China in Kenya

On Wednesday April 20, 2011 HE Mr. Li Changchun a member of standing committee of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the People’s Republic of China gave a keynote address at the University of Nairobi. The key note address was titled; ‘Strengthening China-Africa Friendship & Co-operation to build a better tomorrow’.

As the name denotes the speech was intended for the whole of Africa. Considering that China has come up with a policy of engaging the whole of Africa under the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) initiative that predates early 2005.

So this was a major scoop for Kenya considering this kind of lectures would have perhaps been done in Egypt. Now that there is Uprising in the Arab world Kenya is now the reference point for China-Africa Co-operation.

Preparations

The run up to the Public lecture saw the University of Nairobi turned into a small ‘China Town’ of sorts. An exhibition was put up in record time from Monday April 18, 2011 to late Tuesday April 19, 2011. The exhibition: ‘As Others See US-China in the Eyes of African Artists’ was one of the best exhibitions put up by Chinese I have come to see to date.

It has around 30 paintings from 15 artists from all over Africa (Mainly the stations where China is HIGHLY present). Some of these countries and artists exhibited are Lesotho (Thakane Lerotholi), Ethiopia (Daniel Asfaw Tadesse), Zimbabwe (Tonely Ngwenya), Zambia (Gordon Shamulenge), Cape Verde (Bento Oliveira), Senegal (Amadou Camara Gueye), Tanzania (David Hezekia Mzuguno), Cameroon (Irene Mejane Epie), Tunisia (Mohammed Regaieg), Mauritius (Pascal Jean Francois Gaspard) and Kenya (a fine arts lecturer from KU).

D-Day

The public Lecture was commencing at 2.40pm and we had to be seated by 2pm. The security was tight but did not have the signature hullabaloo of the Americans. The Chinese perhaps a cognizant of this fact and do NOT like rubbing feathers in their hosts country. The University was awash with banners/posters going by ‘Warmly welcome HE Mr. Li Changchun to UON’ and ‘warmly welcome HE Mr. Li Changchun to CIUON’.

There were lots of Chinese in the Taifa hall auditorium taking photos with high end user camera’s (A sign of the high purchasing power of the Chinese in Africa).

At exactly 14.40hrs HE Li Changchun arrived to the hall accompanied by Hon. Helen Sambili (Minister for Higher Education, Science & Technology-Acting), Chinese Ambassador to Kenya, Chair of the University Council Prof. John Simba, The V.C. Prof. Magoha, PS Prof. Kiamba and the Chinese itinerary of HE Mr. Li.

The Principal CHSS Prof Mbeche made some opening remarks and welcomed HE Mr. Li to give the Keynote Speech.

Key Note Speech: Strengthening China-Africa Friendship & Co-operation to build a better tomorrow

HE Mr. Li began his speech by bowing to the audience and the high table. He then followed that his visit was meant to promote get together between the people of China and Africa. He extended the warm wishes of his people to the brotherly people of Kenya and Africa. He observed that Kenya was a friend in East Africa and a strong partner.

FOCAC

He noted that since the last presidents delegation in Beijing China had honored its end of commitments to Africa despite harsh economic times. In total China have over 500 projects in Africa worth around 30 billion.

He also mentioned that China and Africa have been able to maintain the strong bond because they have fought colonialism, advocated Independence. He noted that China was a country that respects countries despite their sizes (Large or small) and has been against bulling from western governments. China also advocates for equality and their relationship has provided tangible benefits to both parties.

HE Mr. Li noted that his country is looking for deep and pragmatic friendship from Africa and hinted that a pragmatic strategic relationship was on the works from Beijing.

He also suggested the following four points to Africa which they should cultivate with China;

1. Enhance Political Relationship with China

On this he encouraged and high level exchange between members of Kenyan Political Parties and Chinese Communist Party. On his visit to Kenya he mention of meeting the President, the Vice President and the Speaker of the National Assembly.

He invited the high level members in their respective parties to visit China and learn a thing or two from the Communist Party of China.

