TJRC vicechair Betty Murungi resigns over Kiplagat controversy

The Nation reports that human rights lawyer Betty Murungi has resigned as the vicechair of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. From the report, Murungi will continue serving in the commission until until "we have resolved or concluded our internal processes regarding these matters."

Excerpts from her weekend OpEd published here. Discuss.

What we are reading - Monday March 29 2010

A list of the weekend's reading. Top of our list are readings on the Sudanese election.

Write to us, and let us know what books and articles that you are reading. editor at kenyaimagine dot com

The East Africa Community: in our hearts and minds

Oscar Wilde once described economists as people who know the price of everything but the value of nothing. The same might be said of the politicians at the centre of the East African Community’s seemingly inexorable journey to the promised land of monetary and political union.

Like most other currency unions, this is a political enterprise. That in itself is not a bad thing. Dr. Gerard Lyons, Chief Economist at Standard Chartered, observes that politics was the driving force behind European monetary integration, which, despite the current problems with Greece, has been pretty successful.

According to Dr. Lyons, historically there have been four types of monetary unions. The first category has solid political unions that have ensured the monetary union's success. Examples include German Unification at the end of the last century; the longer lasting Italian Monetary Union which followed political unification in 1861; and the US Federal Reserve, established in 1913 as a decentralized system.

Patrick Gathara on understanding the East Africa community, and looking to the future.

Video: Headlines in Kenya's 50-year History

A four-part series, this hour-long documentary, Headlines in History, chronicles post-colonial Kenya by reviewing the stories that made headlines in the newspapers of the Nation Media Group.

Watch clips here. 

Kibaki Addresses the Pan African Media Conference

Yesterday, the President spoke at the Pan African Media conference in Nairobi, the first of its kind. Published below are his remarks. Comments? The Kenyan media has, over the last several years, had unprecedented freedoms both in access to information and on reporting privileges. As consumers of news, in your opinion and observation, what gains has the Kenyan media made? What are their shortcomings?

Go here.

Dear India

Dear India, I remember the first time I came to see you. You were enchanting through my eyes. It was a long journey to get to you. I was shivering when I finally met you with goose pimples all over my chocolate-brown skin. You embraced me with smiles and you took your time, holding my hands while showing me everything you had. I was captivated by the silky feel of your children’s hair, that jet black curly mane falling from the full napes of their neck and lying on their shoulders.

In her inaugural piece for Kenya Imagine, Tracy Nnanwubar charms us with her narrative on living in India.

Dear Everyone, Africa is Not a Country

We have written about this on our pages before. You have probably visited the blog Africa is a Country? One of our readers, first time writer, sent in  this: 

I honestly do not think it is entirely an ignorance issue as no one in their right minds can confidently argue that for instance, multi Pulitzer Prize winning author, Thomas Friedman does not know that Africa is a continent. It appears to be a respect issue.

A progress report: Tales on how much remains to be done

This is the third of our three Open Threads for this year's International Women's Day. In this one we ask that you reflect on your assessment of areas where a lot needs to be done to achieve greater equality and justice for women. This will tie in well with the theme of this year's International Women's Day, Equal Rights, equal opportunity: Progress for All. We prefer that you use actual anecdotes to illustrate your points.

There are no instructions for style or length, but we ask that you demonstrate in that story sufficient evidence of where this is happening, and maybe even supply a suggested solution. Try to place the stories in their context and to say what, if anything is being done to improve things.

Everyone's invited, playwrights, writers of fiction and non-fiction, raconteurs or people like you and me.
Let's start with Faith Oneya's Fresh Paint , which everyone must read. A story of a girl, and the fresh paint of coffins.

Articles wanted, submit yours.

International Women's Day

In commemoration of this 100^th International Women's Day, we'll have three Open Threads. This one, for general comments, and the two linked below. We ask that you send through comments your contributions to these threads. We also look forward to publishing anything else you will choose to submit, especially on women in prison, women at work, women in politics, women in business, women away from home, women in education, women in families, etc.

Do you believe women have made useful steps towards equality? What barriers do you believe there are left to conquer? 

100 prominent Kenyan women and their contribution to the world

Roll call. We'll start the list by declaring it open to women from all walks of life, and from all sectors of production. So please put in here the names of business leaders, politicians, writers, artists, civil rights activists.

Who makes your list? Here goes

Open Thread - Polygamy, Poverty and Mugabe

Our Open Thread has been pretty ad hoc, but as we continue to work on the launch of our new site, we are now going to make this session a lot more frequent. So do send along topics of interest. editor [at] kenyaimagine [dot] com

Yesterday's Open Thread comprises polygamy, a study on a positive trend towards eradicating poverty in Africa and a 1980 article we found on Mugabe.

