Profile: Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Ngugi wa Thiong'o now writes only in Kikuyu or Swahili
Acclaimed Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong'o, attacked by armed robbers during a visit home after 22 years in exile, has been a controversial figure in Kenya for the past quarter of a century.
As a writer, playwright, journalist and lecturer he has been widely regarded as East Africa's most influential writer.
His criticism of colonial rule, Christianity and post colonial abuses earned him as much admiration from the public as trouble from Kenya's authorities.
Ngugi, as he is usually known, belongs to Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyus.
In the late 1970s, he announced that he would not write in English anymore, to concentrate on writing books in Kikuyu or Swahili only.
He was born James Ngugi in 1938 in British-ruled Kenya, attended a mission-run school and first became a devout Christian.
He later rejected Christianity and changed his original name in 1976 from James Ngugi, which he regarded as a sign of colonial influence, to Ngugi wa Thiong'o.
Trouble
Ngugi's decision to write in Kikuyu, together with his criticisms of both British and Kenyan rule, have posed threats to his security. In 1976 Ngugi got involved in running a local theatre group.
Ngugi wa Thiong'o: Kenyan tour postponed after his mugging
At the end of December 1977 Daniel arap Moi, then vice-president, ordered Ngugi detained in Mamiti Maximum Security Prison.
The arrest followed the publication of a play he had co-written and that carried a strong political message, Ngaahika Ndeenda (I will Marry You when I want).
Ngugi was imprisoned under Public Security Act for a year without trial. After his release Ngugi did not recover his professorship at the University of Nairobi.
When his theatre group was banned by Kenyan officials in 1982, Ngugi then left his country for a self-imposed exile in London.
In 1992 Ngugi became professor of comparative literature and performance studies at New York University. He vowed not to return until President Moi stepped down, which he did 18 months ago.
His most famous novels are Weep Not Child (1964), The River Between (1965) the Grain of Wheat (1967) and Petals of Blood (1977).
Just two weeks ago, Ngugi ended his 22-year self-imposed exile and returned to Kenya where he was greeted by a crowd of thousands.
"I have come back with an open mind, an open heart and open arms. I have come to touch base. I have come to learn," he declared, adding that he owes his return to the collective struggle of the Kenyan people.
Thiong'o is in Kenya for just a month, during which he was conducting a countywide tour financed by the East African Publishing House, giving lectures and launching his latest novel in Kikuyu, Muroogi wa Kigogo, which he has worked on for five years.
Since he was attacked by armed gunmen on 11 August, his publishers have announced the suspension of his tour.
It’s time
to become a man
By Titus Maero
Thursday, August 12, 2004
Among the Bakusu sub-tribe, circumcision is the most important, and, indeed, most cherished traditional ceremony.
The community attaches a lot of reverence and attention to this rite such that virtually every member of the sub-tribe, irrespective of their status, takes part and prides in it.
The ceremony, which comes once every two years, is a moment of transition during which a circumcised boy graduates into manhood and is allowed to attend functions convened by elders.
Trans-Nzoia District, where the Bukusu are found in large numbers, is currently engulfed in a carnival mood as the community enters the climax of the rite, normally performed during the August school holidays for the convenience of boys who have attained circumcision age.
This season, an estimated 14,000 boys in the age bracket of between nine and 13 years will be initiated. The ceremony has entirely changed the mood of the area, with an air of festivity sweeping over. Traditional liquor called busaa and food, especially meat, is lavishly served in every home that produces an initiate.
Other social activities, like farming, school tuition, hunting and marriage, have already taken a back seat as a celebratory mood grips the entire community.
According to Bukusu traditions, when a male child has attained circumcision age, the urge and rare courage to face the knife comes automatically.
For instance, in cases where parents deliberately underrate the bravery of the initiate to face the cut, the boy would go ahead to threaten self-circumcision or join his peers for the cut without the knowledge of the parents.
Whenever this happens, then parents change their minds and prepare their son for the ritual. It is said that children who get circumcised in hospitals become ill mannered since they do not undergo all the rituals that accompany the rite, the most important being Khubita.
Khubita is a session during which the youth are moulded into responsible citizens. It is also argued that traditionally, the detached foreskin is supposed to be kept for three days before being disposed off, unlike in the hospital, where it is thrown away without any ceremony.
With the emergence of HIV/Aids, circumcisers now use many knives to avoid the risk of spreading the disease.
Jotham Mukhevi Wambulwa, 71, an experienced circumciser says the mud smeared on the boys and the early morning chill restricts blood flow, reducing the possibility of any blood contact with the knife.
Wambulwa points out that the mud or Libukhulu, which is applied after circumcision, reduces blood flow. The cut takes less than three seconds, and by the time the first traces of blood appear, the circumciser is in another village performing yet another cut.
He dismissed claims by medical critics that circumcision was fanning the spread of Aids, saying people who held such views were only bent on sabotaging the rite.
Wambulwa further claims that unlike in the past, nowadays circumcisers are often subjected to unnecessary lectures from public health officers, who have no idea how the operation is conducted. "Circumcisers are now being taxed for their job."
Wambulwa challenged the critics to produce any evidence linking traditional circumcision with Aids. He added that initiates did not require the tetanus injection recommended by health authorities in the recent past.
The circumciser called on the government to waive the Sh350 permit fee, arguing that what they did was purely customary and not business.
According to the tradition, Wambulwa says, money that circumcisers made was only meant for food and drinks and not enrichment.
Another circumciser, Christopher "Mkato: Malafu, from Saboti says he made a good living out of his earnings during the circumcision season.
He says he has done the job for the past 30 years. "I do
not go about looking for boys to circumcise, but parents book my services in
advance."
