COWARDLY ACTS – Kenyans in the ‘diaspora’
An article by Clay Muganda as appearing on page 4 of the Daily Nation’s “Weekend” magazine of Friday, 21st March 2008 (reproduced verbatim):
There is little they do not know, and they never lose an opportunity to remind Kenyans at home that they are with “it” -whatever it is.
These are the Kenyans in the Diaspora – the self-appointed “law enforcement officers” who check on the excesses of those of at home.
Whenever there is a natural disaster in Kenya, and as usual, the GOK is slow in dealing with its effects, they are the first to tell us how things are done in the countries where they have taken refuge.
I insist on “refuge” because if they were as patriotic as they claim and knowledgeable about the ways of the world, they wouuldn’t be “assisting” through the mail.
During the last elections, they were steadfast in buying space in local newspapers to tell us what they liked and hated. Labelling themselves as professionals, they had all sorts of “advice” on governance.
But their tribal footprints were all over the internet, all in the name of patriotism. With their
much-touted knowledge, they forgot that, as somebody once said, patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.
When the chaos erupted – and you can even say they had a hand in it through their inflammatory advertisements – they went silent. Those of them who were on “holiday” boarded the first flight (economy class of course) to the Diaspora – or wherever else they have replaced dish-washing machines. Cowards!
If they are such professionals as they claim, how come none of them had any solution to the post-election crisis? Now that some “foreigners” have done the dirty work for us, Kenyans in the Dias-Wherever will start “advising” us again. Methinks they should stick to their “patriotic” duty of working their body parts and sending money back home. They can keep their lofty
ideas about governance to themselves.
Sent by Mundia Kamau.
Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2008 11:39:00
Subject: COWARDLY ACTS – Kenyans in the ‘diaspora’ (An article by Clay Muganda)
Kamau,
Could someone remind this lunatic Clay Muganda that not all Kenyans in Diaspora were part of the flashy newspaper adverts in Kenya which were paid for by PNU operatives and Prof. Ngugi wa Thiong’o.
Secondly, not all Kenyans abroad are dish washers like he would like to portray us and lastly,
PNU or Orange, Kenyans abroad bring more money to Kenya than all the country’s development partners put together so we’re a constituency worth respecting.
We’re not America or Britain that you can hold at ransom for slavery and colonialism. We don’t owe Kenya anything, if at all, the country owes us the right to vote abroad.
-James
Posted on behalf of James by Jaluo Press.
I totally agree with you James. Its high time Kenyans at home gave due respect to Kenyans in diaspora. And may I remind Clay Muganda that the Kshs 40 billion that we in diaspora send home annually ( and the figure is growing!!) can do very much for the economy and is helping keep thousands of Kenyan children in schools and colleges; and feeding thousands of households in Kenya. May I remind Clay Muganda that we are all fighting hard for Kenya to stabilize so that we can invest our hard earned money ( be it through dishwashing or whatever means we earn it) in Kenya and help improve Kenya for the likes of Clay Muganda to enjoy.
This Mundia Fellow only knows a particular Kenyan in the diaspora and has not widened his knowledge on what Kenyans abroad really do and what made them take the steps they took when they took the so called refuge in other countries. These are brave Kenyans who dared to dream. May God bless them. All those people who are now huggling over leadership and to a great extent control Kenya’s future were once given a chance to see Kenya from outside Kenya. It is only that their Kenyanization that has killed the lofty ideas that they gathered while they were part of diaspora.
On what people do to pay for their much valued education, I would like to remind Mundia that Jomo Kenyatta once herded cows in Russia while he was away from Kenya. Did this make him a worse Kenyan or a better Kenyan? I believe he became a better Kenyan because he learnt what cannot be learnt in a Kenyan village.
For those Kenyans who are doing the so called dish washing, thanks alot for your courage. You are building a foundation that shall not be shaken by the Kenyan turf wars. Let me remind Mundia that this kind of work is available for those studying and it pays enough to help meet more than is expected. After school these Kenyans get very good jobs and that explains why they can holiday at home and can inject money to the precariuos Kenyan economy.
just keep your lofty ideas about governance to yourselves. no one is disputing what you do there to get the money that you send.Keep sending the money, good people, right now, kenyans at home need it. arent you aware that safaricom IPO is opening very soon.
Kenyans abroad represent diverse constituencies just in the same way we have different regions in Kenya.
Here in Germany for example, you will find those who came to study, those who came through the beach boy/girl routes as well as young ladies who to spend a gap year here as nannys. There are also those who excelled in academics in Kenya, laboured for some time before proceeding here on postgraduate sponsorship. But we have to accord each and every individual with the dignity that he or she deserves in the choices they have made.
