Is endemic corruption changing the relationship between the sexes in Kenya? Are men generally being equated with politicians, gangsters or conmen in a country that is losing faith in the former and struggling to deal with the latter?
I have heard that women are quicker now to abandon men who let them down, either by failing to hold down a job, drinking their wages, or just generally not measuring up to expectations. Women are happy to hook up and have children but if the men don't deliver, they are also ready to walk, presumably if their financial situation allows it. I wonder if this is a symptom of general disillusionment with the governing classes, traditionally dominated by men, now distilled into the home?
And if women are taking the lead in the home and showing less tolerance for men's foibles, is there room for a similar shift in politics?
That was the thrust of an article in Saturday's Daily Nation, which argued that women must step up and lead. I might take issue with a few of the names listed as role models for women -- Margaret Thatcher is always difficult to sanctify -- but the final paragraphs are interesting.
Columnist Gitau Gikonyo writes: "Today most of our young men have become useless, sorry figures of men, all in a daze, hooked on substances ... The heart of the matter is that men are cry babies. I am yet to come across a circumcised man who can agree to undergo the ritual a second time. Yet he will send a woman to the delivery room many times. The writing is on the wall. Men have failed and women must now step up and take the lead."
Some might argue the comments are flippant and easy, but the idea that something new is needed in Kenyan politics seems to be a popular one.
I'm not sure though that the fact that Jimmy Kibaki, the president's increasingly voluble son, is warming up to enter the political fray by running for his father's seat in Othaya qualifies as a new beginning.
As the battle for 2012 goes on, in the increasingly irrelevant present there was more bad news for the economy -- remittances by Kenyans living abroad dropped 15 percent from January to April, compared to the year before. That dry statistic probably means some people won't be eating much. According to the UN's World Food Programme, the price of maize has risen by up to 130 percent in Nairobi and 85 percent in Mombasa over the past year. Cooking fuel prices have risen by 30 to 50 percent and the cost of water by 90 to 155 percent. This story details just what those enormous rises mean inside places like Kibera, Nairobi's massive slum. The article quotes Oxfam GB's Alun McDonald as saying: "But the urban crisis is not just about poverty - it is also about governance ...Citizens need to have affordable access to basic services such as water and healthcare. Given the political tensions in Kenya at the moment, having hundreds of thousands of increasingly poor and hungry families could well lead to further instability on the streets of Nairobi - and potentially other cities."
We've seen some of that instability in recent weeks with the clashes between police and mechanics at Nairobi's Globe Roundabout, and rioting by hawkers in Mombasa's Central Business District. Yes, the causes are different -- in Mombasa, hawkers were ordered out of the CBD some months ago and they say they can't make a living; the Nairobi spat is about jua kali (informal) mechanics being forced off land that has been purchased by a mosque. The similarities -- angry young men (mostly) with nothing to lose venting their frustrations by attacking the symbols of authority immediately available to them eg police or firetrucks. Other places and other times have shown that that kind of anger can easily be harnessed and channelled into something much more dangerous.
And finally, a sad story from inside the Daily Nation: just 11 lines but in some ways, it tells you more about problems facing Kenya than columns of analysis and opeds:
"A woman was stabbed to death using a spear by cattle rustlers. Ms Lankesya Leshaleke, 40, was herding goats and sheep at Kandutura village in Rumuruti Division when two men emerged from a thicket and confronted her. One of them was armed with an AK-47 rifle while the other had a spear. She died while undergoing treatment at a Nyahururu hospital. All the animals were stolen."
Disputes over land and resources, access to weapons, desperation and poverty. A potent mix.
Wednesday, 27 May 2009
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
GOOD VIBES IN NAIROBI
National politics may be byzantine and frustrating; city traffic may be atrocious and yes, there is a fair dollop of crime, but after six months, I can safely say we are loving Nairobi.
Just a few of our favourite things:
1. Where else can you take the children to see their own sponsored elephant after school? We bounce along a rutted road to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust as the sun sprints lower; red dust rises as the baby elephants trot from the bush ahead of their green-coated keepers; you can stroke the baby rhino in the red coat. Beats going for a muffin at Starbucks in Belsize Park any day.