Malafu, who operated on three boys as this reporter watched, says he has been
anointed by the ancestors. The administration had instructed operators to use
different knives and to sterilise the implements.
This season, he says, he expects to cut at least 30 boys, a drop from the usual 50 clients in the previous seasons. He attributes the shortfall to parents taking their boys to hospital and a rising number of circumcisers. He says he plans to retire after tackling one more season.
Malafu says the special knife he uses, known as Lukembe has a handle made from an indigenous tree known as Enguu.
Since he started his job as a circumciser, he says, he has never made a mistake. The circumciser further says cases where boys get hurt during circumcision are linked to witchcraft.
He says circumcisers observe hygiene during the operation, but this reporter witnessed circumstances to disapprove this.
There is lack of clinical bandages and antiseptics. Fresh wounds are smeared with some special soil that is said to prevent excessive bleeding. Blood mingles with mud, which the boys are smeared with before the operation, and there was no sign that the knives are ever sterilised.
Due to competition to make as much money as possible, circumcisers are in a hurry to handle as many boys as possible.
In one instance, a boy was cut improperly and the circumciser ran off to perform another operation. The boy had to be taken to hospital.
Meanwhile, Trans-Nzoia District Commissioner Solomon Ouko has assured the local communities of security as they go about the festive season.
Just as much as certain traditions and customs should be respected, he said, a few individuals could hijack the season to carry out evil activities.
He said police were on 24-hour patrol and assured circumcisers not to worry about their safety.
The DC, however, urged parents to take their boys to health institutions for circumcision, saying high standards of hygiene were maintained in hospitals.
But he clarified that he was not against traditional circumcision.
Ouko also advised circumcisers not to be driven by lust for money while carrying out their activities - The Standard.
Famine pangs bite in Kilifi area
Poor, pregnant and malnourished. These are the three adjectives that best describe Kache Nyoka, a mother of five, who is caught up in the drought that has ravaged Kilifi District in Coast Province. Sitting next to the ramshackle mud-and-thatched hut that she calls home, Kache is in deep thought, agonising over what to do about her seven-year-old daughter who has been sent away from school because the family cannot afford the Sh10 that every pupil must contribute to pay the cook hired by the school to prepare meals for the pupils. Worse still, Kache was not sure whether she and the rest of the family would have a meal. Her husband had gone into the bush to gather any edible leaves or wild tubers that many families in the Ganze administrative division of Kilifi District have been reduced to eating as food shortages worsen. “Life has been tough during the past three years,” Kache told IRIN. “We have been planting maize and harvesting nothing because of inadequate rainfall,” she said. Prolonged drought has rendered many subsistence farmers in many remote villages of Kilifi, where employment opportunities are rare and poverty widespread, destitute.
“We go into the bushes to look for wood and hope that someone will come and buy it. If nobody comes we go hungry,” said Kadzo Chengo, a visibly emaciated mother of seven children. She was reluctant to have her picture taken because she thought people might laugh at her thinness and the rags she wore. The chief of Kauma location in Ganze, Anderson Kahindi, said 4,000 of the area’s 8,000 residents had nothing to eat following three seasons of crop failure, and that he had no means to help them cope with the situation. Those without employed relatives to help them are entirely dependent on food aid. “People are surviving on Kigwada (local name for boiled cassava leaves),” Kahindi said. “Malnutrition among many under-fives and breast-feeding mothers is becoming apparent,” he added. A school-feeding programme run by the Kenyan Government and the UN World Food Programme (WFP) was helping keep many children in school and had prevented higher malnutrition levels.
WFP has provided food for an estimated 22,815 pupils in public primary and pre-primary schools in the divisions of Ganze, Vitengeni and Bamba in Kilifi District since the beginning of the current school term in May. The UN food agency provided all the food — maize, beans and vegetable oil — while the Kenya Government, through the Ministry of Education, is responsible for distribution. “For many of the children, the daily meal at school is the only one they can hope for because food has become very scarce in their homes,” John Mwatari, the assistant chief of Dzengo sub-location said. According to Joseph Kamau Maina, the District Officer coordinating government and volunteers’ relief efforts in Kilifi, the Government has been distributing food aid — mainly maize, beans and vegetable oil — in the worst affected areas since February, but supplies have been inadequate.
“We wish we could receive some more (food), but we also do not want to create a dependency syndrome among the people, and we are urging to them to plant drought-resistant crops like sorghum and cassava whenever there is little rainfall, yet they do not have money to buy seeds and farm implements,” Maina said. Even the relatively well-to-do have been seriously affected, Kahindi said: “I had spent Sh10,000 to prepare the land and plant the seeds, but everything dried up when the rains suddenly stopped. I had used my resources to the maximum and I am in a financial crisis, but as a leader I do not want to be seen to be complaining too much because there are many people worse off,” Kahindi, who said he had nine dependants, added. Several years of poor rainfall in Kenya and the premature end to the 2004 long rains has hit several pastoral, agro-pastoral and agricultural areas of the country, leading to poor or no harvest. In five of eight provinces, food production is projected to be about 40 percent of what is needed, expected or normal. An intervention plan draw up by the Kenya Food Security Steering Group (KFSSG) indicates that an estimated 2.3 million people would require a total of 136,000 metric tonnes of food for the next six months – August 2004-January 2005.