He also mentioned that his country China was looking to cultivate high level friendship among members of government, legislature and political parties.

2. Promote Economic being and reciprocity

China was joining Africa in mutual trade opportunities. Some of the areas China is looking to invest is Agriculture, Medical care etc. China was looking to promote development of Africa as a whole.

On his part Mr. Li shared with us that China was encouraging capable and trustworthy Chinese Companies to work in Africa. This he said will contribute to employment and economic well being to Africa.

China will also provide assistance to Africa in the following areas;

• Education
• Agriculture
• Healthcare
• Energy Conservation & Environmental Protection

During his last day in Kenya he will over see the signing of a concession loan worth 750,000 Chinese Ruan. Some of these monies will over see the construction of a referral hospital in Kenyatta University.

3. Encourage People to People Exchange

This he noted will foster and deepen friendship through cultural exchanges. He personally was going to encourage the interaction of Chinese youngsters, women, media, institutions of higher learning/academics etc with Africa.

He doubled the number of scholarship China had offered to Kenyan Students from 32 to 64 on this day.

On tourism he directed China TV, CCTV to produce more documentaries about Kenya especially the Rift Valley so that more Chinese tourists can come and visit the country. This he noted will contribute to lowering of the deficit that exist between Kenya-China.

4. Strengthen Communication (Consultation & Coordination)

This is to enable the developing country have one voice in the international community. He looked forward to more consultation especially from African Union, AU to come up with common stand points on the following issues;

• Sovereignty
• Security
• Territorial Integrity
• Food Security

Present Day China

He noted that the communist party will be celebrating its 90^th Anniversary. He noted under the 90 years the party had undergone revolution, contestation and reform (last 30years of reform & opening up).

Under the last 30 years he noted the party had adopted ‘Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’.

HE Mr. Li seemed to be a realist person in that he noted as much as people are talking about China being a super power there was a huge discrepancy in its GNP Vs Per Capita income. He briefly talked about the Delegates Coference in March and how china was adopting a new blue print for the next 5 years whose theme or backdrop is ‘scientific development’.

He noted that development of the world and that of China was interlinked and that no one should fear China as it is seeking a harmonious world of lasting peace and prosperity.

Youth

He correctly pointed out that most of the audience were young people and he quoted Mao Zedong ‘World belongs to you (youth) and us (old)’.

On a light note he said the youth present made him feel young and he was relishing the university years (40 years ago!).

He noted a lot of volunteers were coming to Africa and China was institutionalizing this and we should expect more Confucius Institutes in Africa.

Bottom Line

HE Mr. Li Changchun seemed to be genuine about his message he was delivering on behalf of his people. However, there was no Q&A which was removed at the last minute due to ‘time’ constraints.

NB: The lecture was given in Chinese with an interpreter translating it to English.

Li Changchun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China Central Committee's Political Bureau dances with students from Nairobi University, in Nairobi, Kenya, April 20, 2011. Li gave a speech at Nairobi University on Wednesday.(Xinhua/Zhao Yingquan)

Ask the Court Sessions

The ICC has launched a series of ‘Ask the Court’. A brilliant way to correct all the wrong information and misconceptions flying around as a result of lack of knowledge or so called ‘experts’ who go around giving the wrong facts about the ICC process.

Link: Kenya Situation-Ask the Court I

Link: Kenya Situation-Ask the Court II

Initial appearance at the ICC

In case you missed. Below are the videos of the Ocampo 6 initial appearance to the ICC.

This was the first time we were actually seeing a live ICC court in session and what stood out at the Pre-Trail Chamber no. 2 was the Presiding Court Judge Ekaterina. 

I will NOT be surprised if a child is named after her (going by the huge ratings the prosecutor enjoys in our country-Kenya.) Children, cars, wildlife (Cheetah) have been named after him! and going by the street talk most of the people I know were amazed by the way the presiding judge was firm yet fair.

