Raila's "Failed State" Gaffe

While launching his presidential bid on May 6th 2007, Raila Odinga mentioned that Kenya should not be compared to failed states such as Somalia and Rwanda. While I agree with him that Kenya should not measure their aspirations against their neighbours, his tone of voice also betrayed a lowly view of these nations.

As it were, Somalia has a better economy than Zimbabwe and possibly the most affordable telecommunications infrastructure in this region, beating Kenya by far. Rwanda is deemed to be Africa's ICT king in waiting. Uganda is our largest export destination. It seems we thrive on these so-called "failed states".

If his presidency would be characterized by such lowliness towards our neighbours, it might as well predispose us to failure