During that interview with Tuju (video initially posted in @obienga’s thread).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id=OFkHNdmm_os;t=415
At the 6.55 mark, this SA, umm, journalist asks Tuju a question that leaves me scratching my head. He asks “even if you look at one of your closest neighbours, Her Excellency Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf…”, thereby implying Liberia is one of Kenya’s closest neighbours.
Tuju was looking at him like “child, have you ever glanced at a map of Africa?”, but maybe decided not to expose his ignorance, due to the weightier matters under discussion.
I’m just wondering, did they change the meaning of the word “closest” while us Kenyans were obsessed with elections?
Liberia is in West Africa, Kenya is in East Africa.
Liberia borders the Atlantic Ocean, Kenya borders the Indian Ocean.
Friends, I understand the world is a global village, but these two countries are not close by any definition of the word.
Could it be another case of South African exceptional-ism? I’ve heard, not once, that some South Africans, while planning a trip to other African countries, will look one in the eye and tell them, “I’m planning to travel to Africa.” Look, I get it. SA is significantly more developed than other African countries, but still, really dudes?
Or did this guy actually mean Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is one of Tuju’s closest neighbors somewhere? If true, this would be the most logical explanation.
I had to study a few maps of Africa after watching that clip. I read in a post recently about how mzungu misrepresented Africa’s true size, so nowadays, you can’t just dismiss things. This is the (probably fake, in light of recent pronouncements by a certain journalist) map of Africa that I was used to:
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Will the real Liberia please stand up?
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Was it just an honest mistake?
I’m trying really hard to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, because if he truly believes Liberia is one of Kenya’s closest neighbors…if a journalist working for one of Africa’s largest news networks believes that…then I am a little scared.
I mean, if a South African person can be that ignorant about his own continent, what do you expect from those western journalists who report “live from the ground” on African affairs from the balconies of their five star hotel rooms?
Mimi nimeshangaa.