2. The drumming of the rain on the roof when you wake in the middle of the night. Maybe it's because I'm Irish, but I find it soothing, especially if I know we've put saucepans under the ever-evolving leaks!
3. Watching our daughter, who used to be terrified of putting her head under water, now swimming almost exclusively underwater, sometimes without goggles, and mostly without (apparently) breathing. (This is accompanied by maternal daydreams about what I will wear when I am standing next to Michael Phelps' mum at the Swimming Hall of Fame ceremony in a few years).
4. Driving with the girls along Peponi Road, looking out for horses, cows, spooky trees.
5. Hanging out at the Jolly Roger on a Sunday afternoon, watching the girls going mad on one of the six or seven bouncy castles or sitting uncharacteristically still for the dreams-come-true face painters (and also, it has to be said, the naughty thrill of wondering if the electricity will be cut while someone is on the rather high inflatable water slide....)
6. Being able to get out of Nairobi in just over an hour, speeding along the good road to Naivasha, climbing until we get that first always-eye-popping glimpse of the Rift Valley, counting the donkeys and shouting when we see the first warthog or zebra on the side of the road.
7. Waking up with the most amazing dawn chorus of birds -- I was convinced one bird outside our window was a bloke the other day, the tune was so complicated. I didn't worry too much though. I figured burglars or general no-gooders would probably not be whistling in the middle of their nefarious deeds.
8. Sitting with a cool Tusker watching the girls dig sandcastles, make sand cakes and scream like dervishes at Peppers on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
9. Driving to school with the girls shouting "Asante Sana" (which I think my youngest believes refers in some way to Santa Claus) at the askari; or "Go away Matatus"; or "Mummy, bambulahead" (yes, they have been to too many puppet shows!).
10. The unbelievable thrill of thinking a monkey might live in the trees around our house. No evidence or sightings yet, but the potential is enough to brighten the dullest day.
11. My own morning pick-me-ups: Gado's cartoons in the Daily Nation and the same newspaper's stars. Uncannily accurate and no boring stuff about the need to manage your finances.
Check out Rafiki Kenya's blog for a great comprehensive list of places to eat and play in Nairobi.
Just a few of our favourite things:
1. Where else can you take the children to see their own sponsored elephant after school? We bounce along a rutted road to the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust as the sun sprints lower; red dust rises as the baby elephants trot from the bush ahead of their green-coated keepers; you can stroke the baby rhino in the red coat. Beats going for a muffin at Starbucks in Belsize Park any day.
2. The drumming of the rain on the roof when you wake in the middle of the night. Maybe it's because I'm Irish, but I find it soothing, especially if I know we've put saucepans under the ever-evolving leaks!
3. Watching our daughter, who used to be terrified of putting her head under water, now swimming almost exclusively underwater, sometimes without goggles, and mostly without (apparently) breathing. (This is accompanied by maternal daydreams about what I will wear when I am standing next to Michael Phelps' mum at the Swimming Hall of Fame ceremony in a few years).
4. Driving with the girls along Peponi Road, looking out for horses, cows, spooky trees.
5. Hanging out at the Jolly Roger on a Sunday afternoon, watching the girls going mad on one of the six or seven bouncy castles or sitting uncharacteristically still for the dreams-come-true face painters (and also, it has to be said, the naughty thrill of wondering if the electricity will be cut while someone is on the rather high inflatable water slide....)
6. Being able to get out of Nairobi in just over an hour, speeding along the good road to Naivasha, climbing until we get that first always-eye-popping glimpse of the Rift Valley, counting the donkeys and shouting when we see the first warthog or zebra on the side of the road.
7. Waking up with the most amazing dawn chorus of birds -- I was convinced one bird outside our window was a bloke the other day, the tune was so complicated. I didn't worry too much though. I figured burglars or general no-gooders would probably not be whistling in the middle of their nefarious deeds.
8. Sitting with a cool Tusker watching the girls dig sandcastles, make sand cakes and scream like dervishes at Peppers on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
9. Driving to school with the girls shouting "Asante Sana" (which I think my youngest believes refers in some way to Santa Claus) at the askari; or "Go away Matatus"; or "Mummy, bambulahead" (yes, they have been to too many puppet shows!).