The number of those affected could increase up to 3.3 million if the short rains in October-December are inadequate. Estimated relief food needs in the country would exceed resources available and the Kenyan Government has already appealed for international help. On 14 July, President Mwai Kibaki appealed for $76 million to fund emergency relief operations for the 3.3 million people affected by the drought, saying crop failure amounted to “a national disaster”. Kibaki said that 1.5 million of those affected were primary school children, who would be fed through school feeding programmes, which require 9,500 mt of food at an estimated cost of $2.1 million. Non-food items for the school feeding programmes would cost another $2.9 million. The worst-affected areas were in the Coast, Eastern, North Eastern and Rift Valley provinces, according to a consolidated inter-agency report prepared by the KFSSG, a multi-agency team comprising representatives from the Kenyan government, the UN and NGOs. - 3rd August, 2004.
Special Report
Ngugi wa
Thiong'o: The return of the native
Story by JOE KIHARA MUNUGU in SAN JOSE, California.
Sunday Nation, Publication Date: July 25, 2004
Prof Ngugi wa Thiong’o returns to Kenya after 22 years in exile, with
a challenge for Kenyans to unite under a common vision of economic,
political, cultural and psychological empowerment. His wife, Njeeri
wa Ngugi, will accompany him together with their daughter Mumbi, 10,
and son Thiong’o, 9.
Ngugi, who will be travelling on a South African Airways flight, is
expected to arrive at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at
about 3.40 pm on Saturday, July 31. His long-time publisher, Mr Henry
Chakava, the Chairman of the East African Educational Publishers,
together with the Kamirithu Theatre Group, students and lecturers
from the University of Nairobi, communities from Limuru, relatives
and friends will officially welcome Ngugi.
"We sent Ngugi to a book launch in London on June 5, 1982," Chakava
cheerfully told the Sunday Nation from his home in Nairobi, "and
Ngugi was scheduled to come back home exactly as he’s doing on July
31," says Mr Chakava with a hearty laugh, "only it's 22 years later!"
He said Kenyans had responded to Ngugi's homecoming with joy. "We’re
thrilled to welcome Ngugi back home," said Mr Chakava, who sent Ngugi
to London in 1982 to help in the launch of Devil on the Cross, and
Detained: A Writer's Prison Diary, two of Ngugi's titles published
then by Heinemann.
"We expect many people to welcome Ngugi at the airport on Saturday
and to listen to him at Taifa Hall (University of Nairobi)," said
John Kiragu Chege, an engineer who is a member of the homecoming
committee.
Ngugi is expected to give a public address at the University of
Nairobi on Monday, August 2. He will also visit his old office at the
university to which he never returned after being detained without
trial in 1978.
Speaking to the Sunday Nation from his office at the University of
California at Irvine, where he has the title of "Distinguished
Professor of English and Comparative Literature, and Director of the
International Centre for Writing and Translation," Ngugi said he was
getting ready to come home.
"It’s the unity of Kenyans that made them succeed against
colonialists and, recently, against the Nyayoist tactics of divide
and rule," said Ngugi. "It’s this unity which will make us succeed in
our struggle for economic, political, cultural and psychological
strength and enable us to claim our rightful share of the globe."
Ngugi’s wife, Njeeri, is the university’s Director of Faculty and
Staff Counselling.
Ngugi's return takes him through South Africa where he is the guest
of honour at a ceremony to mark South Africa’s universities’ post-
apartheid transformation.
The University of Transkei is honouring Ngugi and Nelson Mandela with
doctorate degrees. Ngugi is being awarded an honorary Doctor of
Literature and Philosophy degree, and Mandela is being awarded an
honorary Doctor of Law degree. Mrs Adelaide Tambo, the widow of
former ANC President Oliver Tambo, is also being honoured with a PhD.
The University of Transkei is merging with Border Technikon and
Eastern Cape Technikon Universties to become the comprehensive Walter
Sisulu University, starting January 2005. The event to which Ngugi is
invited will mark that transition.
In the invitation for the South African award, Prof Peggy N. Luswazi,
Registrar of the University of Transkei, said Ngugi was selected for
the award because he is a highly "outstanding and creative African
scholar".
Asked how he felt about returning home, Ngugi said: "It is a mixture
of fear and hope. I want to touch the soil. I want to rub shoulders
with Kenyans in the streets and working places. I want a reconnection
with Kamirithu and the Kamirithu spirit. I miss all that. I hunger
for voices of ordinary Kenyans. I miss the air. I want a spiritual
reunion with Kenya, our beloved country".
Ngugi was arrested and detained because of the political message in
his popular play Ngahika Ndeenda (I Will Marry When I Want), a play
rich with songs and rhythms of the Kenyan people. The play was acted
by the Kamirithu Group and attracted huge audiences. On March 12,
1982, the government sent three truckloads of armed policemen who
razed the Kamirithu open-air theatre to the ground.
Asked what he thought about the political and democratic situation in
Kenya, Ngugi said: "I have been away for 22 years. I have a lot to
learn. But I hope the various political parties do not forget that
people voted for unity and change."
Emphasising on unity, Ngugi said, "All Kenyans must unite and work
together. We must never normalise divisions between us– divisions
that were created by colonial forces. How, for instance, could the
Gikuyu and Luo peoples have been traditional enemies when they never
even shared borders?"
Mr Chakava says Ngugi's schedule in the next few weeks involves
visiting all the Kenyan universities and giving public talks. Ngugi
is expected to spend a day with young writers at the Godown, a young
writers’ workshop in Nairobi’s Industrial Area, where he will talk
about language and culture.
Mr Chakava also indicated that the Ford Foundation was willing to
sponsor Ngugi to visit other universities in East Africa. Mr Chakava,
a renowned publisher, is known for bringing to readers most of the
leading African writers, including Chinua Achebe, Ngugi, Cyprian
Ekwensi, Sembene Ousmane, Alex la Guma, Peter Abrahams, Okot p’Bitek,
Grace Ogot, Meja Mwangi, Sam Kahiga and a host of others.
