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Kenyan churchgoers get political book of revelations
Written by: Katie Nguyen
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
Next time Kenyans go to Bible class, they could be taking lessons from a different kind of book.
Alongside the familiar Scriptures, church groups across the country will soon be poring over a corruption expose, featuring revelations so damning many shopkeepers are too scared to stock it.
The text, "It's Our Turn to Eat", by journalist Michela Wrong, explains how successive Kenyan leaders have looted the state to enrich themselves and preserve their tribe's grip on the levers of power.
It relates the story of a government whistleblower, John Githongo, who was hired to investigate corruption, then pressured to hush up a scandal in which contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars were awarded to phantom firms.
Even now, it's a struggle to tell the tale. The book is a hit in neighbouring Tanzania and Uganda, but hard to find in
Kenyan stores. Most of the copies in the country are contraband, either smuggled over the border or printouts of an unauthorised Internet version.
That's about to change, under a programme coordinated by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and funded by foreign donors, who are working with Kenyan groups to raise awareness.
The issues at stake couldn't be more important, they say. Corruption holds back development and undermines democracy,
fuelling tribalism and conflict. After Kenya's last election was disputed, 1,300 people were killed in inter-ethnic violence, and 300,000 more were forced from their homes into makeshift camps.
The campaign for better governance aims to prevent this happening again. In addition to discussions hosted by clergymen, the Nairobi Star newspaper is giving away five copies a day to its readers, and using street vendors to sell the book at traffic lights. PEN Kenya is also planning a series of public recitations.
According to the governance project, "the distribution and reading of the book...is expected to help expose, shame and deter others with the same traits from vying for public office." It's also targeting ordinary Kenyans, who "need to take due diligence in vetting leaders they elect or appoint".
For more information on the links between politics and violence in Kenya, try reading AlertNet's briefing.
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4 responses to “Kenyan churchgoers get political book of revelations”
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14 Jun 2009 17:39:00 GMT
kibaki and moi both know each others and all of them are thieves
14 Jun 2009 17:40:08 GMT
This is great work, the actual nature of which should be temperered in the knowledge that corruption in Kenya has only become a viable "issue" for further discussion, since the arrival of the new coalition government.
Or, more precisely, since Raila Odinga has stepped upon the stage with the support of the Kenyan people, much to the chagrin of some international develoment partners who have had a long standing and positive relationship with Kenya. One could speculate that this is because 50% of the resources have now essentially diverted away from their usual flow. And 50% of the agenda is now also focused toward previously ignored issues and peoples. The Githongo Report, which was issued considerably prior to the arrival of the Coalition Government, lists a number of entities which have previously been engaged in corruption. And the report is clear that Kenyans have not been participating in massive dollar corruption alone, but with others whose ultimate jurisdiction is not in Kenya. The report is available in the internet for verification. And these people, who are not within Kenya, or Kenyan, (not to say that there are not also corrupt Kenyans,) have been accused ad infinitum, with never ending appeals to the international communities. International communities which have generally thumbed their nose at us, with varying diplomacy. Ultimately, based on John Githongo's report, it is even likely that these partners have been participating (with impunity) in these local activities for a variety military, political and generally covert purposes -- none of which anybody in the country has the power to stop. And nn fact Kenya's prior rating as the most friendly country to the west has always been based in part on complete co-operation by all parties. This was true in Liberia also, before the country imploded. A theater has been in effect, between the parties. And so, as far as due diligence is concerned, on the behalf of the people, to vet their representatives, there is no purpose for it, when the winner of the election will not be allowed to assume his rightful seat, and will instead be frustrated into a quagmire of epic proportions, when world leader jet in to arbitrate an election which the people have already decided -- all in order to make sure that the country is lead by who they want it to be led by. Why should African participate in such theater? And this is why the book is not making much headway in Kenya, and is instead being "promoted," by people who want to find just the right people to promote it to. Two wrongs don't make a right. The book should be able to speak for itself in the market, just like capitalism itself has to. And the fact that John was not supported to write his own book should give everybody pause that there are a likely vast bodies of information which truly tell this story, which are still not being told. In this story John's experience is being "spun" , to achieve whatever the publishers and their clients, who are buying and distributing this book, hope to achieve -- but this is not John's story, otherwise it would have been written by John, and he would most likely have divulged some sad facts which his supporters would rather that he not. ##13 Jul 2009 10:13:04 GMT
PEN Kenya stands for Poets, Essayists, Novelists- not Poverty Eradication Network. PEN Kenya held an event at the National Theatre, it had such a gripping debate.
13 Jul 2009 10:16:03 GMT
Thanks Jessie for pointing that out. The blog has now been corrected