10. The unbelievable thrill of thinking a monkey might live in the trees around our house. No evidence or sightings yet, but the potential is enough to brighten the dullest day.
11. My own morning pick-me-ups: Gado's cartoons in the Daily Nation and the same newspaper's stars. Uncannily accurate and no boring stuff about the need to manage your finances.
Check out Rafiki Kenya's blog for a great comprehensive list of places to eat and play in Nairobi.
Monday, 11 May 2009
Manic Monday
Just an hour earlier, we had been watching a limpid sun sink into scrubby bushes at the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust as we waited for the blanketed baby elephants to waddle in from the bush, gulp down their milk and snuggle up in the straw for the night. Now, we were stuck in a Nairobi nightmare of tooting horns, stalled cars, and rising tempers. A bus had bumped a matatu at the junction of James Gichuru and Gitanga Rd -- a maddeningly anarchic and dangerous junction at the best of times and one that is crying out for a set of traffic lights. The big bus was now blocking the centre of the junction, but Nairobi's drivers were unfazed. Cars, trucks, jam-packed matatus inched their way around the obstacle. But patience is not a valued virtue in this town, and especially not on the roads. So the go-slow soon degenerated into an unbridled free-for-all with the biggest and the ballsiest ploughing their way into the melee, while those of a more timorous bent speedily u-turned out of trouble. My husband is not the timorous kind. Plus we had two just-about-to-turn-cranky girls in the back and only about 35 Smarties left in the giant tube we had brought with us for just this sort of eventuality. No time for seeking alternate routes through to Waiyaki Way. So we edged around the bus in the centre of the junction, only to find five lanes -- yes five if you count the puddled mud path, which several drivers did -- of oncoming traffic sprawled across James Gichuru (usually a two-way road). A bit like Lady Macbeth, we could go neither forward nor backwards. So we cursed and harangued and stubbornly held our ground until a sliver of space opened somewhere, allowing a infinitesimal shifting of metal which let us shimmy through to the clear road beyond. After listening without comment to their father's ranting (which included liberal use of several banned words), our eldest opined in a calm measured tone: "It's a bad night tonight." Not to be outdone, our two-year-old took up the call: "This a bad road, Daddy, this a bad road" she chimed, waggling her chubby fingers at the dark outside the windows.
Indeed. On Waiyaki Way, a Hummer had sideswiped a BMW while crossing from one lane to the next and we nearly met our end when a Tanzanian-registered truck pulled into the hard shoulder before our turn-off and then just stopped. There were no Smarties left at this point.
A slice of life .... or a metaphor for a country where a governmental go-slow is degenerating into a free-for-all where rules no longer exist and the little man is the only victim? I might have to have a few more Smarties before ruling on that one.
There has been no let-up in the steady stream of corruption allegations -- Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta is still making front pages over the 9.2 billion shilling discrepancy in his supplementary budget. After first saying there was nothing wrong with the numbers, Kenyatta then said the mistake was due to a typing or computer error. His allies have blamed a plot by political enemies at the Treasury. But President Mwai Kibaki's son, Jimmy, has assured Kenyatta that he has the head of state's backing. The Daily Nation said: Senior Treasury officials who could not be quoted because they are not authorised to reveal the information suspected that the alteration was an outcome of the succession battles enveloping the government and its departments, raising questions over the extent to which politics is affecting the functioning of the coalition government." I would tentatively suggest that the answer to those questions might be: a lot.
I am reading Michela Wrong's "It's our turn to eat" at the moment and among the most startling things, for me, is the way all the names are the same as the ones in the newspapers today. Many of the ministers and political figures implicated in or linked in one way or another to the Anglo-Leasing scandal or the Goldenburg affair are still in the public eye, many even in public office. Yes, some were fired but were soon reinstated. So maybe this coalition government will manage to survive the weekly drip-drip of corruption allegations. Afterall, they are no worse than the previous graft scandals which arguably came with more evidence of wrongdoing. However, I still tend towards the view that a tipping point must be reached at some point -- a place where political expediency for one of the coalition parties will mesh with public frustration and force some kind of change.