Mr Chakava took over as the Chief Executive of Heinemann in 1976. In
1985, he led a group of Kenyans to buy Heinemann East Africa. This
was the beginning of the East African Educational Publishers, which
he now heads as chairman.
Ngugi told the Sunday Nation: "Kenya and Africa are currently
enslaved by the burden of economic debt to the rich nations of the
West. The slavery of 17th century has been replaced by the debt
slavery of the 21st century. Kenyans and all Africans must build
unshakeable and unwavering unity if we have to liberate ourselves
from this modern-day foreign enslavement."
Ngugi’s award in South Africa is his fourth honorary doctorate
degree. He has Doctor of Humane Letters from Albright College,
Pennsylvania; Doctor of Philosophy from Roskilde University in
Denmark and Doctor of Letters from his alma mater, Leeds University
in the United Kingdom.
"I value them all as honours," says Ngugi. "But, of course, it was
special to get one from my alma mater, Leeds University."
Ngugi went to Leeds to study for his Masters degree after graduating
from Makerere University, Uganda. It was while studying at Leeds that
he wrote his most acclaimed novel, A Grain of Wheat.
Ngugi has won many other awards and honours, including the Nonino
International Prize in Italy and the Medal of the Presidency of the
Italian Cabinet, signed by former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.
He was awarded Life Membership of the Council of Social Research in
Africa, the highest social science research organisation in Africa
comprising the continent's most learned people.
Last year Ngugi was inducted into the select American Academy of Arts
and Letters as a Foreign Honorary Member. Membership into this
honorary society is accorded only to 250 most pre-eminent Americans
and a few outstanding foreigners in art, literature and music. New
members join only when existing ones die. An envy in the academia, it
is the highest formal recognition of artistic and creative genius.
Ngugi has travelled widely throughout the world. Is there a unified
message he consistently tries to "preach"?
"Language and the need for Africa to recover its memory. The recovery
of our memory through a reconnection with African languages, that has
been my primary message," he told the Sunday Nation.
What does Ngugi think about the draft constitution?
"I have not studied the new constitution. I will," he said. "But I
will be looking at it from the standpoint of the empowerment of the
people. Do Kenyans... in the villages, in the towns... do they feel
empowered in the economic, political, cultural and psychological
sense? Any constitution is made for the people, not people for the
constitution."
Where does he think he can contribute most in Kenya today?
"I would like to reconnect with cultural struggles of Kenyans. I
think this is where I can contribute most," he says.
Ngugi is passionate about Kamirithu.
"The Kamirithu spirit is not dead. Go to India, to Malaysia, to the
Philippines among people who are struggling to change the economic
and political bases of their lives and mention the word Kamirithu,
and you will see instant recognition. Those who destroyed Kamirithu
wanted to destroy what Kamirithu stood for – people's empowerment,
people’s enrichment. How can that idea die?"
Ngugi said he looks at Kenya in the context of Africa and the globe.
"I have come to see even more clearly the meaning of Kamirithu in the
national, continental and global context," he said. "I was moved when
some intellectuals in Asia around the concept of multiversity and
multiword decided to bring out an intellectual newsletter of dialogue
and information for progressive forces in the Third World and named
it Kamirithu. Kenya, rooted in the unity of ordinary working people
across ethnic lines, must see itself as part of East Africa, Africa
and the World."
Ngugi said he took long to return home because he had hoped that
Murogi wa Kagogo (Wizard of the Crow), a novel he has been writing in
his native Kikuyu language since 1977, would have been published.
"I had wanted my return to coincide with the publication of the novel
but, unfortunately, this has not been the case, it might still come
out, but I could not wait any longer."
Ngugi said he considers writing and completing Murogi wa Kagogo as
his most important achievement in exile. The epic creative work,
which is cinematic in its presentation, is an attempt to sum up
Africa in the 20th century.
"I would like to write many more novels in Gikuyu," said Ngugi. "I
would like to help in the whole project of writing and publishing in
African languages."
Special report by JOE KIHARA MUNUGU, in San Jose, California - July
25,2004
This Story is published by Sunday Nation, Nairobi
Africa Life Expectancy
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1. |
77.38 years |
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2. |
76.07 years |
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3. |
74.4 years |
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4. |
71.25 years |
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5. |
70.54 years |
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6. |
70.41 years |
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7. |
70.04 years |
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8. |
66.28 years |
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9. |
61.18 years |
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10. |
60.6 years |
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11. |
57.73 years |
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12. |
57.12 years |
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13. |
56.53 years |
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14. |
56.37 years |
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15. |
56.14 years |
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16. |
54.75 years |
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17. |
54.38 years |
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18. |
53.43 years |
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19. |
53.18 years |
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20. |
51.93 years |
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21. |
51.08 years |
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22. |
51.01 years |
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23. |
50.02 years |
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24. |
49.54 years |
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25. |
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Bush demands action over Darfur
US President George W Bush has told Sudan to halt violence in the troubled Darfur region, as pressure for international intervention increases. Mr Bush urged Khartoum to rein in the Arab militia known as the Janjaweed, and allow relief agencies to work. His comments came after the US Congress - in a non-binding vote - called the Darfur crisis a "genocide". The UN and the White House have so far avoided that label, which would entail an international duty to step in. The US congressional vote on Darfur has met with a sceptical international response.
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They must stop Janjaweed violence, they must provide access to
humanitarian relief
President Bush
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The human rights organisation Amnesty International said crimes against humanity were being committed, but it could not confirm that they complied with the definition of genocide.