Link: Ruto, Kosgey & Sang case: Initial appearance, 7 April 2011

Link: Muthaura, Kenyatta & Ali case: Initial appearance, 8 April 2011

The Prosecutor ‘Benched’

Those who know me will tell you that I love Capital Talk which airs on K24. Given the number of soaps in our television sets I had turned on to Kiss TV however they re-branded and things got from good to as worse as they could be!  

Hence my love affair with Capital Talk which is brought to our sitting rooms everyday at 8 and 10.30pm by the so able Jeff Koinange (a former CNN Africa reporter). Among the personalities he has interviewed are seating and former head of states, public personalities, businessmen, entrepreneurs and normal Kenyans with extra-ordinary stories to tell.

Last year, I remember Blogging about M. Wrong on the bench (one of my favorite last year not to mention former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo).

This year, I remove my hat to Jeff Koinange and his K24 crew for securing an interview with the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo.

This was done in the sidelines of the summons of the Ocampo 6 at The Hague i.e. the first week of April 2011.

It was note worthy that Jeff Koinange managed to give us a glimpse of the prosecutor we had NOT seen. The picture of the prosecutor I had observed was the emotionless, no none sense person but we got to know a bit about where he hails from Argentina if you missed. He was the prosecutor of the top military generals who had committed crimes in Argentina when South America competed with Africa in that respect. This story has radically changed with time as a result of good governance. Countries such as Brazil are the engines of economic growth in the world and offer alternative development paradigms.

The prosecutor told as a little bit about his background. His grandfather was a general in the Argentine army and his father a colonel. He also, spoke a bit on his stint as the lead prosecutor in Argentina military trials. He talked about how he was loathed by the whole country (including his own mother!) but later turned to be loved. Talk of being on the right side of history.

He also alluded that he is a man of passion. By this I mean he seeks the things that he has a passion for. Perhaps this can explain the jest in which he takes his work. This is because he has a passion for it!

He also talked of being an optimist. In that he sees the glass half full as opposed to being half empty.

The Prosecutor and Kenya

During the interview the prosecutor was under no illusion that he can single handedly change the country pointing out that as a prosecutor he cannot FIX our country. He did point out that it is up to Kenyan’s to decide who their leaders are and that all he was doing was prosecuting the person’s who had the greatest responsibilities for Post Election Violence (PEV) in 2008. He is doing this under the mandate of the international community. He was however, optimistic that though the ICC process he can contribute in the transformation process of Kenya to become a better country in a ‘small’ way.

Elections in Africa

On the Kenyan case he pointed out that this cases at The Hague are different form other in that this is about a disputed election. Unlike, the Bemba case (DR Congo) and Kony (Northern Uganda) which are about contested spaces (warlords).

Considering there are about 16 elections to be conducted in Africa in 2011-2012. It is imperative the international community gives clear signals that the habits that are synonymous with Africa incumbents of rigging elections and clinging to power are brought to an end.

So this is a chance for Africa to change.

The prosecutor also alluded to the fact that he would like to be invited to witness the swearing in ceremony of the president elected after the 2012 elections.

Kenya and Sovereignty

Some of the people leading for the trial of the so called Ocampo 6 have made their arguments around the issue of sovereignty. Arguing that cases brought to the ICC are for failed states.

In fact, the debate has been so intense as to come to the point of challenging the normal business of NGO’s, civic society and diplomatic mission.

However, when Jeff put this question to the prosecutor he was of the opinion that Kenya will show the world an example of how to go about in terms of a dispute. The prosecutor pointed out that Kenyan’s will come out of this process being winners. 

This is rightly so considering Kenya will be the first nation to question admissibility of the court among the Rome statute signatories.

ICC Cases

The prosecutor alluded to his thoughts and perspective on the cases he is prosecuting. When asked about his thoughts on the PEV cases. At first he thought it was a police operation when the chief mediator Kofi Annan presented him with the ‘Waki’ envelope.

