(Pic:Amazon.co.uk) The Book by Michela Wrong has cause trepidation among booksellers in Nairobi.
This is a open letter by Philo Ikonya about the return of fear in Kenya. I wonder what the bookshops are afraid of – or what we should be afriad of. I am yet to hear of any bookshop being persecuted for reading the book Its our turn to eat by Michela Wrong about John Githongo’s ecapades as he blew the whistle on one of Kenya’s biggest scandals.
I want to say, that when I find it, I will buy it. When I buy it, I will read it. I will read it wherever I can – in public and private and I will not hide. I am a firm believer that we do not need to fight the same wars that Kenyans had to fight in the eighties and the nineties for our freedom to read what we want and say what we want.
I dare anyone to try and prove me otherwise by curtailing my right to read the book. I will not hide the book. I will not be afraid of anyone.
Don’t be afraid to be seen. Don’t be afraid to be heard. Don’t be afriad to know.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN: THE REASON
Speaking to me, a bookseller explained that the considerations that he has to make are commercial. “Why should I insist on selling a book like this one that will make me a couple hundred thousand shillings, and risk being sued for millions by one – or more – politicians who would claim to be libelled?”
____________ The Letter by Philo Ikonya____________
Dear All,
I am sharing this in order to seek advice, opinions, ideas of actions, thoughts even on the law in Kenya as it stands about books ….please let’s think together online and share and act.
John Githongo, who inspired the book, Its our turn to eat
I am aghast, and so is International PEN Kenya Chapter, at the return of fear in our bookshops and bookshelves both at home and in our streets. It is not acceptable in a country in which we have so vehemently defended our various freedoms that John Githongo’s book-
Our Turn To Eat By Michela Wrong, whose genesis we all know so well and a book which has content that tells us so much more about our quagmire in graft should be a
hush hush affair in terms of availability for those who would like to read it. After all, if it is a matter of spilling beans.. both the beans and the broth have been spilt all over the world… who is still feeling overly sensitive even about the BBC tapes.
Michela Wrong, British journalist who authored the book
This book must be easily available to all Kenyans if only just to see the different angles of the cancer of corruption that remains the single most important factor that requires our focus so that we can have even a ‘good’ constitution. The days of fear of expression are long gone. The book should be available and those who want to take legal action can do so….
I visited a friend who had it and would not disclose in which place it was available for fear of consequences even to me who is not a stranger to the person. I have seen a news item backpage of Daily Nation recently telling us that bookshops are afraid to stock this book for one main reason- past legal suits that cost them up to the amounts of 10m for apparently stocking books that they say defame, almost always politicians.
I am not going to buy this book secretly from a shelf or from a friend and am not going to pretend that I do not have it in my house when and if I do because that will be abdicating my space to fear. I will not make do with reviews and even serialisations…I will not be afraid of reading it on a bus as someone else told me. What I want is to see this book being freely sold in Kenya. If the book cannot be placed on bookshelves we would like to know why and who said so. Someone owes us an explanation and we deserve it as much as those whom I saw demanding apologies and taking rather stern stands on an explanation about why the Standard was raided on 2nd March (JM’s day) three years ago.
sincerely,
Philo Ikonya
President
International PEN Kenya Chapter
alkags
March 5th, 2009 at 5:06 am
Discussions on this on Facebook:
Sharon Murekio at 2:35pm March 4
There are a lot of ethical issues surrounding such books, which make
allegations not proven in court. Everyone is innocent unless proven
guilty in a court of law. I would read the book, but as a journalist
it is a one sided story, that should not be taken as gospel truth.
Githongo should have walked the whole way, not absconded his journey.
His claims that his life was at risk are at say the least overly
dramatic from the little I have read from excerpts. You are welcome to
prove otherwise. But, all in all, it is a case of too little too late.
So what, now that the book is out? His motives and Wrong’s are to say
the least very unclear.