The African Union - which is deploying ceasefire monitors in Darfur - says it does not believe the violence amounts to genocide.
Sanctions
Mr Bush, for his part, again criticised the Sudanese government.
"They must stop Janjaweed violence, they must provide access to humanitarian relief for the people who suffer," he said in a speech in Washington.
He added that the US was working with the UN and the African Union "to bring relief to the suffering people in that region".
Pro-government Arab militias have forced more than one million black Africans from their homes and killed thousands in Darfur.
The US is proposing a UN resolution threatening Sudan with sanctions.
But on Thursday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell restated the administration's cautious line on how to label the conflict.
"There is a legal definition of genocide, which includes specific intent to destroy an entire group," he said.
"We will make a judgement in due course," Mr Powell added.
A 1948 UN convention says the international community must prevent and punish acts it has declared as genocide.
Fear
On Thursday, the US Congress unanimously approved a resolution urging the president to call the situation in Sudan "by its rightful name - genocide".
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RESOLUTION ACTION POINTS
US to lead an international effort to prevent genocide in Darfur
US to consider multilateral or even unilateral intervention
Impose targeted sanctions
Establish a resettlement and rehabilitation fund
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It urges the Bush administration to consider "multilateral or even unilateral intervention to prevent genocide should the United Nations Security Council fail to act".
The Sudanese government has promised to disarm the militiamen, but the US says this has not yet started.
The draft US resolution calls on Khartoum to crack down on the Janjaweed, which are accused of carrying out thousands of rapes and killings in Darfur, or face further action, including possible sanctions.
Sudan denies backing the Janjaweed, and has warned the US and UK not to get involved in the conflict.
The government has sent some 6,000 policemen to Darfur but the BBC's Hilary Andersson says those who have fled their homes are afraid of "uniformed men of any kind".
They accuse Sudan's security forces of working closely with the militias.
Sudan blames the conflict on rebels who took up arms last year, demanding greater rights for Darfur's non-Arab groups.
Information and Communications Technologies for Africa’s Development (ICTAD)
“Positioning Kenya’s Micro-Enterprises on the Economic Development Agenda”
“Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is one of the most potent forces in shaping the twenty-first century. Its revolutionary impact affects the way people live, learn and work and the way government interacts with civil society. ICT is fast becoming a vital engine of growth for the world economy. It is also enabling many enterprising individuals, firms and communities, in all parts of the globe, to address economic and social challenges with greater efficiency and imagination. Enormous opportunities are there to be seized and shared by us all[1]
The essence of the ICT-driven economic and social transformation is its power to help individuals and societies to use knowledge and ideas. Our vision of an information society is one that better enable people to fulfil their potential and realise their aspirations.”[2]
• Trade promotes domestic production, foreign exchange inflow and jobs
• SMEs can compete in wide geographic area
• International markets through Internet are huge, equidistant for information flows
• National markets may grow also and may develop critical mass for e-business
• ICT competence essential for sustainability[3]
© 2004 Alex Gakuru, Way Forward Technologies - ICTAD Programme
Background
ICTAD is a not-for-profit, non-political organization that seeks diverse professionals’ participation in accelerating Africa’s development agenda. We believe it is time African Micro Entrepreneurs, Professionals, civil society, governments and the corporate sector privately collectively engaged in development. Professionals across Africa and the world are invited to this initiative through formation of their local chapters and information sharing with their counterparts. Local chapters are encouraged to domesticate the organisations Vision, Mission, and Objectives for enhanced relevance.
Consider the following: -
"The causes of poverty in Kenya include: - ¾ Lack of access to factors of production¾ Sluggish economic growth ¾ Large families and rapid population growth ¾ Lack of productive skills and low levels of education and training ¾ Bureaucratic planning, targeting and resource allocation mechanisms that limit the capacity of the poor to get help ¾ Inequitable income distribution ¾ Ill-health, the incidence of AIDS and other disabilities" [4]
The solution to each of the above calls for diverse professionals’ input in addressing Kenya’s (and by extension and the entire continent’s) poverty alleviation. A realization that private sector professionals were willing to contribute to development but lacked a collective and holistic action-oriented platform necessitated ICTAD’s inception in April 2004. ICTAD is an initiative by Way Forward Technologies, a Kenyan Information Technology consultancy firm. Upon fulfilment of statutory registration requirements, ICTAD will fully assume its own identity and propel the agenda across the continent.
African governments, institutions, and opinion shapers continue to discriminate against their own investors, entrepreneurs, professionals, and initiatives through structural denial of opportunity. Africans are just a source of taxes to sustain their governments’ recurrent expenditure and revenue for multinationals. Prosperity and the MDGs will never be realised unless the trend is reversed. Multinationals and corporates trading in Africa primarily must be influenced to include genuine commitment to Africans development beyond public relations. There is a very urgent need to address this glaring inequity to achieve development.
Government failure in investing and empower its people to realise their aspirations could lead to among others: -
(a)
Reduced development-investment expenditure (Kenya has failed to meet its 10% development budget allocation, and instead increased the public debt)(b)
Widening poverty gap (more people in Kenya are poorer than they were 1 year ago.)(c)
Higher cost of broadened government structures (Taxation increase to sustain the structures)(d)
High recurrent expenditures create fertile ground for corruption. (Corruption has re-captured headlines)Corruption all over the world targets governments’ recurrent expenditure. ICTAD’s immediate MSEs intervention policy targets compelling governments to allocate at least their GDP contribution proportion of this budget to the Micro and Small Enterprises preferential government market. Governments are the biggest consumer of goods and services and a structural market access denies them prosperity, reinforcing poverty, and condemns them to be just a source of revenue for government.