However, the evidence pointed in to two distinct cases. These cases were the people who planned the violence in case of defeat and the people who reacted to the violence. Hence he built his case on this.

It is on his explanations that I fully understood how journalist Sang had come into the picture i.e. attending meetings and giving signal while broadcasting. This is opposed to what I had in mind i.e. propaganda.

When asked if he had any personal vendetta on the suspects he answered on the contrary. He said he did not have any grudge against anyone despite even Mr. Ruto calling the prosecutor ‘an evil man’. He talking of having shaken their hands and that he would be happy if they proved him wrong in court. Eluding to the fact that JUSTICE is NOT about putting people in JAIL. It is about TRUTH.

Retirement Plans

The prosecutor also hinted on his retirement plans given that his term at ICC as a prosecutor comes to an end in 2012. Some of his achievements will be living an institution in place with his office of 300 staff.

He pointed out that he could retire to Harvard.

However, in the mean time he is looking forward to great legal debates in court. Given the suspects have very good defense councils. 

The ICC Process and Kenya

Background

April was a month where all of us (Kenyan’s) were looking at The Hague. This was as a result of being bombarded with news of Ocampo 6 and their scheduled trip to The Hague. For those without a clue on what the phrase Ocampo 6 means. This are the 6 individuals that the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, ICC Mr. Louis Moreno Ocampo perceived to have the most to answer about the post election violence that grappled Kenya after the bungled polls of December 2007.

All of us saw on the television sets in early January 2008 as a Kenya almost went to the dogs as the two feuding parties ODM and PNU tried to settle their scores outside the ballot. It had to take the intervention of seasoned diplomat Kofi Annan, the immediate former UN Secretary General for cessation of hostilities between the two groups and the formation of a coalition government to take us through until 2012.

Under this process 4 agenda’s were agreed with the first being the cessation of hostilities and formation of a coalition government. Others were formation of Judge Waki and Kreigler commissions with the former required to look at the persons responsible for the injustices and the latter to determine what went wrong in the election process. Both this commissions gave their finding known with Waki commission and Kreigler commissions presenting their finding to the two principles. The Kreigler commission went to as far as to say it was impossible to determine the clear winner in the 2007 polls while the Waki commission presented a secret envelope to the chief mediator Kofi Annan. The suspects in the Waki envelope were to be either tried locally or taken through an international process. The other agenda was the enactment of a new constitution which is already in place.

International Criminal Court

In mid December 2010 the Prosecutor announces the 6 suspects that in his opinion bear the greatest responsibilities for the Post Election Violence and the death of over 1000 people and displacement of over 100,000 persons internally. The 6 suspects were William Ruto (then Minister of Higher Education), Uhuru Kenyatta (Dep. PM and Minister of Finance), Francis Muthaura (Head of Civil Service), Henry Kosgey (then Industrialization Minister and head of ODM), Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali (Post Master General and former head of Police) and Sang (a little known journalist).

The announcement of this names sent shock waves to the highest echelons of the Kenyan government. Since most of the parliamentarians when presented with a local judiciary mechanism thought that the ICC would never come calling in and ‘IF’ it did the it would take ‘light years’ for the process to commence. Furthermore, most were of the opinion that the Waki envelope did not contain their names and at most the responsibilities of Post Election Violence would be weighed by the principals.

However, the prosecutor had pulled a fast one on them! He was not going after ‘Political Responsibility’. He was going after those who planned attacks in certain parts of the country and executed those plans. He was also going for the jugular of the people who responded to these attacks by organizing counter attacks.

The Administration hits backs!

When it clearly sunk in to one part of the coalition government that The Hague process was NOT vague as had earlier been assumed. That part of the coalition started to plan a counter offensive to this route.

This came through the botched appointment of Chief Justice. An episode that saw the president ‘eat’ humble pie by taking back four constitutional nominations. This was done early in February 2011 before a scheduled AU head of state conference. This episode almost saw the split of the coalition.

