The night was a great success: all the bands for brilliant a really good vibe. I would like to thank you all for your support we raised £340 this is a lot of money for the group. I hope it is the start of a good thing-the solidarity between disabled people and non-disabled people. Between us in the UK and Kenya and other parts of the world
if you have any idea or would like anymore info please get in touch
Thank you again!!
Sonny B Walker http://www.myspace.com/sonntbwalker
St Peter's Band http://www.myspace.com/stpetersband
Amasiah http://www.myspace.com/amaziah1ness
Nearest tube Brixton, Busses 3,N3 2N2
Free door, donations welcome for more info umjojakenya@gmail.com Lookforward to meeting you there please tell all your friends it will be a good night!!
News from Kenya
29th February
Well again it has been a long time since I wrote, things my friends say that for them things have returned to normal.[yesterday] is a good day..... Reports now say that all the talks have paid off!! “Kenyan President Mwai KIBAKI and opposition leader Raila ODINGA signed a power sharing agreement ending a two-month standoff that commenced with the contested re-election of KIBAKI in December 2007. The deal known as the National Accord and Reconciliation Act, brokered by former UN Secretary Kofi Annan, will create a prime minister position with executive powers for ODINGA. Additionally, the agreement will allocate cabinet posts based on party seats; create two deputy prime minister positions; and also ensure a full review of the current 45-year-old constitution. Parliament is expected to convene on March 6 to consider legislation to implement the agreement.”
It will still take a long time to sort things out on the ground. Basics are still sort and prices are high but this crisis is hopeful and the beginning of its end. As Kenya recovers who is thinking of the disabled people?
22nd Jan 08
Well it's been a long time since I wrote on this blog, my excuse is I have been trying to work things out watching things very closely but I still don't really understand much. There has been lots of international pressure but neither side is backing down from there positions. People are very angry and also scared. I spoke to my friend the other day and she said that for the first time she had actually feared for her life nobody was going to work or school.
What of the disabled community in this violence? In ordinary life disabled people are on the whole the most marginalised group in society; many are isolated and not able to move. In times of conflict the situation gets worse for everybody…… is anybody thinking about that?
It seems that we're waiting for one mediator after another, Desmond Tutu didn't seem to be able to do that much and now Kofi Annan is there today. I thought that perhaps once they had sat together in the parliament and the ODM had won the election for position of Speaker things may get better it is hard to find out what is actually going on how many people are dead and what the real situation is. I guess that in times of such heightened tension it is hard to know because both sides feel so strongly that they are speaking the truth. Some are looking up the Kenya and saying that at least they're fighting for the democracy fighting against corrupt politicians fighting for change….. just extremely sad that the only way you can get noticed by the international community is to be violent and for the violence to have an economic impact, yes I know that sounds cynical but I really believe that it is true .
Although I did not get to go to Kenya this time I'm still planning to hold a benefit gig for the group, because when Kenya emerges from this crisis they will need our support and solidarity even more. Please get in touch with any offers of support in the form of playing music suggesting a good venue and all organizations I could approach.
Keep watching, and hoping and making change!
4th January 2008
Well as you may imagine I've been watching the situation very closely and have been learning some things and making some conclusions. Although, like I said before it is very difficult because I think it’s more complicated than what I could possibly know.
Yesterday I cancelled my ticket to Nairobi as the foreign office are advising nothing but essential travel and even if I got to Nairobi I could not get to Kisumu. I plan to go when the situation changes if possible and still want to hold the fund-raising benefit mentioned.
So far over 300 people are dead and thousands displaced. On Sunday Mwai Kibaki was re-elected as president. Although the opposition strongly dispute this and are angry at what they say was a riged election. Certainly from watching the results come in on the Internet something looked very dodgy, all of a sudden Kibaki had a majority and was, less than an hour later, sworn into office. International observers say there were irregularities and that the election did not meet international standards.
Raila Odinga, the opposition leader of the Orange Democratic movement (ODM) and his supporters are calling for Kibaki to step down. They are saying their democratic rights have been violated and some are even saying that they are willing to be killed for democracy.
People are shocked because Kenya is seen as a stable country and is the economic hub of East Africa. In fact because of the violence trucks have not been able to leave Mombasa, there is now aid and oil shortages and people are scared that things will get worse.