Wallace Kantai at 3:59pm March 4
Sharon, all books by definition are ‘one sided stories’, unless the
books are written by committee, and even then. If Michela Wrong saw it
fit to write about African corruption through the lens of Kenya and
Githongo’s story, what’s to stop another journalist writing about the
innocence of politicians through the story of the framing of Kiraitu
Murungi and David Mwiraria?
On another note, I have spoken to a bookseller (the one who sold me
Ms. Wrong’s book), and he was successfully sued for 5 million bob by
Nicholas Biwott for selling the Iain West book. So backside covering
is not an inauspicious motive.
Sharon Murekio at 9:45pm March 4
Wallace Kantai, I urge you to look at, the implications, of this and
other such books, on our society very broadly. In my earlier comment,
I talked about ETHICS. And in this context communication Ethics. All
books are biased, because it is one viewpoint. For a media illiterate
society such as ours, such books can result in dire consequences. The
excerpts of the book published in the Nation painted a whole community
in very negative light as a result of a rogue few. Following the
recent tribal fueled post election violence is this really the time to
fan passions, stoke tribal hatred and re-open healing wounds?
That book is a waste of space.
Wallace Kantai at 9:52pm March 4
Nah, Sharon, I respectfully disagree. Maybe the fault lies with
Nation, for excerpting sections of the book that paint the wrong
picture. One cannot avoid referring to the Gikuyu in the book because
the whole premise of the book (which I agree with, because I’m part
Gikuyu and I have had appeals made to me on the basis of my tribal
affiliation) is that Githongo was such a shock to the system because
he rejected both tribal and familial ‘loyalties’, to expose the system
for what it really was, and is. Before you condemn the book wholesale,
get your hands on a copy and read just two chapters – ‘The Call of the
Tribe’ and ‘The Making of the Sheng Generation’. If you really cannot
find the book and still want to take me up on my offer, I can send you
the PDF’d version.
Wallace Kantai at 9:55pm March 4
BTW, Sharon, I do not discount the role of ethics in this and other
national debates. The problem is not that this book was published; it
is that not more (with perhaps differing viewpoints) are getting their
moment in the sun. If we’re not willing to tell our own stories (and
we don’t, except in bars and through forwarded e-mails and SMSs) then
let’s not complain if other people tell them for us.
Sharon Murekio at 7:14am March 5
I’d rather be debating about where the perpetrators should be
prosecuted in the Hague or locally than discussing whether the book
should be sold or not. And any who it is the right of the book
retailers to refuse “right of admission” to that book. Thank God for
that. Kenyans do not need to read a book to know we are a corrupt
country. What Kenyans need are concrete solutions to solve their
problems. Githongo let us down and this book will not make up for it.
Andrea Bohnstedt
April 21st, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Sharon, I’m quite surprised that you call the book ‘a waste of space’ and writing it off without even reading it – then you really have no case criticizing it. That’s just methodologically unsound. If you’d rather debate where the perpetrators should be prosecuted, I don’t see what’s stopping you – that’s hardly an either-or issue. But if you read the book, you’ll find that there’s a close connection between corruption, tribalism and the post-election violence. This is not a book about the details of corrupt procurement deals. After all, most of those details are already in the public domain.It’s an analysis how stealing suddenly becomes ok if it’s ‘us’ doing the stealing. A country’s story can never be told by just one voice, that’s true, but literally years of meticulous research went into this book.
So far, I don’t see much healing in Kenya, instead, I think most of the difficult questions are being swept under the carpet again. If you argue that Kenya is media illiterate – and I wouldn’t go that far, I’d argue that Kenya is largely a non-book-reading country – then the book can’t do much harm since nobody picks it up. I wish more people would read it rather than read generic self help books, get-rich-quick books, or religious self-help-get-rich-quick books. No doubt Kenyans know about corruption. But I often get the impression it’s only ‘corruption’ if it’s the others who steal. If it’s ‘us’, it’s looking after our own. Steal a phone and you get beaten to death. Steal a couple of hundred million USD, you get hero-worshipped and get to run for Westlands MP.
