since the Wagner Mutiny in Russia, Russia’s rebranded mercenary Africa Corps is seeing business boom (literally and figuratively) across the Sahel and West Africa.

In Moscow, President Putin hosted Congolese leaders to discuss the security situation in one of Africa’s longest running civil wars. Why would Russia be so interested in jumping into the DRC civil war? Rare earth minerals. 

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a massive, underdeveloped, but incredibly naturally rich country, particularly in the very materials one needs to build most of the modern technologies of this young century. If you’re Russia and China, both staring down American efforts to hamper your ability to obtain and develop high end chips, then you go the DIY route, which means getting access to the raw materials. 

Calling it now: Russia is going to get involved in the DRC to lock down access to these natural resources. Expect Africa Corps boots on the ground in the DRC in the near future. I’ll go one step further and say that Russia may supply the security muscle, but China will supply the mining and infrastructure equipment. It’s a near perfect alignment of interests, really.