The Kenyanist

The Kenyanist

By Kamau WairuriScienceSocial Sciences
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The Kenyanist episodes

  • Forced Evictions in Kenya

    This episode explores the legal, social, and political dimensions of forced evictions in Kenya with Pauline Vata. She is a seasoned human rights lawyer with expertise in land, housing, and natural resource governance issues, positively influencing public policy in formulating laws that safeguard rights to housing and land.

    The discussion starts with the legal instruments that the government can rely on to understand the procedures they should follow when carrying out evictions, they then proceed to discuss one of the most significant court cases that has emerged from the forced evictions, the Mitu-Bell case, in which the residents of informal settlements known as Mitumba village next to Wilson Airport were uprooted from their habitation by the government, on grounds that their settlements lay on the flight path to Wilson Airport, thus posing danger to the security of the public and air travelers by depositing unregulated garbage that would then attract birds which could bring down aircrafts.

    They also look at the task force formed to come up with laws to protect people living in informal settlements, some of the solutions to forced evictions, and why even after the Mitu-Bell case, we still have some evictions that don't follow the legal requirements.

    This episode was produced by Kamau Wairuri. Sound editing by Hope Nabalayo and the cover art designed by Mutugi Njeru.

    You can follow us on all social media platforms @thekenyanist and you can listen to all our episodes on www.podpage.com or anywhere you get your podcasts. 

    Articles by Pauline Vata:

    Pauline Vata, Mitu-Bell Case Has Restored Much Needed Faith in the Judiciary, THE STANDARD (Jan. 26, 2021)

    Hakijamii Executive Director Ms. Pauline Vata sheds light on the World Habitat Day

    Young woman’s quest for land justice among the marginalized - The Nation

    52 min
  • Forced evictions in Kenya

    In this episode, we explore the legal, social and political dimensions of forced evictions in Kenya with Pauline Vata. She is a seasoned human rights lawyer with expertise in issues of land, housing and natural resource governance.

    Pauline is a passionate campaigner for human rights in housing and land matters, positively influencing public policy in the formulation of laws that safeguard rights to housing and land.

    This episode was produced by Kamau Wairuri. Sound editing by Hope Nabalayo and the cover art designed by Mutugi Njeru.

    You can follow us on all social media platforms @thekenyanist and you can listen to all our episodes on www.podpage.com or anywhere you get your podcasts.

    1 hr 12 min
  • Kenya’s 2022 Elections & The East African Community (EAC)
    In this episode of The Kenyanist, Sylvanus Wekesa hosts Nicodemus Minde who is a lecturer of International Relations at the United States International University (USIU) in Nairobi, Kenya. The discussion is focused on the rising concern in Kenya’s August 2022 elections in regards to the economic security and political considerations in the East African region; with stiff competition between the two leading candidates, namely the government backed opposition leader Raila Odinga and the current deputy president, William Ruto.
    Dr Minde gives a brief overview of the current East African Community (EAC) scene, with the recent admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as a member country; now the EAC being made up of DRC itself, together with South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and the original founder countries, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The question answered here is the consequence of the DRC joining the community in terms of the benefits it has and the overall effects its admission has to the rest of the region.
    The discussion steers towards the current democratic states of each country within the EAC and how the election results would affect the same, appreciating the fact that Kenya serves as a model country to the rest in terms of its democratic, political and even social advancements. With the other member countries being directly tied to Kenya’s all-round status, the question of how their relations would change in the case of either leading presidential candidate winning the seat emerges, and Dr Minde gives an overview of what to foresee in either case, noting that there would be either positive or negative ramifications in shaping the regional integration of the future of the EAC, depending on the election outcome.
    The region having seen emerging trends of alliances, the discussion delves into the possibility of leaders fulfilling the original EAC agenda of being a people-driven organisation, rather than being elite-dominated. This further goes into the general understanding of the role the EAC is expected to perform among the new generation of leaders and how political parties and aspirants would align their manifestos to achieve the same. However, this is challenged by the key political agendas being driven by both candidates, Ruto and Odinga, being more inward in their approaches, of which leads to the discussion of the radical shift in the status quo in terms of both regional and international politics in the case of either candidate winning, which finalises the episode.
    51 min
  • A political economy of Kenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR)
    In this episode, Kamau Wairuri hosts Eugene Ngumi, a public affairs consultant based in Nairobi, to discuss the politics of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) in Kenya.
    They trace the origins of the SGR, going back to the building of the old meter-gauge railway by the colonial government, it’s virtual collapse in the 1990s and the attempts to revive it in the early 2000s. After a concession attempt failed, the SGR was conceptualised during the Kibaki-era under the Vision 2030.
    They then proceed to discuss the building of the Railway by the Jubilee government, noting the congruence of internal and external factors in shaping the project. They explore the challenges that the project has faced including the withdrawal of funding by the Chinese as well as question about the procurement process and its viability.
    They conclude the discussion with an exploration of the impact this project will have on how future Kenyan governments approach development and whether the SGR may — rather painfully— end up being a massive white elephant.
    48 min
  • The making of a community organizer
    Kamau Wairuri hosts Billian Okoth Ojiwa (@BillianOjiwa) to discuss his work as a community organiser in Kenya. Billian is the founder of the Billian Music Family, a community building organisations based in Mathare in Nairobi. Hosting a population of over 500,000 people, Mathare is one of the largest informal settlements in Nairobi.
    They discuss Billian’s childhood in Mathare, his early music career, and his eventual shift towards community organising work. We discuss the work his organisation has been doing to improve people’s lives in Mathare. They also discuss his efforts to engage in electoral politics and the price he has had to pay for this.
    For any comments, questions, as well as guest and topic recommendations, please reach out to the host on email: [email protected]
    59 min
  • Financing Development at the grassroots: From Harambee to CDF

    Show notes 

    In this episode, Kamau Wairuri hosts Ken Opalo to discuss the financing of development at the grassroots in Kenya.  Ken is an Assistant Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University at Washington DC (USA).  See Ken’s Profile here.