Sharon Murekio
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:07 am
Andrea, I appreciate that you feel so strongly about this book.
No Kenyan needs to read the book to know that corruption, tribalism and the post election violence are related. It is our blood that soaked the ground. We know.
No Kenyan needs to read the book to know that people in power rob us blind with each presidential term. We are the ones living in poverty and struggling to live above the poverty line.
No Kenyan needs to read the book to know that the thieves among our political elite are worshipped. We are the worshippers.
This is the life I and other Kenyans live and breath every day.
Githongo was charged with the responsibility of doing right by Kenyans. He found something and got on the next jet to Europe to ‘write’ a book. He should have stayed and fought the corruption and tribalism he so gallantly speaks of right here in Kenya. Not gone off to Europe to have a book written. This is characteristic of many African “leaders” They take off when the heat gets too much leaving the common man to suffer and we are supposed to celebrate them when they come back with a book?
Andrea did it over occur to you what a disappointment Githongo was Kenyans?
Kenyan will not heal with such books in the public domain, perpetuating that one tribe or GEMA if you prefer is robbing the country. It is individuals that steal, not a tribes.
alkags
April 23rd, 2009 at 4:38 am
Sharon,
It is my view that you are right. To a point.
It is true that Kenyans do not need to be told of the evils bedeviling the country. It is also true that they are suffering for those exact reasons.
I do not, however, agree that the book is a bad idea. The documentation of a country’s history is crucial for its growth – because in the larger scheme of things when you think about it, Kenya is going through its growth pains. Our democracy is growing, albeit cantankerously and with anguish. I dare say that all democracies do go through this and some worse than others. Kenya isn’t among the worst.
I also don’t know that Githongo had much of a choice. The forces that he is up against are very heavy and strong. It would have been a greater loss for Kenyans to lose him to an “accident” or unfortunate “car jacking” – and both you and I know that that is where he could have ended up, easily.
I submit to you that you are on the wrong platform criticizing the book without reading it. Even if it offends your sensibilities – as it sounds like it does – the book is required reading for one such as yourself, who is likely to drive the agenda of this country in some direction in coming days. As Andrea, would have it, it would be methodologically unsound to fail to read it and yet critique it.
Andrea, I agree with much of what you say. I fail to agree though that not much healing is happening. healing is not a simple or straight forward thing. I don’t know that we are going to feel much change in the next decade, to be honest. With corruption, sure. But I think that that is the purview of the citizen, not the politician. I mean, the citizen is given “kitu kidogo” to elect his leader, isn’t it a given that the leader will take kitu kidogo to recover his investment? Such endemic cultures as racism, tribalism that have taken decades and centuries to eradicate will not be finished in a day or a month. It will take years, decades even, perhaps even a generation.
Kags
Andrea Bohnstedt
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:38 am
Sharon,
Here’s an interesting recent interview with Michela, with a comment on why he decided to stay in London: http://www.transparency.org/publications/newsletter/2009/march_2009/interview. That’s in addition to the sections in the book that also address this.
Apart from that, with all due respect, I won’t discuss this with you any further unless you read it. You don’t have to like or agree with this book (or any other) to discuss it, but you have to read it. Period. Anything else is just not serious. I also have a copy if you want to borrow it.
Alkags,
Healing is, of course, not a straightforward matter, nor is the change that Kenya needs, and none of this can happen in months, or probably even a few years. I had, for a while, thought that the shock of the post-election violence had run so deep that it created a turning point – that at least some in power would see the necessity of instituting changes in order to prevent this from reoccurring. That, I think we all realise that, has not happened. In much of the public dialogue, I find that ‘healing’ is often used synonymously with ‘don’t talk about the difficult bits’.