·
ICT plays a great role at both the micro and national level by increasing the effectiveness and reach of development interventions, enhancing good governance and lowering the costs of service delivery.·
The integration of ICT into overall national development strategies can help facilitate implementation, expand the scope and coverage, and increase the results for most of these factors. Moreover, development goals cannot be achieved by government efforts alone.The involvement of civil society and the private sector is crucial.
In cognisance of the role of ICTs in shaping economies, ICTAD engages the technologies as enablers, in consolidating gains and creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to maximize their potential, the key to sustainable, equitable, and logical poverty alleviation. We recognize and identify with the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). We are subordinate to the World Summit on Information Society (WSIS) and are committed to the United Nations-Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
OUR VISION
ICTAD shall be a continental organisation with local chapters in African states. The Continental Committee members shall comprise representatives from member states. The organisation shall conduct its all affairs with the private sector efficiency for a development agenda. Unparallel performance, efficiency, and delivery coupled with creative approaches to identifying and exploiting opportunities will practically demonstrate improved Africans’ social welfare.
- Harmonisation of government and private sector modus operandi
- Identify and utilise existing domestic human resource potential[5],
- To facilitate comprehensive, efficient, and up-to-date shared entrepreneurial information,
- Advocacy for removal of bureaucratic policies or structures that inhibit entrepreneurship,
- Increase MSEs contribution Africa’s GDP,
- ICTAD realises that self-respect is a prerequisite to prosperity. The organisation embeds promotion of dignity, gender equity and pursuit of pro-poor policies in its agenda to empower entrepreneurs,
- To fully engage ICTs in any situation analysis,
- Presence in all NEPAD states.
MISSION STATEMENT
ICTAD will have a country-focused mission adaptation. Local membership will be broad based to accommodate various sectors. The national committees shall conduct affairs in a business manner devoid of bureaucracy. Activities of respective chapters will be posted to the common website.
The core mission shall be: -
- Cultivation of a conducive, non-competing, complimenting, and harmonise on civil society, public, and private sectors synergy.
- Promote homegrown solutions, local content, and enterprises and tap from the continental secretariat resources.
- Establish business centres, databases, information banks, printed matter and liase with media houses.
- Engage governments on local empowerment,
- Highlight to corporations on the benefits accruing from wealthier operational markets, and social investment.
- Create friendly infrastructure for MSEs to conveniently fit into government’s taxation system.
- Reward compliant MSEs with a quota–based preferential access to government and corporate domestic markets.
- Promote self-respect by building enterprise confidence, grass root wealth to curb spread of HIV/AIDs
- Assist education sectors through exposure to ICTs, emerging technologies and their impact on development.
- To commission ICT projects that monitor project impact scientifically and report results to the continental secretariat database/website for possible replication or for lessons to be noted.
- To design administrative regions sustainable strategic plans, indicate funding (or shortfall and appeals)
- Carry out programmes in collaboration with sector-specific partners, to avoid duplication of roles and resource wastage
OUR ROLE
1. Donor community
In our pursuit of accelerated development we shall engage governments, the private sector, civil society, and the donor community in consolidating gains while advancing development efficiency. On request from donor community, we shall propose ICT efficient project approaches to curb donor resource wastage and duplication of low impact micro-initiatives. Small (or low cost) high-impact initiatives will be highlighted and continental replication sought.
- Offer technical ICT component integration framework in development programmes,
- Develop, manage and update a central shared information resource centre,
- Undertake specific studies, assessments, and situation analysis
2. Governments
Offer professional advisory services to governments by partnering with government on specific projects. The private sector-government project linkage will cultivate an efficient, and contemporary resource management culture in the government’s planning matrix. Additionally, this will minimise resource wastage and block corruption at source and optimise resources from national Diaspora.
ICTAD will work with government towards; -
§
Facilitating private sector participation in ICT use and innovation for the public sector,§
Help governments recognize value of and facilitate international trade,§
Assisting in strengthening educational systems,§
Request governments to subsidize startups and incubators,§
Accelerate real access to Internet,Target key markets with high potential.
§
Propose contemporary approaches to marketing the country3. Micro to Small Enterprises (MSEs) and Gender Equity
We target Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs) in recognition of the vital role they play in job creation as an engine for poverty alleviation. International trade will expand economic activity and strengthening their competitiveness is important. Seek ways to reduce their transaction costs to enlarge e-markets. To focus effort on
Self help over traditional direct approaches to poverty alleviation through[6]The Asian financial crisis of the late ‘90s virtually wiped out the livelihoods of people in Thailand, Korea and Indonesia and women suffered the greatest set backs during this crisis as they lost jobs and security. It is no coincidence that some of the more advanced MSE initiatives are in these economies. The prescriptions to relieve the Asian crisis were built on the traditional SAP model that continues to shift the responsibilities of social development away from government on to the private sector, the private household and by implication on to women.
