Citizenship Doesn't Stop at the Border

Daniel Waweru challenges Stephanie Migot's position on the creation of a new seat: Diaspora MP.

The issue here is representation -- not merely the right to agitate for reform. The argument, as given, is that by going abroad, and placing oneself at a remove from the democratic process one has given up the right to political representation. That's because it's not entirely clear how the other reasons are supposed to work. Paying taxes can't be a necessary condition of political representation, since tax-evaders; all those whose earnings fall below the minimum taxable amount; the churches and charities which take direct tax exemptions; members of religious orders who take vows of poverty and the MPs who so famously managed to protect their incomes from the taxman, all retain their right to participate and representation. Presence in the country for voting purposes simply folds into the first point about living abroad, since what matters here is the effect of location on one's right to political representation.

Read the rest of his argument here.

Against an MP with Air Miles

An article published in the Daily Nation brought one John Maina to national attention when he mooted the idea of Kenyans living abroad – the diaspora – having their own representative in government. According to the article, the Kenya Community Abroad (KCA), a US-based Kenyan advocacy group, is lobbying the Committee of Experts to create an “Abroad Constituency” who would then have an MP to represent the interests of Kenyans living abroad.

My instant reaction, as I posted to my Twitter account, was a resounding “Hell to the no!”

Stephanie Migot explains her position.

The Hoax that is the Naivasha Deal

The Parliamentary Select Committee is finally showing its true colors. It has shown that it can bastardize the people’s document to suit the narrow whims of just a handful of people in Parliament. The deal reached by 26 MPs in Naivasha is a hoax that Kenyans must reject even at the risk of not having a new constitution.

Jerry Okungu is not happy by the PSC's recommended draft constitution. Read on.

What We Are Reading: Haiti

The tragic events earlier this month has left Haiti more desolate than ever. It is amazing, this Haitian spirit, that despite all odds keeps surviving tragedy. As Haiti continues to be in the global spotlight, now would be a good time to learn about its history, people and relief efforts beyond media soundbites.

We will share here articles with excerpts that continue to define the Haitian situation, and welcome you to include your favorite articles in the comments below.

Part II: PSC Scores a Victory for a Rational and Progressive Kenyan Future

The reformation of our culture of politics, explained in Part 1 of this essay to be as important as the reform of our political institutions entails an analysis of how each of our other choices for institutional organization would work to curb the vices and weaknesses of our present political culture.

In this spirit, if we take a look at the particular form of hybrid government that has been proposed by the Committee of Experts, can it be in doubt that it does little to reform our political culture?

Continue reading.

Part I: PSC Scores a Victory for a Rational and Progressive Kenyan Future

The decision of the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Constitution to adopt a purely presidential form of government for the revised draft constitution, while certainly coming as a surprise to most, must nonetheless be heralded as a very important step towards achieving transformational change in our political organization as a nation.

Continue... .

Simama, Eugene Wamalwa and the rights of free speech and association

A large public meeting has been called in Bungoma this Sunday, the 31st of January. The rally has been called by Saboti MP Eugene Wamalwa and his confederates in the Simama Kenya political action group. It is not clear that the event will go ahead, following threats, made in public by local politicians, to stop the rally taking place.

These threats are the sort of, 'come if you dare' challenges that history promises will deliver great bloodshed and destruction of property. It is a naked effort at political incitement and intimidation, an attempt at corralling sections of the country off of what are deemed ‘external influences,' an effort at the kind of ethnic balkanisation that has led to the exclusion of certain ethnicities from national political groupings and led to the exclusion and resentments that bore the pre and post-election violence in 2008.

Ethics in a World of Strangers

In considering the reactions from the Kenyan public to the tragedy in Haiti, to Jamaican preacher Abdullah Al-Faisal, to those that took to the street in demonstrating for his freedom and to the crackdown on Somali immigrants in Nairobi's Eastleigh district, we provide here a link to a Kwame Appiah lecture, Ethics in a World of Strangers.

In it he proposes that cosmopolitanism is not a solution, but a great challenge. He suggests that modern society has exaggerated the power of difference while neglecting the power of commonality.

What it is our collective responsibility towards those different from us, to immigrants?

How our folly aids extremism

Nothing is more pleasing to extremist leaderships than the confirmation, whether in fact or perception, of the causes by which they recruit followers to their violent banners. The state, media and public reactions to the Al-Faisal fiasco may very well have acted to harm our interests -peace and religious harmony in Kenya- and promoted instead the perception of intolerant incompatibility that extremism teaches.

Thoughts? Click here.

Egypt vs Ghana 4-0

Admittedly, this is more a wish for the Nations Cup Final than a rational guess. Ghana's defence against Nigeria today did give a good account of itself, and for a team as decimated of its top talents as The youthful Black Stars, getting this far is in itself no small feat.

Read more here. And we are accepting sports commentary. Email us: editor [at] kenyaimagine [dot] com

Ethics in a world of strangers

In considering the reactions from the Kenyan public to the tragedy in Haiti, to Jamaican preacher Abdullah Al-Faisal, to those that took to the street in demonstrating for his freedom and to the crackdown on Somali immigrants in Nairobi's Eastleigh district, we provide here a link to a Kwame Appiah lecture, Ethics in a World of Strangers.

