Everyone reading this blog must know that Kenya is aflame. We have burnt churches with dozens trapped in them, we have seen a peaceful election with the highest turnout in our history end as farce and the number of displaced citizens has risen to more than 100,000. I wrote a piece last [...]
George Bush and Superman: Naked and Powerless?
Powerful people are not powerful: they are fumblers and jivers as we used to call them back in the day. I say this after two events: George Bush’s antics during the G8 and the latest Superman movie.
Consider this slice of the off-the-cuff conversation between Bush and Blair in Russia:
Bush: I think Condi [US Secretary [...]
Some Email Considerations on the African Bush and its European Saviours
Below are some emails that I exchanged with one of my closest friends (PK) just after reading James Miller’s great essay, ‘Carnivals of Atrocity: Foucault, Nietzsche, Cruelty,’ (in Political Theory, Vol. 18, #3, August, 1990.) It is a bit of a switch from the kind of digressions and rants that have appeared here in the [...]
My Granpa Went to Burma and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt
Have you ever wondered why the British have so much concern for Africa and Africans that they would launch commissions of inquiry into the continent’s troubles? Well so have I, which is why an upcoming Oral History conference on ‘changing memories of World War Two’ offered me a glimpse into the heart of British [...]
The Vampire State and the Moral Dimensions of Kenyan Citizenship
Kenya is many things and many peoples, a dizzying blend of communities and individuals; not a single entity with a common understanding of itself. A friend of mine recently asked: How does Kenya arrive in your village, at your doorstep? As a friend or a foe? In the case of the Pokot, or the [...]