The other was through the infamous ‘shuttle diplomacy’. The vice President of the Republic flew on the tab of tax payers to different capitals of the world to woo major players in the world to support an AU sponsored motion to deferrer the ICC case for 1 year on account of expected election in 2012.

When the shuttle diplomacy hit a snag the government went to the last option of contesting jurisdiction of the Post Election Violence cases at the ICC.

Perhaps it is on this account the prosecutor instigated early summons of the suspects to the ICC on April 6-7, 2011.

Count Down to The Hague

As the D-Day approached 4 of the Ocampo 6 engaged in a series of Public rallies and cum Prayer meetings. Perhaps when it dawned on them that The Hague had become inevitable.

However, some of these rallies had what Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova called ‘dangerous speeches’ that could see the recurrence of violence.

As The Hague date approached the government became disorganized in terms of the approach to take to save the six high level persons.

However, what came as a shocker was that 40 MP’s were accompanying the six to The Hague.

D-Day I (April 6, 2011)

This was the fist we were seeing of the ICC in action. On this day saw the appearance of William Ruto, Henry Kosgey and Sang at the ICC chamber 2.

What stood out for me was the sheer timeliness (the three were warned for 3 minutes delay) efficiency and clarity of the court.

We also got to know the defence council of the suspects, the court registry, the prosecutor team and the judges.

We also witnessed drama and side shows of Kenyan MP’s who accompanied the 6 to The Hague. (Mind you most of the TV station had crew at The Hague reporting LIVE!). This lead to a joke of Nation TV was doing county edition aka Hague County (48^th County)!

D-Day II (April 7, 2011)

On day 2 of the ICC we saw the defence council of the other 3 suspects. However, saddened to learn this group (nick-named by the Kenyan Press-All the Presidents Men!) had few if none Kenyan’s in their defense council.

Reflections/Questions Arising

Now that we have a Hague process going on it is time to have a local mechanism to try the ground soldiers of the post election violence. To out as one member of Bunge la Mwananchi put it. The Hague Process is like a rabbit it would be over without us knowing it serving a Western kind of Justice. We need a Tortoise mechanisms which will lead to trying of small perpetrators which will take time become an example to local folk not to be used and misused.

We need to know what the government was conceding during the negotiation for so called shuttle diplomacy. Something MUST give and the public ought to be informed on concessions made for support of Kenyan deferral at the UN Security Council.

A mechanism needs to be adopted for future shuttle diplomacy mission. A clear guideline should be tabled and at first instance diplomatic missions in the country need to be the first reference points for such endeavors.

Walking Nation

Everyone’s lips are fixated to the rising cost of living that we are experiencing in this country. A lot of this has to do with rising cost of petroleum products which have hit 3 digits from Kshs ninety something to over a hundred Kenya Shillings. To add insult to injury the country may be experiencing another drought. From where I sit the government has been requesting a report on the impact of drought on food prices.

However, what you don’t fail to notice while coming to work or going home is the sheer number of persons who are walking to and from work. So one has to ask has this country become Cuba or is it under an embago of sorts?

I was fortunate enough to attend a public forum organised by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA-Kenya) which centered on effects of petroleum pricing regulations in Kenya.

Members/ speakers presents were cross cutting along the value chain of petroleum products from middle boys of the industry i.e. Petroleum Institute of East Africa (PIEA), regulators i.e. Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), independent petroleum suppliers and consumers/consumer organization i.e. the Consumer Federation of Kenya (COFEK).

MIA were the big industrial players (BP, NOC, etc) nevertheless, one was able to get a picture on how the industry operates. Perhaps of interest to every one present was how the ERC was going about its business of setting up prices of petroleum products.

One of the things to note is that ERC mandate to control prices came into force in December 15, 2010. However, since its mandate came into operation people presents were of the view that they have not experienced an adjustment of prices downwards. The ERC was of the opinion it is too early to start judging its performance.

