Women and politics in Kenya

This story caught my attention. Kenyans do tend to be socially conservative. It is not the first time that women have been attacked for their dress. I think that one issue is this is a matter of men keeping women in their place. I also think Rachel Machua's analysis is more or less reasonable. I think the AP title is incendiary, and sometimes I wonder at the trivialization of African politics by the Western press. 

Apparently, several protesters gathered in downtown Nairobi on Monday to protest against the last video posted online that shows a mob of Kenyan men surrounding a woman who is - according to them - provocatively dressed, and stripping her naked. Rachel Machua considers the recent attacks as the result of socio-economic conditions, where lower-income men attack successful and well-dressed women. About 10 percent of the protesters were men, marching because they believe in equal rights in Kenya, a country where women play an active role in the society. Other men, however, believe that "wearing miniskirts is the devil's work", and that they don't want "Kenya's women to seduce them by wearing revealing clothing". ( Kenya women march for right to wear mini-skirts by Associated Press, The Washington Post, November 17, 2014.) 

Patrick Gathara makes some decent points in a recent article. The 2010 Constitution really expanded the rights of Kenyan women, but getting men to respect them is another. 

Gathara analyzes the demonstration which occurred in Nairobi in support of a woman who had her clothes had been stripped off by a group of men. He says the focus has been on the tension between women's rights and a societally prescribed morality, but not a lot has been said on "how it illustrates a residual fear among some Kenyans of the consequences of respecting individual liberties". In 2010, the country has issued a progressive constitution, but its implementation has revealed to be harder than expected. (Kenya's fear of liberty by Patrick Gathara, AlJazeera, November 20, 2014) 

Thanks to my wonderful GA, Paola Cavallari, for doing the research that helps me stay on top of things. 

I am sorry for my extended absence. My beloved sister, Wangeci Bowman, died last year around this time. It has been a rough year. She was an amazing woman with Kenyan roots. She would have cheered her sisters on in their protest for women's rights. 

WMB 

The Slap Heard Round the World

Rachel Shebesh, the Nairobi Women’s Representative, as in a Member of Parliament, as in a highly respected public official, was among council workers who stormed Governor Kidero's office on September 6, 2013, in a demonstration over the ongoing county employees strike. The Governor emerged from his office and was surprised to find Shebesh and an estimated 30 people. There is a general consensus on these facts in regards to the incident termed by one newsite as “the slap heard across the nation” (http://allafrica.com/).

Video footage depicts a heated exchange between Kidero and Shebesh, followed quickly by a now famous slap. Shebesh can be heard sputtering “You have slapped me? You have slapped me?” as she is being led away by aides.

This is where the general consensus ends, with contrasting opinions heating up social media. Contradictory statements from the Governor’s office have caused yet more confusion. Kidero’s initial response denied slapping anyone, "I was in my office but I don't remember or have any recollection of slapping anyone. All I know is that a group of people about 30-40 tried to force themselves into my office led by an Honourable Member of Parliament,” said Kidero.

The honorable mayor later recanted this statement, claiming instead that Shebesh provoked the incident by assaulting him. While the Kenya Police Medical Examination report corroborates his account of soreness to the groin, the video does not depict any evidence Shebesh attacking him, leading to yet more confusion. Both Shebesh and Kidero have filed police reports.

All in all, this exchange has irrevocably impacted the images of both parties. Shebesh, no stranger to conflict, has been defamed further, with individuals expressing sentiments that “she had it coming,” or focusing on her approach. The Nairobi county assembly heard a motion calling for the impeachment of Governor Kidero, a decision that has currently been tabled. Several civil and women’s groups have condemned the incident and his behavior.

While the details of the incident remain clouded and controversial, the fact remains that both Kidero and Shebesh are publically elected officials in offices that demand a level of decorum and respect. So, why is Shebesh making a ruckus, and why is Kidero behaving like a violent criminal, or a batterer?

S.N.L Kenya has developed a music track labeled “Slap Them Like Kidero,” further solidifying the issue in social media. Slap them Like Kidero This entire incident has had widely felt implications, both for Kenyan politics, and for the greater discourse on gender.

What is my take? I always tell my five year old and three year old that it is not right to slap, punch, or hit anyone (some few exceptions apply). I do NOT believe that Kidero should have slapped his colleague, whether male or female. The video indicates to me that the slap was not prefaced by a squeeze or any assault on Kidero. Shebesh could have demonstrated more decorum in her visit to Kidero’s office, but two wrongs do not make a right. Following as it does on the Sonko imbroglio, I think that it is fair to use this moment to focus on the mis-treatment of women in Kenya. Dr. Kidero, did you receive your doctorate at the school of violence against women?

On a lighter note, this post made me laugh! Did Kidero Allegedly Slap Shebesh, or Did He Certainly Do It? 

