Roots and Comparisons

In the Western press little is being said about how the roots of this unrest are in the design and the forced disintegration of an empire which was never completely dismantled.

I heard a story this morning which did not surprise me. There a man, lets call him Raj, who is the disgruntled son of empire – in this sense he and I are very similar. I was born there and consider myself an economic migrant and psychological exile. It is tough living in country where people want to know where you are from and when you are going back when in your head and heart you’ve never felt you belonged. Anyway, this acquaintance, Raj, is notorious for being ready to declare any decision which does not go his way racist. He is politically black, in the 1960’s sense of the term (being of East Asian descent and born in Trinidad). Just as I have spent more than half my life in the U.K. Raj’s been here far longer than he’s lived in Trinidad. A certain Duke (of the bona fide Royal Highness variety) attended a Christmas concert performed by a group he promotes. He mentioned HRH about 7 times and was horribly obsequious and to cap it all, when the group finished their 50 minutes and returned for the expected encore, they apologised because they had to rush off to meet HRH. That mixture of anger and obsequiousness is terribly familiar to most Africans, a condition which could be described as an existential angst that cuts across status, tribe and wealth.

Kenyans are considered by most other Africans to have a ‘colonial mentality’. I’m too close to my heritage to comment but I acknowledge that my father shops at Geives & Hawkes; that I attended a tiny, ancient minor public school. I also acknolwdege – not in that self-serving passive-aggressive manner where it’s the fault of the whites – that considering the possibility that the choice many Kenyans have made as individuals and as a collective capitalist consciousness to hang onto relationships rooted in the mercantile structures and strictures of empire helps me to reflect on the similarities between the still unresolved ethnic conflicts all over Eastern Europe (following the end of empire ‘Soviet Union’) and Africa (end of colonialism and the fragmentation of false national boundaries and identities).

Quentin Peel in the Financial Times compares Kenya not to Rwanda but to the Balkans. Take your pick, which of the two tribes represent the Serbs? The Luo or the Kikuyu? hard to say when both are attempting reinforce their power and ending up alienating everyone else.

Maybe he’s wrong, maybe he’s reading of the situation is too intellectual. Suppose all we have is a couple of elderly egomaniacs interested in power for the sake of power:

The 62 year old Odinga – the man who would be president (king?), whose ambition to succeed where his father failed means that he is willing to associate himself with an unprecedented level of violence in the name of democracy. Odinga is as much part of the old guard as Kibaki, only with less experience and however close he may have been to his father, Kenya needs to avoid dynastic politics.

The octogenarian Kibaki a man who has proved to be so obsessed with power that he’s convinced himself that what’s good for him is also good for the country.

Meanwhile instead of busying themselves ousting both men the watu have turned on each other. We Africans are very good at creating monsters and then acting as though we’ve had no role in supporting the autocratic kleptomaniacs in treating our countries like their personal shamba’s, our resources like toys in a giant playground and the people like simple-minded charges who need to be taught to behave properly.

My experience is that people cannot help but show you who they really are:

Kibaki’s dishonesty, vanity and weakness was there for all to see within the first year of his reign (and I use that word deliberately).

Odinga as president is unlikely to be any more willing to secede power for the good of the people than Kibaki. Kenyans have already shown Odinga that he can tap into their anger and frustration to great effect. He might have called for peace. he might have stood firm on the legal processes and appealed to the watu for passive and peaceful disobedience – a national strike for example. Instead he has grabbed the mantle and whip of ringmaster for this dangerous and dishonourable game being played out by the men of politics. This is heady stuff for any politician but for a would-be president Kenyans have already demonstrated to him that his will is their will and what is good for him will be good for them. How different does that make him from Kenyatta? from Moi? From Kibaki?

Why are the wanainchi assuming that the choice is between these two? Is this not an opportunity for transformation after all – for getting back in touch with the spirit in which people went to vote – of being part of something that would change the face of Kenyan politics (and economics and society) for the better?

Determine the course of the future, seize the day for the people and away from the old guard.

Kenya celebrates New Year with a National Trash Party: Older but no Wiser

Why are Kenyans turning in on themselves? The gains made after 45 years of independence have been destroyed in 10 days.

You, Rafiki, have lost about 5 years of hard work every 24 hours in the last 10 days. As this situation goes on you'll be losing about 5 years of your future hopes, dreams and aspirations each day. Is this a proce worth paying?

Have you stopped to think about what the actual gains will be for you personally out of all this? The people who make money will most likely make more money out of the conflict and the ones with very little will end up with even less.

Overall the recovery from these last 10 days will take years, not weeks or months.

How long will it take to get the tourism back on an even footing?

How long will it take for the individual farmer to get things going again so that you can one again take for granted your Ugali or Githeri?

How long will it be before prices for essential settle back down again?

How many people who can flee will come back?

It is incredibly self-destructive for the poor to turn on each other whilst the wealthy, the Mabenzi, politicians etc… they’re behind their guarded, gated walls planning to win or flee as you lose your home and your hope.

This is a serious Trash Party for some and a heart-breaking tragedy for most Wanainchi.