Review: Say You Are on of Them

I saw this review on Mashada blogs, and was compelled to republish it. I have read a few horrid reviews about the book, but mostly good ones. Dorcas found Akpan's anthology powerful. She says:

I was enslaved to Akpan’s expertise in building unforgettable characters. No sooner had I put the book down in emotional exhaustion than I realized that his characters have etched themselves onto my mind and were present in every waking thought. I picked it up again in a love-hate relationship that only comes with special books. These juvenile survivors became part of me. I found myself willing them to run faster to escape death. I shrunk deeper into my pillows as an arm reached to grab them. I held my breath and clamped my lips, sending them the willpower to remain quiet as the enemy prowled. I closed my eyes to protect these children from what they were about to witness. I became a silent witness to their afflictions.

Do send in your book reviews. I will accept them gladly.

One Kenya: you can go wherever you like

Amir Ibrahim looks at national politicians and their relative success in having political rallies outside their home boundaries. It is hard to argue that these visits would translate into votes without partnerships with resident politicians. However, Ibrahim says that this is a positive movement towards national cohesion. Thoughts?

So we have progress? No doubt, and we should be grateful that politicians can increasingly go into ethnic zones where they know the majority view is opposed to them and where they are unlikely to make much in political mileage in an election. It is especially encouraging that even as politicians wage their wars and struggle against each other, the Kenyan people are increasingly tolerant and that even a politician under siege can expect both peace and the public’s ear when he visits any part of the country.

Big Milk Cheese

A few days ago we saw on the news tons of milk going down the drain [Citizen TV video]. Literally. On our pages, Patrick Gathara takes a look at the Kenyan milk sector: our consumption, production and distribution. His findings, while interesting, are not surprising. We produce a lot of milk and drink more than milk than any country in the developing world (save for Mauritania and Mongolia). So what's the problem? Find out:

But there is a more fundamental problem for the Ministry and the KDB. If, as the Export Processing Zones Authority asserts, the total inbuilt processing capacity is 2.5 million litres a day, why are milk processors struggling to cope with a surge of just over half of that? To blame the entire crisis on a single machine, on milk powder whose consumption is a tiny fraction local production, or on overstretched dairies reluctance to absorb more milk simply smacks of scape-goating.

The truth is the Kenyan milk crisis is largely as a result of long-term inefficiencies and weaknesses in the sector. It was entirely foreseeable, and therefore preventable, or at the very least, its worst effects could have been prevented. To find the real culprits, the Minister, like his minions at the KDB and NKCC, just has to take a long hard look in the mirror.

Let Us All Stand for Equality

Sokari Ekine continues to update us on the Ugandan Gay Bill. And she argues that we must protect the rights of all. Even if the death penalty is taken off the table, Ekine shows that the bill will still violate human rights. And what happens to those Ugandan activists who have been on the frontline? What happens to them?

At particular risk if the bill is passed, in any form, are the frontline defenders like Kasha, Frank Mugisha of SMUG and Bishop Christopher Ssenyonjo who has long been a ray of hope and light in the Ugandan church. [The Bishop took part in the Sexuality and Social Justice Portrait and Testimonies project at the 2007 WSF - listen here]

Fresh Paint

The smell of fresh paint reminds me of a fresh coffin. I cannot stand it. It hits my nose and I step back from the door, slapped by the vicious hand of a painful memory. My face clouds and my eyes water slightly.

Powerful stuff, this, from Faith Oneya. 

Office of the Public Defender

Kituo Cha Sheria, the oldest legal aid and human rights organization established in 1973 is shocked to realize that the Public Defender's office has been removed from the Proposed Draft Constitution released by the Committee of Experts on 23rd February 2010. This removal comes after a recent article of the costing for provision of legal aid services having been done by the Ministry of Finance.

More. 

A new constitution this year

Even the most dyed-in-the-wool pessimist might now begin hoping that Kenya could have a new constitution before the year’s end. Op-ed pages in most Kenyan publications indicate a general enthusiasm for what has come our way from the latest Naivasha process, with some hailing it as modern and progressive.

More... .

An Open Letter to You

I write to you, yes you. You who say that you are a friend, but act a foe. I speak to you today because I would like for you to understand me. I speak to you because I can no longer remain silent. I tell you this because if you were in my shoes you would be more open to who I am. Unfortunately, you are not in my shoes. And I do not know that you will ever accept me. I do not accuse you, but I feel we do not live in peace as we ought to. I know you understand that I am broken by this. If only I could be what you want me to be, but that too would be ... would you if you were me?


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