Water Shortages and Blackouts

One thing that makes living in Kenya quite difficult is that simple things do not work.

I live in a middle class neighborhood in Nairobi called Magiwa Estate. At one point this summer I experienced a water shortage that went on for a week. We also had a four day blackout.

Now, it is possible that the water shortage actually went on for more than one week. We have a very large water tank in front of the house that acts as a reserve. Therefore, it is fairly hard to tell at what exact moment the water ran out.

I have often asked myself what is worse: no water or no electricity. Sigh. It is hard to tell. In my view no water is worse. No water means cooking is difficult, washing is hard, bathing is impossible.

But the question here is why are we having these crises? Is there actually not enough water in Nairobi? If it were the dry season, perhaps, but this is the cold season and we have had rain. Is our reservoir empty? What is the rationale behind the water stoppage? No rationing scheme has been announced. Is there an infrastructure problem?

Kenyans need to start asking KPLC and Nairobi Water what exactly they are doing. In this new government, wananchi need to demand high quality services and demand that government does its job. Mr. Kidero, are you listening?

~WMB

Tension as Supreme Court Reviews Election Results

Chief Justice Willy Mutunga (third from left) leads the Supreme Court during the pre-trial conference on March 25, 2013. he other judges are (from left) Njoki Ndung’u, Jackton Ojwang’, Philip Tunoi, Mohammed Ibrahim and Smokin Wanjala Credit. Nation Group.

 

My cousins tell me that Nairobi is at a standstill as all wait for the Kenyan Supreme Court to issue its ruling on Saturday

The Kenyan Supreme Court ordered a recount of votes cast at 22 polling station. The re-tallying is meant to determine if the votes casted exceeded the number of those registered. The court also ordered the inspection of all forms 34 and 36 used by the IEBC in tallying the results.

AFRICOG and Odinga argued before the Supreme Court that various polling stations had increased Kenyatta’s number between when local polling stations announced publically their totals and when the numbers reached the tallying center. Since Kenyatta only hit the 50% mark by 8,400 votes, they are demanding the votes to bee invalidated. For example, in once center, Nyeri Country, they announced publically that Kenyatta won 53,252 votes but the election commission reported that he won 55,726. They are asserting that this would trigger a run-off election. (Washington Post, March 27, 2013)

The African Centre for Open Governance (AFRICOG), which is generally viewed as being on the CORD side, requested that the IEBC produce marked voter registers used during the March 4 election. They allege registers the court currently has in their possession (electronic) are not the registers actually used during the election (manual). Africog’s lawyer argued that over 70,000 voter discrepancies exist between the electronic and marked registers. Counsel Kethi Kilonzo explained that it was only the principal register that could verify the actual number of registered voters. IEBC’s lawyer Paul Nyamodi stated that the request to supply the registers was unreasonable and was filed late, therefore cannot be accommodated. He said that to gather all the registers in the 33,400 polling stations would take about 2 weeks but would gladly avail them at the petitioner’s expense. Chief Willy Mutunga said the court would decide on Wednesday. (All Africa, March 26, 2013)

At the end of the day,  the Kenyan Supreme Court rejected an application by Odinga to carry out a forensic audit of the IEBC information technology systems used during the election. The court stated the application was time-bared as it was filled 4 days after filing the petition. The application would require production of the IEBC’s entire IT system, which is not feasible. If the application would have been submitted at the time of the initial filing, it would have been possible for the court to order IEBC to provide the audit. (March 26, 2013)

Justice Philip Tunoi ruled that an additional affidavit (nearly 900 pages long) filed by Odinga will be removed from the records as they were filed after his initial petition. “The court said that it could not shoulder the burden of the omissions of the petitioners, who failed to make available all the affidavits in time or seek through an oral application, the leave of the court to file the affidavits.” There is no provision for additional affidavits in the Supreme Court rules, it is left to the court’s discretion.

The judges ruling on Saturday will focus on four core issues.

• The first issue, he said, is: Whether the Third and Fourth Respondents (Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto) were validly elected and declared as President-elect and Deputy President-elect of the Republic of Kenya, respectively, by the Second Respondent (Ahmed Issack Hassan) in the Presidential Elections held on the 4th of March 2013.
• The second is: Whether the presidential election held on March 4, 2013 was conducted in a free, fair, transparent and credible manner in compliance with the provisions of the Constitution and all relevant provisions of the law.
• The third is: Whether the rejected votes ought to have been included in determining the final tallies of votes in favour of each of the presidential candidates by the First and Second Respondents (IEBC and Chairman Ahmed Issack Hassan).
• The fourth is: What consequential declarations, orders and reliefs should the court grant based on the above determinations. 

 
~WMB

Update on Second day of Counting in Kenyan Election

Yesterday was a whirlwind. I went to observe voting at five polling stations.