Looking at the past experience of violence in Kenya, I would say that some of it emanates from intolerance or the misplaced pride of people like Clay Muganda. It is very irrational to undermine people because they clean toilets or wash dishes. Infact you congratulate them because they are not dependent on you or placing any burden on other public finances.
Date: Sun, 23 Mar 2008 20:22:25
Subject: RE: COWARDLY ACTS – Kenyans in the ‘diaspora’ (An article by Clay Muganda)
Clay Muganda in her article displays the worst kind of colonial hangover by thinking that people working as dishwashers or nannys are looked down upon in the diaspora! I would bet that she has a maid and a security guard at her place who she pays a pittance for a salary. She will be suprised to know that while capitalism was exported from the west we in Africa have perfected it so that the poor are mistreated, underpaid and overworked. In the west they have been quick to enact laws that protect the working class and the gap between the rich and the poor is not as wide
as what we have in Kenya. If she knew better she would be quite for even though she resided in Kenya she is part of an elite that comments on issues affecting the poor from the comfort of their middleclass offices/homes…. (the cost of Nation Newspaper can feed an entire family in Kibera for a day).
I am a Kenyan living in Western Australia and find it unacceptable that she has the audacity to dismiss those of us who have rellocated to other countries in and out of Africa.
I am dissapointed because her article is not based on any analysis and is sheer propoganda.
As Kenyans in Western Australia we joined in condemning the violence, a call for mediation and message of peace. While we might have had our own individual tribal affiliation we did not use them as the basis to undermine each other. There is not a single incident that has come to my knowledge of Kenyans in the diaspora fighting along tribal lines. In every major city here Kenyans held peace meetings and prayers and then started looking at ways of assisting financially, if that is not patriotic then
am at a loss of what the likes of Clay Muganda want.
Truth be told Kenyans in the diaspora come in all walks of life but there is no denying the fact that there is a significant number of experienced
professionals who have the knowledge of what ails Kenya, of course that does not mean that there is lack of such knowledge within Kenya. I believe we need a more constructive debate that will address the issue of how best to incorporate Kenyans in the diaspora in building Kenya.
The reality is that being in the diaspora allows Kenyans to work closely with each other and slowly erodes tribalism. That is almost similar to people
living in the major urban areas. The case of Kibera and Korogocho(and most slums) is almost an extension of a rural area since the settlements are along ethnic lines. That partly explains why ethinc tensions grew into violent confrontations. Lets not shy away from the fact that in the slums since the era of private developers grabbing land in mid 1990s we have had tensions and the election was a trigger. Unless we address the issue of land, resources and livelihoods it will be very difficult to have sustainable peace.
We might not have the solutions from abroad, but we will be damned if we kept quite particulary during these times.
Oti
Western Australia.
Posted on behalf of Oti by Jaluo Press.
This Clay Muganda chap is infact a plagiarist who copies articles from the internet. see the following sites
http://thinkersroom.blogspot.com/2005/03/clay-court-affair-part-i.html
http://breakingnewskenya.wordpress.com/2008/03/22/clay-muganda-you-are-not-the-boss-of-me-so-shut-up/
Perhaps Clay Muganda is very bitter about not having an opportunity to travel out of Kenya? We should contribute for him to visit Europe,so that his small closed mind may be open.
CRITICS OF KENYANS ABROAD ARE JUST NAIVE
Occasionally, one comes across a scurrilous attack on Kenyans abroad in the Kenyan media by Kenyans at home who hate their Diaspora counterparts allegedly because members of this gigantic and growing Constituency are “washing dishes†abroad, “cleaning crap at Mac Donaldsâ€, fixing beds in Hotels, doing rounds at old people’s nursing homes or taking up other junk jobs which, by Kenyan standards, are reserved for “losers†and other lumpens in society.
Kenyan Lawyers, Bankers, Engineers, Accountants, medics, students and other cadres are seldom accused (without analysis) of ending up at the “junk yard†of job opportunity once they arrive in Western capitals. Pathetic as it sounds, the complexity of this reality might not be tackled adequately in this short contribution.
With the advent of the Internet, Diaspora Kenyans have been very prolific when it comes to diagnosing Kenya’s ailments and proposing prescriptions for therapy of the debilitating diseases that have afflicted our country thereby crippling our national economy and permanently confining the future of more than 30 million people in a political incubator.
Through the Internet, these Kenya Diaspora “Para-medics†in the field of political commentary have been working overtime, trying to rejuvenate the country with new ideas after its systems were poisoned by political opportunists, charlatans and other vultures of reaction who have let our people down. This kind of posturing has ruffled the feathers of critics who believe that Kenyans abroad should have nothing to do with solutions for political problems because they abandoned the country for greener pastures abroad.