During the Q&A session we wanted to know how pump prices were arrived at and from the pump prices in early December of Kshs 91. Here is the breakdown;

	Kshs	KShs	%
Landing Price Mombasa		49
Taxes		29.85	60%
Margins (Marketers)	6
(Retailers)	3
		9	11%
Transport		4	5%
Total		91.85

From the above you will notice the government gets a huge chunk in taxation. So the question is if the treasury would reduce the amount of taxation?

Well, the treasury according to ERC officials present pointed out that it would want to know where it can recover that amount from!

From my own perspective I tend to think that should this continue (Read: Drought, floods and food. An opinion piece from Paul Krugman) then come 2012 a lot of legislators are going home or anything in between is anyone’s guess!
Presentations:
Energy Regulation Commission Presentation: Examining the Rationale & Effects of Petroleum Pricing Regulation in Kenya (Part 1 and Part 2)

U.S. Ambassador Michael Ranneberger at MindSpeak

It came as a pleasant surprise to me to know that Ambassador Michael Ranneberger was to speak at MindSpeak. Being the first sitting diplomat from another country (in this case the USA) invited to speak at the business club meeting. But I came to realize the ambassador is a man of firsts in many fields.

The ambassador started his presentation by shifting our mindset of the fact that by him being the ambassador of US in Kenya he is then by implication the CEO of the mission in Kenya. Giving a few statistics of his portfolio, He has 1500 employees under him, 500 Americans and 1000 Kenyans and that the mission handles about US dollars 1 Billion which flow to Kenya through the various agencies his country has in Kenya. 

Ambassador Ranneberger was not shy to speak about his previous engagements which you can say have influenced him to the ambassador he is today. Surprising is the fact that he had not anticipated a career in the diplomatic corps and that he was going to post a letter in the post office that he saw an advert to do a test to join the corps.

He had been studying his PhD in history and was about to do his dissertation and then as he put it become a teacher in one of the colleges.  He also shared with us that when he started his stint in the diplomatic corps he was a shy person and could not fathom talking to a group of people (like the house full MindSpeak).

He also hinted on his style of doing things in that he does not read theological books but relies mostly from his experience and that his style is both positive and confident.

Pointing on the time when the Post Election Violence was occurring. One of the things at his disposal was flying out his staff BUT he didn’t take that option. What he did was to rely on his instinct and experience, assembled his staff or troops if you like and told them that the situation would be over in a couple of months.

He also talked briefly on the role the US played behind the scenes to resolve the crisis. Pointing out on how the principals were a taken by the dailies headline which ran across all spectrum of newspapers in Kenya ‘Save our Country’.

Being an American citizen he did not hesitate to talk about his country and values. Talking about what is going on in the States ‘Tea Party Movement’ and the electoral swings they experience. Also pointing out that American values are always consistent what may change are the tactics or Strategy.

He also talked of how he had met the President during his Chief of Mission Conference last year and how the President is abreast on what is happening in the country.

He also talked on his definitive speech he was to give on 25/01/2011 at the American Camber of Commerce dinner in Kenya.

Ambassador Ranneberger also talked briefly on the three major programmes his government is involved in Kenya.

• PEPFAR US dollars (580 million) Largest amount spent in a single country the whole world
• Democracy and Governance initiatives i.e. Youth Programmes
• Environment and Agriculture i.e Feed the future programme (Signed in 2010 at KARI)

US Interests in Kenya

View Larger Map

One of the things we like the US ambassador is that he is forthright and this was NOT an exception. He candidly pointed out the US interests in Kenya which are;

1. Democracy and Stability (As is the US goal any part of the world)
2. Development
3. Regional Stability (Pointing out Somalia & Sudan). Mind you Sen. John Kerry was in Southern Sudan during the referendum to secede from the North
4. Counter Extremism

However he did not talk much about China which has been making in roads in this region and South Korea which I have noticed is also coming along.

However, during the Q&A he did point out Robert B. Zoellick who brought a new paradigm to Washington of NOT viewing Beijing as a Competitor in the World stage but as an ally during his tenure as the US Trade Representative before joining World Bank.