First things first, at 10:52 p.m., Uhuru Kenyatta is leading with 53.37 percent (2,783,964) to Raila Odinga's 42.05 percent (2,194,105). Over 42.8 percent of votes have been counted. This ten point lead has been consisten for over ten hours.

In other news, according to twitter, a British press outfit reported that Uhuru is a Luo and Odinga a Kikuyu. That was an epic fail, but somehow charming, given the country's efforts to craft a national, less ethnic identity.

So yesterday I went to observe polling stations in Downtown Nairobi (Khalsa school), Kasarani, Thika, Muranga (Gutito) and Othaya (Othaya Poytechnic). I did not make it to Kihome polling station on time.

Overall the voting was very peaceful and orderly. However the lines in Nairobi, Kasarani and Thika were incredibly long. In Thika, we measured lines over two kilometers.

Incredibly long voting lines in Thika on March 4, 2013

 The most exciting aspect of the election for me was watching the presiding officer and her IEBC staff count the presidential vote in Othaya Polytechnic polling station, Othaya Constituency, Nyeri County. She was very professional, and very thorough. She did a great job of maintaining order. Each room was filled with political party agents who had to verify the votes. She spiilled the votes onto the table, and picked each one up, showing it to the agents who verbally verified the designee.  Through this process the ballots were sorted into piles, which produced a provisional count. Then the ballots were counted.Finally, the ballots were bundled, and placed into the transparent tub with all unused ballots in a sealed plastic envelope, as well as the manual voter roll.The ballot box for the presidency was then sealed. Then, the provisional results were sent via telephone to the IEBC tally center in Nairobi, with the ballot papers serving as official results in case of a dispute. The process was very transparent, very organized, and seemed very difficult to rig.

Presiding Officer places presidential ballots on the table in Othaya Polytechnic Polling Station

Right now, people are very worried that the election results were taking too long to trickle in. There are concerns that tensions may rise as delays increase. People are staying indoors, and the city is completely quiet. I cannot even hear one matatu.

~WMB

Waiting with Bated Breath

Thank you SG for reminding me how to spell "bated"! Cheers.


The day before the election was fun, and hectic, and frustrating all at the same time. The day was spent running around.

I went up to Prestige Plaza at Nakumatt, and ran into my sister in law and my nephew in the parking lot. It was a welcome surprise, because I had not seen them for nearly a year. We had a nice talk over coffee about their work on the TNA campaign.

I had a pleasant lunch with fellow IT activists of various ethnic backgrounds. Over two hours at Mukutan at the Fairview, most lately of Jeff Koinange fame, we thought about, talked about and puzzled about Kenya's future, all while remaining completely civil and detached.

The afternoon was spent with more coffee with researchers over even more coffee at The Mug. At Nakumatt, there were numerous, very tall, police carrying machine guns. Helicopters flew overhead, at one point coming so close you could hear the sound of the propellers.

In between, various small disasters occurred. A car broke an axle in front of our car as we dashed from one appointment to another. It seemed no ATM was working, and no forex bureau in town was open, and finally we had to change money at an iffy rate at City Market. Then our car broke down, and we had to try to rent one at late notice.

The day seemed very quiet. Downtown was nearly empty, and the mood in town was mellow.

 We finally reclined for food at Natural Heritage near Kenyatta Market. We had some kuku choma, over tusker, snapp and malt. No campaigning is allowed the day before the election, and even shirts were banned. Nonetheless, we saw one woman with a Raila Odinga hat, and another gentleman with an Uhuru shirt. My friend Peter said the bar we were in was a bar of no given ethnicities, rather a bar for Nairobians. American music was blasting, and guys were dancing enthusiastically around the bar. The only hint that the election was coming, was that no other bar on the street was open.

Praying for peace tonight.

~WMB

Now I am official

I arrived safely in Kenya tonight and I picked up my press pass as well as my official accreditation from the IEBC (Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission).

Logo of the IEBC

I am with the "Journalists for Human Rights Network." JOHURI I feel much better now that I have my passes in hand. The IEBC pass has my name slightly misspelled, but on the back it says "The bearer of this badge is authorized by IEBC to observe the 2013 general elections. I also have a press card from the Media Council of Kenya. MCK. That card has my name spelled correctly, and has a nice picture of me.


So my tentative plan is to meet tomorrow with colleagues to discuss what issues are most important at the intersetion of information technology and democratization. The tentative plan is that we wake up at 5:00 a.m to take my sister in law Nyambura to vote in downtown Nairobi, (at the OTC), then take a different sister in law to vote in Thika. We will then proceed into what used to be Central Province toward Muranga, and then Othaya where I have family. If all goes smoothly, we will traverse nearly due north through Nairobi, Kiambu, Muranga and Nyeri counties on election day.

Map of Kenya's 47 counties.

So once I wake up tomorrow, work will commence.I am feeling happy that this has all come together. Knock on wood . . . .