Kenya Action Alerts

(1) Take three simple steps, by sms and email, to end police violence in Kenya.

(2) Read about the terrific results of direct action!

(3) Talk to your Kenyan MP. Create a culture of political accountability.


(4) Join the listserve of Kenyans For Peace, Truth and Justice

The home of my activism as a Kenyan, and my political work for Kenya, is Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice (KPTJ).

KPTJ is a coalition of over 30 Kenyan and East African legal, human rights, and governance organizations, together with ordinary Kenyans and friends of Kenya, convened in the immediate aftermath of 2007's civil coup.

KPTJ maintains that there can be no peace without justice - political, economic, and social - for all Kenyans. Justice requires that we face the truth of our history, and of the 2007 election, to address the deep chasms and inequities in Kenyan society.

During the post-election crisis, KPTJ generated vital professional analysis, backed by verified data, of the electoral fraud and ensuing country-wide violence. KPTJ's reasoned position statements were used by the UN, the European Union, the US State Department, Senate, and Congress, and the African Union, to bring Kibaki's Party of National Unity (PNU) to the negotiating table.

KPTJ also mobilised progressives within Kenya, the Kenyan Diaspora, and the Pan-African movement, to actively campaign for a just resolution to the crisis.

KPTJ is currently active in the monitoring, implementation and enforcement of the mediation agreement.

Petina Gappah

If you haven't heard of her yet, you will.

And not just because she's a Shailja Fan :-).

Drumroll, please, for my fabulously talented Zimbabwean sister-wordsmith. Who has just clinched

A Stellar Groundbreaking Book Deal.

For (wait for it):

1) TWO books

2) On TWO continents

3) In no less than FOUR languages.

No further comment.

Githongo. Cut. A. Deal.

There. I've said it. Because I've been waiting seven frigging days for someone else to point out the obvious. Someone better qualified.

Like all the brave anti-corruption crusaders who have worked their guts out for the past 3 years, here on the ground in Kenya, while Githongo was "in exile" in England.

So he got tired of exile. Who can blame him? They offered him a deal he couldn't refuse:

You can come home, John. We'll guarantee safety for you and your family, and here's a nice fat cheque for your moving expenses. All you have to do is say Amnesty every time you open your mouth. Practice for the journalists now: Amnesty. Amnesty. Amnesty.

What's mindblowing is the disingenuity of his proposal:

Amnesty in return for full confession and voluntary surrender of stolen wealth, because the blunt object of prosecution only causes delays.

Voluntary surrender of stolen wealth? Did you say voluntary? Even a 6-year-old in Kenya knows that possession is not just nine-tenths of the law - it IS the law. Githongo of all people absolutely knows the impossibility of securing the return of the billions looted from Kenya. What's he planning to do - send Kenyan bailiffs to repossess 10,000 acre Australian ranches? Impound luxury vehicles in Paris? Get Swiss banks to turn over the contents of secret accounts?