    They discuss the nature and impact of the Harambee System in the post-colonial period in Kenya. The opposition of parliamentarians to Harambee, which became very expensive for them, led the MPs in the 9th parliament to establish the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), through which 2.5% of the national budget would be allocated to the constituencies to finance development projects. They discuss how this fund is operating and what it tells us about how politics work in Kenya.

    For any comments, questions, as well as guest and topic recommendations, please reach out to the host on email: [email protected]

    Sources:

    The discussion is based on Ken Opalo’s paper in the World Development, which can be accessed here (paywall): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X21004095

    An earlier version of the paper (Working Paper) is freely available here: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2021-147-formalizing-clientelism-Kenya-Harambee-CDF.pdf

    58 min
  • Kenya’s Foreign Policy in Uhuru Kenyatta’s era
    Kamau Wairuri hosts Sylvanus Wekesa to discuss Kenya's Foreign Policy during the presidency of Uhuru Kenyatta (2013 - to date). We have a wide ranging conversation ranging on the impact of President Kenyatta as Kenya's foremost diplomat. We discuss the anti-ICC politics as well as the mixed results of Kenya's foreign efforts including the pursuit of the Chairperson's position in the African Union (AU), leadership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) seat. We also note the regional politics -- East African Community (EAC) and the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
    Sylvanus Wekesa is a Research Associate and is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Leadership Studies with reference to Security and Development at King’s College London. Our discussion is based on a blog article in his blog Africanist view (https://www.africanistview.com/).
    Sources:
    Does the lack of candidates in the upcoming AU elections signal the waning interest by Kenya in continental affairs?
    45 min
  • The Cost of Politics in Kenya
    In this episode, Kamau Wairuri talks to Tom Mboya, a governance consultant, on the cost of politics in Kenya. Our discussion is based on the findings of a study that Tom conducted with Prof Karuti Kanyinga on the topic. The study is a part of a global study. The findings can be found on https://www.costofpolitics.net/ 
    Tom and I discussed how much candidates spend in their election campaigns and why this cost varies by party, region and gender of the candidate. We also talked about the impact that the rising costs of election campaigns is having on Kenyan politics, including how it influences the kind of people who can offer themselves as candidates for election. 
    References: 
    Karuti Kanyinga & Tom Mboya. The cost of politics in Kenya Implications for political participation and development. (Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD), London and Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy (NIMD), The Hague, July 2021).
    56 min
  • The politics of street naming in Nairobi
    In the first episode of The Kenyanist, Kamau Wairuri (host) talks to Melissa Wanjiru-Mwita, a lecturer in Spatial Planning at the Technical University of Kenya in Nairobi. Melissa argues that street names reflect what those in power want us to remember or forget.  
    In the first segment, we go back in time to trace the emergence of Nairobi City around the Railway Depot and how the streets were named. Noting that after Kenya became a Crown Colony in 1920, the British were more deliberate about naming the streets. One of the ways of claiming a space is to imprint a name on it. Melissa notes that the Africans were marginalised while some Asians got recognition.  
    In the second segment, we trace the renaming of the streets in Nairobi in the post-colonial period. We note that many streets took the names of Kenya (such as Dedan Kimathi and Harry Thuku) and African nationalists (such as Albert Luthuli and Kwame Nkrumah). However, many of the freedom fighters, including the Kapenguria 6 who had been detained by the colonial government were not honoured in this way. We also note that many streets were named after people who had close ties to Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, the first president of Kenya, even where their contribution to the struggle for independence may not be commensurate with the honour. We examine the politics of naming a street after Tom Mboya, the charismatic politician who was assassinated in Nairobi in 1969, especially the refusal to rename Government Road after him. The street was then renamed 'Moi Avenue' after Daniel arap Moi took over as the second President of Kenya. In this section, we also discuss the gender dynamics of street naming noting how women heroes of the liberation movement such as Field Marshall Muthoni Nyanjiru are not recognised.  
    In the third segment, we look at the contemporary period. We contrast the processes of renaming of streets in Nairobi after Prof Wangari Maathai and Wambui Kenyatta. We examine the more heated debates on the renaming of streets. We note that some renaming of street such as the renaming of Accra Road after Kenneth Matiba and Cross Street after Charles Rubia have been widely accepted. However, the renaming of a street after Fidel Odinga in Mombasa and Francis Atwoli in Nairobi have been met with resistance. Similarly, the failure of the County Government of Mombasa to rename the Mama Ngina Waterfront after Mekatilili wa Menza also raised some acrimony. the Melissa calls for a better legal framework to address the issues of street naming, including outlawing the naming of streets after a living person. She also calls for better recognition of women and go beyond politicians to also honour athletes and cultural icons. 
    Mentioned:
    Melissa Wanjiru-Mwita. Nairobi’s street names reveal what those in power want to remember, or forget. The Conversation. (July 30, 2020). (02.09.2021)
    Melissa Wanjiru. Street Toponymy and the Decolonisation of the Urban Landscape in Post-Colonial Nairobi, Journal of Cultural Geography, 34, 1 (2017), pp. 1-23.
    52 min

About The Kenyanist

From the publisher's feed

In ‘The Kenyanist’, we step back from the rush of current affairs to take a broader and deeper view of issues that Kenyans fight about.