So he welcomed the positive competition that China is currently giving them. Noting that US ceased from doing infrastructure projects he does not mind China assisting African countries in developing their infrastructure. However, he cautioned in passing that he had observed NOT many African were involved in these projects, so the issue of Kenyans gaining from these cooperations was minimal.

Youth Issue

The ambassador talked about why the state dept is investing in the youth alluding to the fact that the youth are the future.
Hence programs that target interacting with the youth have gained traction in the state dept with the ambassador present on the social networks.

Here are some of the snippets from the ‘Hope for the future speech’ which was delivered on Tuesday 25/01/2011 at the American Chamber of Commerce dinner where the ambassador was the keynote speaker. I consider this speech definitive because it has lots of stats which are credible considering the US sponsors quite a number of Statistical undertakings in the country.

“President Obama has a strong interest in developing the leadership skills of young people, and last year held his first Young Africa Leaders Forum.  He has charged young people to be agents of change and to “stand up for democracy and transparent government.”  Our $45 million “Yes Youth Can” program will empower hundreds of thousands of youth to participate in the development of their country, and expand their peaceful participation in the democratic process. 

Our work with youth supports the initiatives of young people themselves.  Importantly, the National Youth Forum works across ethnic and political lines with a common agenda to promote peaceful reform. We welcome the National Youth Forum’s efforts to establish County Youth Forums in every county.  We are establishing a $10 million youth-led and youth-owned Youth Innovate for Change Fund that will provide youth with opportunities to access capital for economic development”.  

“Over half of Kenya’s population lives in poverty, living on less than $2 per day.  Kenya is ranked in the bottom 20% of countries in the UNDP Human Development Index.  Real unemployment among the two-thirds of the population which are under 35 stands at nearly 50 percent’’

“Support for the empowerment of youth to expand their participation in the democratic system and to assist them to develop businesses to create new jobs”.

Agriculture

"Kenya has recently been designated a focus country for two of President Obama’s global initiatives.  Through the Feed the Future Initiative, working with the Government of Kenya we have affirmed a commitment to achieve significant agricultural development objectives, including alleviating the suffering of the over 2 million Kenyans who are chronically food insecure.  Last September at KARI, I announced an initial USG investment of $29 million to support Kenya’s agricultural strategy through the Feed the Future initiative.  We will also continue to provide humanitarian assistance to combat drought".

"Real success in the agricultural sector, however, will require the GOK’s commitment to the political and economic reform agenda, including land reform, a strengthened fight against corruption, restructuring and/or elimination of the 34 agriculture-related parastatals, including the NCPB, and removing protectionist tariffs and import licenses that increase the price of basic foodstuffs to the poor".

The writer is an intern at Ministry of Agriculture, Planning Department and contributes/one of the admins of NairobiNow.

Why Democracy? Film Festival Kenya 2010

I have been doing some of the posts that I was not able to do in 2010. So it came as a surprise as to why I had not blogged about the Why democracy? Film festival which was held in Kenya for the first time in November.

The exact dates for the festival were November 8-12, 2010 and the festival was held at Alliance Francaise. 

The festival which is a global documentary project was brought to us (the public) by Steps International with the partnership of Ford Foundation, Solidarity Network and other partners. 

At the opening of the festival Joyce Nyairo, the Program officer of Ford Foundation explained why Ford Foundation had partnered with Solidarity network to present the films to the public. Some of this reasons are to start the discussion on democracy, try to empower us to grasp some basic concepts on democracy through the screen, and to create awareness on this issues. 

WhyDemocracy.net

This festival presented some exceptional, challenging and unconventional stories from around the world and how different communities in the world perceive democracy or absence of it.

Each of the 10 long films presented prompted to ask a question about democracy.