Ultimately, this is a government composed of people who deliberately used violence to get to where they are, who wanted to get into this position for money and power, who are ready to use violence again, and who would therefore not, in their right mind, institute mechanisms that will lead to them being tried for this, or just have this access curtailed. A government as endemically corrupt as Kenya cannot investigate itself (I think I’m quoting Michela again).
My big worry is that since practically nothing has happened to address the underlying issues, they will lead to even greater violence at the next election.
Javas Bigambo
April 23rd, 2009 at 5:53 am
The reading of books, to a greater extent, is a vital attempt to removing some of the rubish that lies in the way to knowledge. It’s self defeatist for one to argue in support of progress and development, when when at the same time is fithting the acquisition of knowledge.
Sharon has a good view about the Githongo book, but i contend that the view,hitherto, is not necessarily right. It shall suffice to my present purpose to submit that for books to be bought, bookstores must exist, and do well. This,basically, is the sociology of education.
We all fathom the political climate in Kenya,especially when it relates to combating graft. One may argue that it was cowardly of Githongo to escape to other lands,given the cases he was handling. But then again,it’s highly probable that Githongo might have “disappeared” or murdered in cold blood, were he to remain around and expose what he exposed.
Between what is what what is not comprehensible by us is that it’s the elit who fuel the perpetuation of graft in the body politic by philosophizing on the “definition” of graft,and throwing our intellectual weight on specific sides, oblivious of the fact that we are only appeasing the monster. The Githongo book should be sold. Let people read. Why should we fail to condemn the selling of Pornographic literature on our city streets and all,and are smart enough to thwart the attempts by a progressive to get good ideas accross? Githongo’s efforts,in my estimate, are largely lodable. Let us ask ourselves what we have done thus far,to support the demise of graft in Kenya.
David Ndungu
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:10 am
There is a marked difference between selling the book and reading the book. If anyone fears reading the book in public, that is self-instilled fear since there’s no law against reading libellious material but there is one against publishing it and distributing it.
Secondly, John Githongo has with the assistance of the media created this angelic image of himself so that anything and everything he says is taken as Gospel truth. While I do not hold brief for any of the corrupt government officials in the current or past Governments, let us not blindly accept everything Githongo or Wrong (no pun intended) say. Remember they had a book to try and sell so the need to make it as entertaining and sensational as possible could have led them to cross certain lines.
I have read the book and while it has some damning details, it does read like a good novel.
David Ndungu
April 23rd, 2009 at 7:50 am
One more quick thought; Githongo is not the only person that has crossed the path of the Kibaki administration. How many people have “mysteriously disappeared” or been involved in “freak car accidents” courtesy of the Kibaki government for John Githongo to use that excuse to abscond?
Andrea Bohnstedt
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:44 am
David,
Whistleblowers getting killed under the current regime: Off the top of my head, I can think of the police man who testified about extrajudicial police killings and was shot down the road from Sarit Centre. This was a broad-daylight execution in the middle of the street. No efforts to even disguise it as a traffic accident or so.
Andrea Bohnstedt
April 23rd, 2009 at 8:52 am
I’m a big wimp. You don’t need to threaten me with death-by-car-accident for me to tuck my figurative tail between my legs and run. I also think accusing Githongo of insufficient heroism is besides the point and a detour from what the book is about.