Today’s economic climate continues to place a disproportionate burden on women, directly through national budget cuts in basic social service provision, indirectly through the consequences of international “free-trade”. More and more it appears that as systems crumble, women pick up the slack. Women are de facto increasingly shouldering the mantle of responsibility of looking after the young, the old, the sick and the marginalized who are no longer a “profitable” concern for either governments or corporations. It is within this economic framework that more and more women are turning to their own inventiveness, entrepreneurship and risk-taking to earn their livelihoods
A 1994 survey of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Asian Pacific Economic Community (APEC) economies found that they account for 90% of all enterprises. Between 1995 and 1997, women business operators increased by 9% while male business operators increased by 2.6%. More recent figures in Asia suggest that women head 35% of small and medium sized enterprises in the region.[7]
No of MSEs Employment Turnover (GDP)
Kenya: (65.6 % rural-based) 72% 18%
European Union 18 million 66% 55%
United States of America 25 million 53% 51%
ICTAD shall assists in: -
–Building competence for SMEs in ICT
–How new technologies help
–Giving SMEs a competitive edge through ICTs
–Importance of e-procurement for SMEs
–E-Waste: Our responsibility for maintaining a sustainable environment
(a)
Capacity building and Business Development Services–Pro-MSE Policy Advocacy
- Information and linkages to the cheapest micro-finance
[8]In the immediate term, the domestic MSE Internet subscriber base in most developing countries is too thin to make e-commerce viable for local business-to-consumer transactions. At the same time, these same enterprises provide a critic like other international finance institutions, the WBG has found that intermediary service models work best and has concluded that new financial products and initiatives must be designed and made available to MSEs[9].
Arguably, communities of business networks have been ingenious in pooling together resources and capital; the barter system continues to work from MSEs in both industrialized and developing economies, and these models can be further extended and built upon. The financial intermediary sector that services small business is pushing it’s thinking around extending it’s reach to poorer sections of the economic community and taking it’s services to those clients who might not otherwise have access. While it is early days yet, the potential use of information technologies and software systems to service the credit and savings expectations of the small entrepreneur are immense in terms of:
v
Adapting accounting software to service traditional accounting or barter systems,v
Computerizing financial reporting and performance measures making them cost effective, transparent and accessible to borrowers and,v
Providing individual borrowers with secure account accessExtending credit outreach in creative ways, such as mobile al source of employment opportunities for the world's poor, especially women in developing and emerging economies; by generating much needed revenue and low-cost jobs.
With all this in mind I think that one of the most useful and dynamic areas for the application of ICTs for the direct benefit of women’s economic empowerment is in the arena of extending and managing credit support to small business operations. As yet, this area is in its infancy.
The shortage of affordable capital is one of the most critical, if not indeed the most critical factor constraining the sustainability of micro-enterprises.
The World Bank’s micro-finance program; Consultative Group to Assist the Poorest (CGAP)[10], was set up in 1995 to respond to the demand from low-income people for access to loans which would help them to establish their enterprises on a firm financial footing. According to Women’s World Banking[11], to reach just 10% of the low-income entrepreneurs by 2025 requires about US$12.5 billion. To reach a target population of about 180 million low-income entrepreneurs by 2025 would require about US$90 billion (current total aid transfers are valued at approx. US$54 billion and the WBG’s total disbursements in FY2002 was US$11.5 billion).
4. Corporate and Multi-Nationals
• Private sector is the critical element
• Motivations of private sector include profit, market control and maximum return to them
• Motivations need channeling to provide jobs, growth and competitive markets
• Enlightened firms will look beyond short-term profit and maximize longer term positioning
5. Community Development
• Publish community development projects and their relevance and impact at the grass root level
• Identify and highlight community self-help, savings and credit schemes groups, enterprises and their
impact on poverty alleviation, health, education, gender, and youth.
6. Translating Beliefs into Action
1.
Work with like-minded individuals, organisations, corporates, government ministries or departments2.
Generate an organisational profit for donor independence and sustainability3.
Encourage foreign direct investment and ROI to our poverty/prosperity initiatives[1] G8 Okinawa Charter
[2] Presentation: “ICTs and role in Development”
E. Njenga, Association for Progressive Communications (apc.org)
See also Preface N. Primo, A.W. Khan, Preface, Gender Issues in the Information Society (UNESCO, 2003) et al
[3] Presentation: Dr David Syz, Trade NOT Aid: “Information Society and Trade: The Impact for Poverty Alleviation and Wealth Creation” December 11, 2003.
[4] See GoK / UNICEF, Kenya's Socio-Economic, Demographic and Cultural Background, First Kenya Country Report on Implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (GoK/UNICEF, 1998) pp. 6
[5] A discussion with Nick Evans, How the Americans did it: - “The got somebody who could just about do it, and they did it” (May 2004)
[6] Presentation: Dr David Syz, State Secretary for Economic Affairs: “Information Society and Trade: The Impact for Poverty Alleviation and Wealth Creation” December 11, 2003.
[7] The Increasing Importance of Systematic Support for Women in Small Enterprise Operations, Nidhi Tandon,
(World Bank Group Review of Small Business Activities 2001: their definition of medium sized enterprise is Medium enterprise: up to 300 employees, total assets of up to $15 million and total annual sales of up to $15 million.)
[8] Micro finance is serious business. About 1200 institutions worldwide provide micro credit loans to 13.8 million people for a sum of $7billion. Nearly all the loans are repaid, with interest, loans sizes vary, but a mere $150 is the typical amount borrowed. More than 75% of loans are made to women, who are more likely to reap (Getting e-commerce to Africa: Red Herring article March 6th 2001).
[9] WBG review of small business activities 2001, p.26
[10] see www.cgap.org for further information
[11] Nancy Barry, “The missing links: financial systems that work for the majority” June 1995
Prostitution laws in the UK facing overhaul
The UK government has launched its first rethink on prostitution in generations, saying brothels could be decriminalised. Home Secretary David Blunkett says he wants to meet head-on "the devastating consequences of prostitution". But he says communities must also decide whether, as a nation, we accept or challenge the sex trade. Ministers have pledged that any possible new laws would target organised crime and pimping. Official estimates suggest there are 80,000 people involved in prostitution in the UK - four out of five of them women. More than nine out of 10 are Class A drug users and many of them have been prostitutes since childhood. Ministers are also particularly concerned by the rise in international trafficking of women by organised crime. In the four-month consultation, ministers are appealing to the public to help overhaul the law in key areas of prostitution. Mr Blunkett said his priorities were: - to prevent girls being coerced onto the streets - to protect those already in the sex trade - to bring to justice criminals controlling the lives of these women.While ministers say they are entirely open-minded on the way forward, the consultation details a number of possible changes in the law. These include creating "managed tolerance zones", registering sex trade workers and licensing brothels. But the Home Office also says none of these reforms has been shown to be foolproof in other countries - and in some cases have made the situation worse.