Indeed. On Waiyaki Way, a Hummer had sideswiped a BMW while crossing from one lane to the next and we nearly met our end when a Tanzanian-registered truck pulled into the hard shoulder before our turn-off and then just stopped. There were no Smarties left at this point.
A slice of life .... or a metaphor for a country where a governmental go-slow is degenerating into a free-for-all where rules no longer exist and the little man is the only victim? I might have to have a few more Smarties before ruling on that one.
There has been no let-up in the steady stream of corruption allegations -- Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta is still making front pages over the 9.2 billion shilling discrepancy in his supplementary budget. After first saying there was nothing wrong with the numbers, Kenyatta then said the mistake was due to a typing or computer error. His allies have blamed a plot by political enemies at the Treasury. But President Mwai Kibaki's son, Jimmy, has assured Kenyatta that he has the head of state's backing. The Daily Nation said: Senior Treasury officials who could not be quoted because they are not authorised to reveal the information suspected that the alteration was an outcome of the succession battles enveloping the government and its departments, raising questions over the extent to which politics is affecting the functioning of the coalition government." I would tentatively suggest that the answer to those questions might be: a lot.
I am reading Michela Wrong's "It's our turn to eat" at the moment and among the most startling things, for me, is the way all the names are the same as the ones in the newspapers today. Many of the ministers and political figures implicated in or linked in one way or another to the Anglo-Leasing scandal or the Goldenburg affair are still in the public eye, many even in public office. Yes, some were fired but were soon reinstated. So maybe this coalition government will manage to survive the weekly drip-drip of corruption allegations. Afterall, they are no worse than the previous graft scandals which arguably came with more evidence of wrongdoing. However, I still tend towards the view that a tipping point must be reached at some point -- a place where political expediency for one of the coalition parties will mesh with public frustration and force some kind of change.
Wednesday, 6 May 2009
KENYAN ROLLERCOASTER
Many Kenyans seem to agree that the political old guard's sell-by date is long past. As frustration with government in-fighting and perceived time-wasting grows, people are looking for saviours. But few see any among the current crop of politicians and members of parliament, most of whom are lumped together in the public mind -- rightly or wrongly -- as sharp-suited, shifty time-wasting wabenzi who are in politics solely to enrich themselves or their immediate communities. There are undoubtedly exceptions but as Kenya's political roller-coaster rattles from crisis to crisis, never getting anywhere, it's easy to see why some Kenyans feel fresh faces are the only answer. Two constituencies spring to mind -- women and Kenya's young people.
Women's groups put themselves in the spotlight last week when they called for a seven-day sex boycott to demand political reform and protest poor leadership. And now, as the boycott ends, the groups, known as Gender 10, say they are drawing up a 90-day plan to keep pressure on the government to fulfil its obligations. "Women want to go on with the business of building this nation, not mourning their children or worrying about their safety," G-10 said in a statement.
Kenyan youths are also showing their disatisfaction -- whether by pulling up railtracks in Kibera over the Migingo dispute with Uganda, heckling a minister at the May Day rally, or urging change as in this post from the National Youth Convention.
It would probably be prudent to pay attention to the demands coming from Kenya's future voters, entrepreneurs and leaders. A Kenyan expert has warned that the number of unemployed youth could rise to 14 million over the next seven years. Professor Inonda Mwanje, chief executive officer of the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research, said this surge could spark off a peoples’ revolution if it is not tamed. He said parliament should dedicate a day to discussing this problem -- a tall order when the House cannot yet agree on who leads government business.
The government is aware though: In April, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said: "The unemployment we face in Kenya is nothing but a time bomb. It has been correctly stated that despondency played a big role in fuelling the violence that swept our land during the political crisis last year."
The time bomb may be ticking, but there is little sense of urgency in the corridors of power. President Mwai Kibaki and Odinga have now met again after weeks of scrapping between their PNU and ODM parties but there has been no breakthrough on the crucial question of who will head government business in parliament. And when the House Business Committee attempted to meet on Tuesday, there were not enough members for a quorum. Only five turned up. Daily Nation said those who failed to show included Odinga (who wants to head the committee), Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka (the president's choice to head the committee), deputy prime ministers Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi and new Justice head Mutula Kilonzo, among many others.