Reading the reports it would be easy to draw a conclusion that the violence is purely tribal. Kenya is a very tribal country there are 42 different tribes. Kibaki is from the Kikuyu Tribe, and Odinga Luhya. The Kikuyu are being targeted. Kisumu is the home town of Odinga and therefore has been one of the worst hit.
Although sometimes I get the impression that it is all too easy to put these things down to ethnic tensions. When people are poor and feel disenfranchised and powerless they are likely to get angry at the people they feel are denying them their rights. I'm not saying that the violence is not being played out via ethnic groups, and I do not claim to know enough about the history and culture of Kenya to make the strongest argument. It seems to me that this is always the way, watching things lately neither politician is particularly willing to climb down in any way not even to negotiate a solution. Solutions have been suggested by the international community as well as voices inside Kenya but of course pride is more important than people's lives! Perhaps this is a male thing, perhaps it is a symptom of the patriarchal capitalist system with Colonial history mixed in.
A friend of mine here in the UK’s family house has been looted and they have had to flee. I spoke to my friends just outside Kisumu yesterday and although they are fine they are staying in the house and have not been out for the last 4 days. There is still no transport going in or out, most of the shops have been looted as some of the banks so there is no money, but more importantly even if there was there's very little food to buy. Desmond Tutu is in Nairobi at present while I have been writing this it is reported on the BBC ( although they are not confirmed) that Kibaki has said that he may be open to some form of coalition government, Let's hope that the situation calms down so that they can try to solve the issue.
01/01/2008
Well the situation is still very bad, Kisumu is under curfew and the killing still goes on. from reports people can not go in or out it looks like I will not be going as planned/ The Friends I was planing to stay with are safe- very worried, there is shocked because they have not seen anything like this before....saying maybe It will be better in a week or so. As for me I'm glued to the world service, the Internet, email and phone for as much information as possible . As I sit here in my PJ's it is impossible to know what it is really like
Kenyan elections - Kisumu is in trouble
late December '08
Oh my god !! All day I have been at my mums house with my family and my friend who’s family are in Kusmu. We watched the results when I spoke to my friends yesterday they were happy about what looked like a result. Democracy is existing and all was going….. Now it is going bang. The Kenyan electoral commition declared Kibaki the winner, les than an hour after that he was sworn in as president. Some of course are happy and some are not!!!
What of the disabled community in this violence?
The opposition say that the election was rigged and are very angry. Kusumu is in a bad way, now I will not pretend to know anything about Kenya really, from what I can tell, have heard and have been told . Kisumu is the home town and stronghold of the opposition “hundreds of Mr Odiga’s supporter took to the streets of Kisumu to protest at what they believe is a rigged result” Members of the Kikuyu group and others houses have been looted and set on fire.
As we sat in our warm Christmas-y living room we learned that my friend's mother’s house has been looted and there were fears of it being burned. I can't really imagine what it must feel like to be there at the moment and even worse maybe to have loved ones there when you are not sure if they are safe. Needless to say I will be watching and listening closely to see if my trip will go ahead. I saw one quote “this is the worst day Kenya has seen since independence”
What will happen next???
My thoughts are with people there
Disabled people building links and solidarity to gain our rights
In 1995 when I was 13 I went to the fourth world women's conference in Beijing with my mum. There we met an amazing Kenyan woman who works particularly for the liberation of disabled people. Ten years later when my mum went to see her now good friend in Kenya I joined her out there. I met the Emuhaya group of rural disabled people who are organising themselves to act as a support group and organise against the injustice that they face as disabled people.
In Kenya and all over the world disabled people are isolated. They often don't have access to education or work. In some cases people can't get out of their houses. The stigma is so strong that families feel shame and people are kept inside.
Since I last went the Emuhuya group have also started an income generation programme and have agricultural projects, HIV/AIDS advice and I'm sure lots of other projects I will go and find out about. How cool is that?!
The thing that struck me most when I went to see this group was when they said "it's such a pleasure to have you here, we have never seen a disabled white person before.." They thought disability was an "African curse"! Since then it has always been my aim to go back. Now I'm going - January 2008 is the time!
I want to get a chance to see them again and to start to build links and real friendship across continents ... this is just the start ... come with me if you dare!
All too often images of African people are portrayed as poor and weak when in fact there are groups all over the world who are organising for their rights and reclaiming their dignity.