Watch the video here.

My Coming Out

It hasn't always been this easy. It always made me nervous and uncomfortable. As though there was something wrong with me loving this way. When I look back I am not really sure how and when I accepted my fate and let it be. All I remember is that at some point in my life I was ashamed and scared to love a woman. As far as I can remember, I did not have much of a coming out experience for I was outed. I am not even sure what I was scared of. Moreover, allowing myself to live openly and honestly, only opened doors for me to live a fulfilled life. At least the pretense and self-denial is over. I share the part of my life I find sacred. I share what makes me, me. I share with you my experience as an out Kenyan Lesbian living far away from home. If my story does nothing else, I hope it allows you to see a glimpse of what life for some Africans in the LGBT community is like.

Keep reading.

What if it happened here?

The 7.0 magnitude quake that has flattened the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, should give East Africans pause for thought. What if a similar quake hit here? How prepared are we? As it turns out, not very. And such an event is not as rare around these parts as some would like to think. According to Professor Chris Hartnady, a former Associate Professor in the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Cape Town, “Large areas of the African continent are in an unstable, tectonically active, state and, especially in the mountain regions, substantial danger is posed to growing populations.” Between 1980 and April 2002, the continent was hit by over 50 serious earthquakes, resulting in over 23,000 deaths and injuries.

Patrick Gathara lays it all out, and has some suggestions on how we can best protect ourselves-- without spending too much.

Filing VAT Returns

It's a silly process, it's unnecessary but it is also something you have to endure. I woke early to make sure I was in the queue, at Times Tower. The first queue's the one you stand in to get your form, then you fill it in to say you've nothing to submit to the Revenue Authority.

Angela Wairimu on the challenges of filing for taxes in Kenya. Afrifail? What has your experience been?

Cartoonists of the Year awards

We attended the first, and likely, annual Cartoonist of the year awards at the Swiss ambassador's last week. The event organised by Katuni, a local coalition of Cartoonists, with the support of the Embassy of Switzerland was created to appreciate and promote an art form and means of political expression that seldom gets the credit it deserves.

More from our team.

The recalibration of Obama

On Tuesday night as the results trickled in from Massachusetts, President Obama and his inner circle watched with slow horror. This was an eventuality they had been steeling themselves against for days – but even with the odds stacked, they had reserved a glimmer of hope. Hope that their last minute scrambling, Obama’s spate of rallies over the final weekend, had been enough to eek out the slimmest of slim victories. Hope that the Lion’s legacy, one that the late senator Ted Kennedy built brick by brick over the last thirty odd years would endure. Hope that this bluest of blue states would once again reinforce a Democratic candidate victory.

Here's what Obama must do, says Dave Nyambati.

Kenya: combatting radical Islam

The protest in Nairobi on 15 January by a handful of Muslim youth, in which four people were killed, revealed a profound radicalisation and inter-faith resentment among Nairobi’s Muslims. Kenya must address this if it is going to avoid Nigeria-style violence in the future. It should work closely with the United States, which apart from being an important player in Somalia is involved in interconnected regional initiatives. The protests shook the foundations of tolerance in Kenya as nothing has before. It prompted some civilians to cheer the police, which is generally reviled for its many crimes against the people. Vigilantes even joined the battle on their side. But on the other hand it led to an armed protester – believed to have smuggled a gun into the protest – shooting at a policeman. The authorities have denied reports of the officer’s death, but have confirmed the sacking of a Muslim officer who defied orders to charge into the protesters.

Kenya must take its Somali immigration situation seriously. And John Oyando has some possible solutions.

Homeland by George Obama: A Review

The main reason to read a book by a man named Obama who is not the president of the United States is simple: to understand better the Obama who is president. With this as a test, does a new memoir from a Kenyan half brother to our very own Barack Obama - an African resident of Nairobi who shares our president's surname and his long-deceased father but not his mother - shed any light on President Obama as a leader?

More from G. Pascal Zachary

Brutal Crackdown of Peaceful Muslim Demo Turns Ugly

Onyango Oloo recounts Friday's demonstration calling for the release of Jamaican cleric Abdullah al-Faisal, a controversial figure who is on global terror watch list.

He argues:

The Kenyan state authorities should not be surprised if their unprovoked assault on peaceful Muslims converging near their house of prayer on Friday, one of the holiest days in the Muslim calendar, will not lead to a deepening of hostilities and precipitate a radical transformation especially among the younger Muslims to veer towards more militant positions.

 More...  .

Haiti Cherie

What word can encompass stretch its arms and wrap them around
A day when the world returns to the dust it was
Before we fashioned orderly chaos and became free

A powerful poem on Haiti.

Restoring Haiti

A brief overview on the history of Haiti including an interview with the award-winning Haitian author Edwidge Danticat.

More.

Post-Debate Draft Constitution

Published here is the Revised version of the Harmonised Draft Constitution. These revisions were collected during a one month period of debate and reflection. Various groups and individuals presented their opinions, offering suggestions, lamenting exclusions and praising or critiquing inclusions. Were your submitted views considered? What do you make of the end product?