For critics, Diaspora Kenyans should just shut up and concentrate on “working their bodies†while sending huge amounts of money at home after every thirty days.
While there are Kenyans who appreciate the role Kenyans abroad are playing, there are others in the minority who believe that Kenyans abroad are leeches, “distant cousinsâ€, noise makers, empty debes or even total strangers who will take the next flight to their permanent bases in Western capitals in case a crisis of the “post election type†finds them holidaying in Kenya.
That could not be far from the truth. What is known among humans is that if a flood is approaching, potential victims with the capacity tend to move to higher and safer ground.
“We have been abroad and we know what’s good for Kenya†talk is hated by Kenya Diaspora critics who think that these Kenyans actually know nothing about the country. But what is the reality of the situation?
ONE DYNAMIC OF JUNK JOBS FOR KENYAN PROFESSIONALS
If you take the case of Kenya Professionals who have taken junk jobs abroad as a matter of survival, it is possible to condemn them because of lack of perspective on the side of critics. The crisis of Professionals or educated elites taking up junk jobs abroad is not a problem of Diaspora Kenyans but a structural problem facing almost all Immigrant communities who have settled in western capitals. The problem is grounded on Institutional racism and discrimination in the labour market, a problem that is not just well recognized but which is also a serious political issue in several Western countries.
The situation is worse for immigrants who have settled in countries where the language of instruction is not the same as the language which one was schooled in. An English speaking Accountant who tries to settle in Sweden, Denmark, Germany or France may end up cleaning or doing the dishes because everything – from daily communication to paper work – is done in another language. The basic requirement is that one has to go through the process of learning the new language before going for specialized orientation courses in one’s area of study, a frustrating process that may take years.
Even when you are through, there may be no job guarantee because of serious competition from the natives who studied in local Institutions and who have been hit hard by the crisis of unemployment in many Western countries occasioned by the chronic crisis of capitalism which continues to rock the world of International capitalism.
When Andrew Kimani Ngumba, former Member of Parliament in Kenya, fled to exile in Sweden in the 80’s, he ended up as a sweeper in the streets of Stockholm because he could not find a better job. This single example should summarize the predicament of millions of Kenyans who find themselves outside the country and who have to deal with less fulfilling jobs in their new areas of abode as a matter of necessity.
Instead of constantly attacking Diaspora Kenyans in articles loaded with sarcasm, Kenyans at home need to appreciate the role Diaspora Kenyans are playing in the development of the country.
Raila Odinga was once in exile in Norway but he returned to Kenya to play a political role and now he is the PM. The same case applies to Koigi wa Wamwere and Mwandawiro Mghanga who both returned from exile and got elected as MPs to represent their constituencies with varying degrees of successes and failures. In the last elections, several Kenyans returned to try their hand in politics and this trend is likely to increase in the future as conditions also change. The point is that it is possible to surface from abroad and play politics in Kenya so Diaspora Kenyans should not just be taken for granted.
If Kenyans in Diaspora were to look down on Kenyans in the country, then the whole population is just stupid because how do you begin to kill your neighbor whom you have cohabited with for years because someone has rigged elections? How comes that we never fought our Luo, Kikuyu, Kalenjin or Luhya neighbors abroad when you were busy lynching one another, burning churches filled with children and cutting one another’s throats in the name of a rigged election?
KENYA IS A BIG PRISON
It goes something like this: The stupidity is so deep that you continue to elect the same corrupt politicians and when corruption hits the headlines, you begin to complain. When your leaders want to get elected as President, they have to come to us for endorsement and once we say that this or that leader is hopeless, he loses an election because Kenyans abroad have said he or she is not good.
After you have cut one anothers throats and created IDPs, it is us who mobilize or send cash for rehab. It is like the proverbial panga cutting the hand that feeds it. Do you know that it is us who lecture your leaders about the ills they are doing in the country whenever they come up here?
We continue to send billions of Kenyan shillings to you every month yet you continue asking for more so that you can find food to eat, kids can go to school, you can have access to basic medical care and other services that an elected government should be providing. You then turn around and attack us for doing what we need to do to get you out of crisis! Is this the way to go? That is just an outline of hypothetical lecture if it were to be delivered by a Diaspora Kenyan responding to the histrionics of naïve critics.
A Kenyan once put up an advert in his home town that he needed ten competent Kenyans he wanted to take abroad to clean toilets and that there would be an interview at a hall in town. Guess what? The hall was packed to capacity and when he proceeded to look at the CVs of applicants, some of them were University students who had failed to get jobs in the country and were ready to do anything. What does this teach us?