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MY LIFE AS A PROSTITUTE
The only thing I can see would help us is if prostitution was
decriminalised. But people don't see it like that
Jane, Manchester prostitute
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Mr Blunkett said: "The realities of prostitution - both for those involved and for the wider community - are often brutal. It involves the abuse of children and serious exploitation of adults.
"There are important tasks ahead of us and there are no easy answers or one single solution.
"Prevention is the key to alleviate the circumstances that make young people vulnerable to coercion into prostitution."
Some cities are already urging the government to permit trials of managed tolerance zones.
Liverpool City Council is expected to ask for permission to establish a controlled prostitution area - but ministers have stopped short of giving them the go-ahead.
"I am aware that some towns and cities are keen to introduce a managed area," said Mr Blunkett.
"However, there is an opposing view, equally forcefully expressed, that such areas are difficult to introduce and maintain and that they lead to degradation and squalor on the streets.
Communities 'must help'
"We have included this issue in the consultation because we need a thorough public debate and we need strong reassurance on the practical issues before contemplating a move in that direction.
"Government alone cannot address [these issues]. We need communities to help us."
The Home Office paper follows four months of internal government debate on methods used by other countries in dealing with the "difficult issue" of prostitution.
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We oppose tolerance zones because they're really an excuse to avoid
decriminalising
Cari Mitchell
English Collective of Prostitutes |
A group representing prostitutes across the UK told BBC News Online the laws should be completely abolished.
Home Office Minister Caroline Flint said they wanted to look at the prevention of prostitution and how to target pimps and traffickers.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We're looking at projects to actually divert these women, engage with these women and help them out of it.
"I don't believe many of these women do prostitution out of choice if there was an alternative."
Cari Mitchell of the English Collective of Prostitutes, which provides support and advice for prostitutes across the UK, wants the industry decriminalised and made part of the community.
She told BBC News Online: "We oppose tolerance zones because they're really an excuse to avoid decriminalising, which is the only way to begin dealing with the stigma of the prostitution laws."
Increasing penalties for kerb-crawlers drives more women underground, she said.
Kenyans voted UGLIEST people in AfricaJune 29 2004 at 2:28 PM
This has got to be the meanest mail I've ever
read but funny, it really cracked me up! Strange sense of humour perhaps.
Guess Kenya needs to work on brains since we supposedly lack beauty. Long live
free primary education!
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Kenyans were last weekend voted the funniest looking
people in Africa. With 48 participating nations in the
Annual Most Beautiful People of Africa Awards, held at
the Gregor Theatre in Bloemfontein SA, Kenya took the
last position, dislodging Zambia and reclaiming the
title it held in 2000. It posted 7pts out of a
possible
540. The top position was taken by Rwanda, followed by
Cameroon and then Ethiopia as second runner up. The
last three positions were Kenya at 48, Zambia at 47,
then Gabon, at 46. The judges said they gave their
points based on presentation, physical appearance,
grooming, communication and other areas.
Coincidentally this came just a week after an article
on Kenyans appeared in the Pretorian Bird. The
article,
in the entertainment section, claims Kenya has the
funniest looking president on earth, and a VP with a
strange looking head. It goes on to say that Kikuyu
women and Luo men pose the most weird features. Read
this: "Women from the Kikuyu community have small
legs,
totally no figures, and a little exaggerated heads.
They lack good behinds and those who have them look
like inflated balloons. They are shaped like pyramids
turned upside down. A big upper frame and an almost
invisible lower bit.
Luo men on the other side have distorted facial
features..say big lips and huge noses or should we
call
them knobs. Kikuyu men are also unproportional, and
most of them are stunted. They walk leaning forward.
Plus they have long rusty teeth." "Those from Kisii
Districts are small people, the average Kenyan man
will
stop growing at 5'2"...5'4" tops. Kisii men have mango
shaped heads, and bowed legs, a feature also common in
their Luhya counterparts." He goes on to describe
Kalenjins as "Funny little pitch black emaciated
fellows, raking in millions from the track. However
long they'll remain in Europe, their features never
improve"."Nandis will have rounded foreheads, and
thin,
long arms". While occupants at the coast province are
said to have "Wide faces, almost like a widescreen
telly, especially taitas, and durumas"
"Kenyans do not know the meaning of good grooming" The
writer says. "The women hate their dark skins and opt
for mercury bleaches which mess them up. The result: A
scary (unpigmented) light face, black legs, and a
black
back". As much as the Kenyan accent, of standard
English is admired, "there's too much mother tongue
interference, common in Merus, Kisiis, and Kikuyus".
While Luos were pointed out as to be suffering from
chronic 'braggartitis'.
The research funded by the institute of Primate
Research at the University of St. Kenkley, also noted
that Kenyan men are very marketable in the Kimberely
area of SA and parts of the Guateng region. Reason,
they are big, hopeless spenders.
Moral lesson, "Be careful dating a Kenyan online."
Accepting the Award Ambassador Kinyesi, complained of
biased judging. Also present were dignitaries from all
around Africa.