1. Can  terrorism destroy democracy?-Taxi to the dark side
2. Who would you vote for as president of the world?-Please vote for me
3. Are women more democratic than men?-Iron Ladies of Liberia
4. What would make you start a revolution?-Looking for a Revolution
5. Why bother to vote?-Egypt: We are watching you
6. Can politicians solve climate change?-Campaign! The Kawasaki Candidate
7. Is Democracy good for everyone?-In search of Gandhi
8. Are dictators ever good?-Dinner with the president
9. Is God democratic?-Bloody Cartoons
10. Who rules the world?-For God, Tsar and the Fatherland

Useful Resources

• Why democracy website
• Ten documentaries 
• Short films

2010 Kwani? Literature Festival

Kwani? Literature Festival 2010 was one of those capping events for me in the year 2010. This festival was held from December 12-17, 2010 in various venues in Nairobi.

The festivals theme was 'Tell Us What Happened' and comprised of lectures from literary giants Ngugi wa Thiongo (chief guest of the festival) and Mĩcere Gĩthae Mũgo both professors, conversations from writers from all over Africa, panel readings of some of the works of writers at the festival and literature workshops.

The theme ‘tell us what happened’ was an attempt by Kwani? To stir conversation and deep reflection as to what happened in the 80’s and 90’s now considered a literary temporal black hole in Kenya and East Africa in general.

However what stood out for me in this festival was the mixture that presented itself of both old and young literature practitioners. I doubt that it was pure coincidence given the fact that Ngugi senior and junior were in attendance and at one point were put into a lively debate by none other than John Sibi Okumu

Day I: Festival Opening

Day one of the festival took place at Kifaru Garden’s home of Kwani?

Some of the highlights for me apart from the impeccable Gardens were performances by Mshai Mwangola Githongo, performances by Ed Pavlic and a first glimpse of the prodigy Mukoma wa Ngugi aka Ngugi wa Thiongo’s son. They say an apple does not fall from the tree. In this case they were spot on!

I also heard a reading from Robert Serumaga and boy wasn’t he on fire. Now I know why he has President Museveni security apparatus has beef with him. This is because he call it as he see it.

The evening reading by the moon light, born fire and paraffin lit garden surely brought the best out of Binyavanga Wainaina. Reading from his ‘yet to be published’ up coming book as he put it. He left me in stitches with stories about self while growing up. Taking shots at powerful individuals in a funny way such as the Moi milk and talking of his rebellious youth days when he used to spot a meow meow hair style.

The evening ended with some music from Atemi Oyungu and a cameo by Eric Wainaina who was in the house…oops in the Garden!

Featured Writers at the festival.
Source: Kwani? 

Day 2:

Day two of the festival was held at Kenya National Museum amphitheatre aka Louis Leakey Auditorium and so were most of the events hence forth.

Having missed the first writers in conversation (Rebeka Njau & Binyavanga Wainaina) due to daily engagements at Kilimo I was in time for Western African Writers in conversation. Where Okey Ndibe had a time of his life trying to explain whether the Nigerians are up to taking over the universe given the implosion of Nigeria aka Nollywood in our TV sets!

The other writers in conversation were between Ngugi wa Thiongo and Mukoma wa Ngugi. Others may question the veracity of the methods used by John Sibi Okumu to get the job of facilitating the conversation between father and son but in the end of it we got to know why Ngugi wa Thiongo prefers to use mother tongue to write his works as opposed to English.

Day 3:

I managed only to catch the public lecture done by Micere Mugo at the University of Nairobi and unlike other Public Lectures this was unique. Am sure this is expected of a poet and playwright. Her public lecture had interludes of performances.

Day 4:

I missed this due to other engagements but day 4 was set aside for a Public Lecture by Ngugi wa Thiongo

Day 5:

This day had an array of activities but not to be missed was Philip Ochieng reflecting on politics and writing in the context of his iconic work ‘The Kenyatta Succession’.

Here I got a glimpse of the man behind the most loved column on Sunday Nation.

Day 6:

The festival ended with the launch of Kwani? 06

Useful Links:

1. Kwani? Website
2. Kwani? Lit Fest