Gays Aren’t a Threat to Kenya: We Are

It’s interesting how we are suddenly blaming homosexuality for the plight of Kenya. I’m specifically prompted to respond to a piece of filth published in the Standard recently under the headline, “Homosexuality perversion is a threat to survival of humankind.”

I knew that newspapers were struggling in this economy, but I had no idea they were so desperate that they would turn to publish such smut. Don’t get me wrong; I am a journalist and devout supporter of freedom of expression and of the press. But I do strongly believe that those freedoms must be exercised with caution and for the good of society. 

More from Ombuya Okongo.

On Canadian Barristers and Hubris, and the Sanctity of Freedom-fighters

It would be manifestly dishonest for anyone to describe Miguna Miguna as humble. The man seethes, bristles, and otherwise emanates the most virulent sparks of arrogance, and a penchant to ride roughshod over everyone who dissents from his way. Indeed, he considers tout le monde intellectually inferior to him, and when he deigns to communicate with ordinary mortals, the exasperation in his tone, the condescending patience, is of a man hobbled tragically with the company of imbeciles. The frost between PNU and ODM, and between President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga over this katiba business is attributable to his singular and implacable animus. He treated Prof Kivutha Kibwana like an academic failure in a remedial class. Eventually, the political positions hardened, and a tacit agreement to disagree seemed the only sensible outcome. But our Miguna has been quite busy, hasn't he, passing severe judgement on Moi, Balala, Ruto, Kalonzo, Uhuru and anyone not seen to toe the PM, or more likely, Miguna's line. His verdicts bestride a most absurd and spurious binary of terms: those for the PM, or more probably, Miguna, are revolutionaries, reformists, or both, whereas those who aren't are KANU or Moi orphans, misty eyed with abject nostalgia for the Dark Ages.In the context of rapid amassing of enemies, Miguna is insuperable. 

More from Eric Ngeno.

Why Ugandans Embrace U.S. Christian Right’s Anti-Gay Agenda

This could very well apply to Kenya. Only, we don't have such a bill in Congress. Winning hearts and minds is their moto. And now they have found a home in Uganda.

Evangelicals have managed to succeed in promoting homophobia by taking advantage of Africans’ lack of adequate information. They have presented homosexuality as a new “culture,” rather than something that has existed all along.

Kaoma quotes yet another Ugandan from the anti-gay conference: “Dr. Scott told us about Brazil where, 10 years ago, homosexuality was unheard of. Today, it is the capital. There are people that have been against homosexuality that are having to leave because of the pressure and the threats that they are putting on them. That is how serious it is.”

Africans take such filth without questions because they suffer from a severe case of inferiority complex. Even worse, they staunchly believe in the supremacy of the white man. Ill-informed Christians like the ones Rev. Kaoma quotes above, place the white man immediately below the Holy Trinity, a belief with its roots in the colonial era.

Growing up in Kenya, I heard stories about how supernatural the white man was. When we did well in school, our parents and teachers said we were as intelligent as white men. When you went to take a bath, Ma told you to come out as clean as a white man. If the white doctor at the hospital failed to diagnose your disease, death was imminent.

More... .

Why is Miguna Miguna, a Canadian and a foreigner, working in the Kenya PM's Ofice?

The title speaks for itself. And this blogger is keen to have the issue investigated. Is it a matter of ethics? Anyone?

Are Humans Destined to Segregate?

The image I had been sold of America before I came here was one of a melting pot, many peoples of different races and creeds living in one land, not in unceasing harmony; I was given an image and not a fairytale. After living here for a few months I quickly realized that America is not a melting pot but that it is more like a multilayered banana split, all the flavors in one glass but all separate.

Using the US racially segregated residential patterns to make his case, Denis Baraza, argues that even when laws prohibit segregation human beings are likely to gravitate towards those who look like them. Agree? Disagree? Discuss.

Tampon Taboos

Yes, this piece might be about tampons, but as has been pointed out to me several times, a taboo is something that has been known for a time, and then classified as a no-no for a specific community. Since we are in Africa, a taboo would have to be known for several generations and quarantined as a taboo through those generations likely backed up by some oral tradition about why-not. There, so we really cannot have tampon taboos, since tampons are fairly new phenomena around these parts.

More from Juliet Maruru as she talks about taboo, menstruation, tampons and sexuality.

Call To Boycott The Standard Newspaper!

Following the publication of articles by The Standard newspapers, that border on hate-speech against the gay people in Kenya, by homophobic writers and authors of the same, I have decided to boycott the paper indefinitely and its media wing, KTN. LGBTI supporters and all people of good will are being urged to do the same.

Read more from Denis Nzioka including a letter from GALK ( Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya)

Drunken Policeman Ruined my Christmas Holiday

Over the Christmas break last year, I was in Kenya visiting my family and friends after a ten-year stint away from home. I was also in Kenya to look into investment and business opportunities for myself and a group of business friends.

As I was driving around Kericho town on Christmas eve doing last minute gift shopping I came face to face with harassment by Kenya Police.

Dennis Langat writes on his misadventure of the Christmas break while visiting Kenya.