That Kenya is a big prison and majority of those who are inside are desperately trying to get out while those outside are either desperately trying to get back or have resolved to spend their lives outside the country for personal reasons.
Critics of Diaspora Kenyans should seek to open debate on the issue of staying abroad instead of throwing occasional barbs at the hard working Kenya Diaspora community. The main reason why Kenyans abroad continue to participate in the country’s politics is because they love Kenya. They are out of the country but Kenya is not yet out of their system and probably never will.
This situation is not unique to Diaspora Kenyans. It is a uniform pattern that exists among millions of Immigrants across the world. As critics continue to read mischief among Diaspora Kenyans, the next item on the agenda of the community is the Right to vote from abroad and the right to dual citizenship which needs to be entrenched in the Constitution. Kenyans should get used to Diaspora Kenyans intervening in the country’s politics because this is a serious responsibility that cannot be abdicated or left to politicians alone. Hands off Kenyans abroad!
Okoth Osewe
Muganda makes the point — crudely, it must be said — that (significant sections of) the diaspora has inflamed ethnic tensions, both before and after the election. The point is made extremely inelegantly; it is also quite true. Pointing to the diaspora’s remittances, or the commendable peace efforts etc, doesn’t refute him.
Let clay Muganda keep the shit to herself
Clay behaves like somebody who could not secure a visa to go anywhere. Nobody has called him names, why call other people names? Shame on you Clay.All commentators who have evidence to their charges should publiclly show them insated of blanket statement about the hard working so called DIASPORA.
Clay is absolutely right. Look at what Makau mutua was spewing during the run up to the polls. Even Ngugi wa thiongo.
This people have perfected the art of taking tribalism a notch higher. Always thinking that being abroad is an indication of dilligence.
Keep up the good work Clay Muganda and let those who feel washing dishes and other unmentionable jobs in order to send money home is nationalism! Indeed most of them are unable to visit home, let alone buy you a ticket to Europe, and elsewhere, places I believe you have been numerous times to receive journalistic awards for your good job! Lets face it people, brain drain vs remittance??? come on- get serious and quit sipping speedway cappuccino and monster to stay awake throughout the grave shift! I highly respect what people do to make a few dollars for bills and spare some for remittance but let’s face the truth! Twende kazi Clay!
Looking by the response emitting from this blog most are from the dias-wherever! There are hundreds of thousands of people living in kenya who have been and lived abroad BUT opted back, Clay & Myself included (we were in the same cha-mbele country). By the way most of these bloggers think Clay is a “she” shows how out of touch they are about kenya. I have studied/worked in US & UK its all rubbish! The heart of the matter is most went out there to study then satayed too long and became dinasours to compete in the kenya job market. The only people i respected are the ones who left kenya ALREADY proffesionals the rest just shut up!
Just because you send your relatives back here some money doesnt make you demigods…most of you went abroad through harambees or your parents sweated for you to be where you are right now…and now that you are sending money back to them you feel bullish about it! They invested in you just like any body can invest in shares bwana..only thing that you are blood.
A lot of “foreign-kenyans” left when things flared up in kenya…why?
They had no mak’ende to help or what? Their opnionated advice tried up before sunset!
Robert
Mkenya in Kenya
True True ,Clay is absolutely rigggggght
That was a good research done by clay muganda. Thanks to clay muganda. For the people diaspora I would advice them go east go west home is the best……
Thank you Clay for this piece, hit the nail on the head.
Having lived in Europe for seven years and thinking ‘we’ (in the diaspora) have ‘it’ and we can ‘fix’ Kenya, I came back home to a whole different world…a world of reality, not CNN and BBC from which most of ‘us diasporians’ get our ‘balanced and fair’ news.
The Kenya these self appointed ‘know-it-alls’ usually talk about is the immediate circles which they left when they traveled abroad, not the ‘other Kenya’ which they have no idea about, having not for once ever been to these ‘other’ places.
Thus, most of their ‘advice’ is usually biased and old fashioned and not based on the ‘reality’ on ground.
A diasporian who left the country 12 years ago might be raving and ranting about lack of water in a particular slum ‘as he left it’, yet nowadays we have CDF money and probably the place has had piped water for the past 5 years.
Bottom line, they might have a say in the affairs of the country, but they are not at all ‘professionals’ as they ‘think’ they are… SHOULD THEY BE ALLOWED TO VOTE? OR WILL THEY BE BIASED AND MISINFORMED? (an SMS from a relative is not a convincing factor in an election dear diasporian!!!)