Edward Miller
April 23rd, 2009 at 1:32 pm
The real question: What do we do with whistleblowers and truth-tellers? Do we have room in our society for them? Do we have a mechanism with which to deal with them? At this point, regrettably, it seems we do not. David Munyakei is perhaps the most infamous case – the Goldenburg whistleblower who did receive one award post-whistleblowing, but who languished, and eventually died, in obscurity and poverty. How many Kenyans consider him a hero? Many fewer, surely, than attend Kamlesh Pattni’s church. It is distressing to hear Githongo villified, to see that 60 percent of viewers during a TV interview with him last year considered him a traitor (via an sms poll). After all, the issue is not really whether he and Michela Wrong are telling the truth. Most of his detractors do not claim that he is lying… they simply question his motive for baring all, and they wonder why he did it in that particular way. Some (see David Ndungu above) do mistrust Githongo and Wrong’s information. But I can’t for the life of me think of one reason why anyone would fabricate all of that. Besides, the evidence is there in the tapes. So, back to the big question: Why can’t we celebrate truth-tellers? Why aren’t all of us, Kikuyus and everyone else, hugging and thanking the people who have revealed truth about this government? Because there is no dignity in that? Should thieves be surrounded with dignity? Or because, while everyone acknowledges existent corruption, we needn’t make Kenya/Africa look bad, especially to a former colonial power? From me: thank you, brave truth-tellers. Thank you to the investigative journalists who have uncovered the truth about the corruption, nepotism, cronyism, greed, and contempt for the law of the Bush administration. Thank you to the critics of the Obama administration. I believe we need to tear down certain current social mores and remove the straitjacket of etiquette… and demand honesty and accountability from our employees – MPs and ministers, prime ministers and presidents. After all, we hired ‘em…
afriend
April 24th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
The amazing thing is that many critics of Githongo’s book do not contradict or counter any of the information contained therein but instead chose to attack his choice method of delivery i.e by documenting the grand scale corruption in the form of a book. Engaging in sideshows to be precise.
This information and method is not unique to Githongo, indeed, Ngugi Wa Thiongo and Koigi Wamwere have also done likewise.
So lets narrowmindedly focus on the sideshow,
Questions to ask would be,
a) would it have been better to lock horns with those whose turn it was to eat and get fired/sacked, stood up and possibly assassinated and all this remains under the carpet?
b) should he have taken the matters to the AG, KACC, Ali and other similar agencies that always get tongue tied when dealing with the fat cats? thus join a long list of pending cases shrouded in mystery
c) held kamukunjis at uhuru park and provide entertainment and exercise to wanainchi and GSU
etc
Note that he already did the first step at the time which was to inform and keep in the loop the chief executive (i.e the one who has all the right buttons to press to mobilize action) and was stunned at the amazing silence
Now what could Githongo possibly do, if with hindsight, Karua who was the Min for Justice has in her own words after 3 years at this position (considered even more powerful in many ways than a mere PS that Githongo was) has conceded that the Justice system is corrupt and unmoving due to a cabal of operators close to the chief executive.
Actually my prefered method of delivery would have been to ask Githongo to personally handcuff or shoot to kill those whose turn it was to eat, but for now am content to read the book.
Peace out
Edward Miller
April 29th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Bantu Mwaura is dead. This is what we do to truth-tellers….
Kingwa Kamencu
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:03 am
GPO Oulu and Oscar King’aara as well, to give a further example of what happens to truth tellers. Good discussion going on here. Want to invite you to carry it further. PEN Kenya is holding readings and discussions of Michela Wrong’s ‘It’s out Turn to Eat’ on Sunday the 14th of June at the Kenya National Theatre from 2 to 5.30pm. We also have copies of the book on sale at ksh. 900 only. See you there and do spread the word, entry is free.
stivbico
November 4th, 2009 at 3:20 am
its about nine months gone and the issues raised in Wrong’s/Githongo’s book seem like a distant past, long forgotten. is it because the issue is no longer the center of attention or that more damning issues have been revealed since then? i read this book and i think than John did the right thing to leave the country at that time. i also know for sure that Kenya is not a book reading society…i admittedly am one of those Kenyans but the book confirmed my layman’s suspicion and theories of the goings on in power circles all along.that goes to say that Kenyans know what is going on but the question is whether these vices will cease; i think not.
on whistle blowers, it is obvious that our society has no room for these sort of heroes, don’t be fooled, i wonder how Ocampo is dealing with that and finally on healing…Kenya has been “healing” since independence and the drama goes on…as a citizen i remain optimistic about my country’s future but the only irony is that my country belongs to someone else.so, do i wait until it’s my turn to eat?