Government paralysis does have a pratical cost -- it creates the perception of a failed state, or at the very least a stagnating state, and why would you put your money there? Kilonzo, who was Nairobi Metropolitan minister before getting the justice portfolio, said this week that persistent traffic jams, rising insecurity and poor infrastructure means Nairobi is losing its status as a destination of choice to investors and tourists.
For those who may be still committed to "eating" their way to the next election in Kenya, this news from Paris may be worth a read. A French judge has launched an investigation into whether the presidents of Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea used embezzled public funds to buy luxury homes and cars. The judge opened the case after a police investigation and at the request of the French arm of Transparency International -- setting a precedent that could be copied by anti-corruption organisations elsewhere.
Back in Nairobi, the reports of scurrilous dealings and scandals keep coming, thick and fast -- among the latest: Uhuru Kenyatta is being questioned over whether he duped MPs into passing an extra 9 billion shillings as part of the supplementary budget. And Odinga is angrily denying reports that his family and associates were involved in the maize scandal earlier this year.
Women's groups put themselves in the spotlight last week when they called for a seven-day sex boycott to demand political reform and protest poor leadership. And now, as the boycott ends, the groups, known as Gender 10, say they are drawing up a 90-day plan to keep pressure on the government to fulfil its obligations. "Women want to go on with the business of building this nation, not mourning their children or worrying about their safety," G-10 said in a statement.
Kenyan youths are also showing their disatisfaction -- whether by pulling up railtracks in Kibera over the Migingo dispute with Uganda, heckling a minister at the May Day rally, or urging change as in this post from the National Youth Convention.
It would probably be prudent to pay attention to the demands coming from Kenya's future voters, entrepreneurs and leaders. A Kenyan expert has warned that the number of unemployed youth could rise to 14 million over the next seven years. Professor Inonda Mwanje, chief executive officer of the Institute of Policy Analysis and Research, said this surge could spark off a peoples’ revolution if it is not tamed. He said parliament should dedicate a day to discussing this problem -- a tall order when the House cannot yet agree on who leads government business.
The government is aware though: In April, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said: "The unemployment we face in Kenya is nothing but a time bomb. It has been correctly stated that despondency played a big role in fuelling the violence that swept our land during the political crisis last year."
The time bomb may be ticking, but there is little sense of urgency in the corridors of power. President Mwai Kibaki and Odinga have now met again after weeks of scrapping between their PNU and ODM parties but there has been no breakthrough on the crucial question of who will head government business in parliament. And when the House Business Committee attempted to meet on Tuesday, there were not enough members for a quorum. Only five turned up. Daily Nation said those who failed to show included Odinga (who wants to head the committee), Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka (the president's choice to head the committee), deputy prime ministers Uhuru Kenyatta and Musalia Mudavadi and new Justice head Mutula Kilonzo, among many others.
Government paralysis does have a pratical cost -- it creates the perception of a failed state, or at the very least a stagnating state, and why would you put your money there? Kilonzo, who was Nairobi Metropolitan minister before getting the justice portfolio, said this week that persistent traffic jams, rising insecurity and poor infrastructure means Nairobi is losing its status as a destination of choice to investors and tourists.
For those who may be still committed to "eating" their way to the next election in Kenya, this news from Paris may be worth a read. A French judge has launched an investigation into whether the presidents of Congo-Brazzaville, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea used embezzled public funds to buy luxury homes and cars. The judge opened the case after a police investigation and at the request of the French arm of Transparency International -- setting a precedent that could be copied by anti-corruption organisations elsewhere.
Back in Nairobi, the reports of scurrilous dealings and scandals keep coming, thick and fast -- among the latest: Uhuru Kenyatta is being questioned over whether he duped MPs into passing an extra 9 billion shillings as part of the supplementary budget. And Odinga is angrily denying reports that his family and associates were involved in the maize scandal earlier this year.
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