My Birthday – My moment of fear

We live at an age obsessed with youthfulness, so a birthday ‘celebration’ can become a moment of trepidation if your age is in the “no longer young” category. That was the case for me last Sunday when I turned 42. Ageing may be a natural process for all of us, and may seem self-defeating for anyone to emphasize youthfulness as the ultimate value, but it’s the character of the age we live in. 

Yet a birthday celebration provides opportunity to reflect on the experiences of life and what these experiences teach us going forward. I have experienced 3 main epochs in my adult life. Each of these epochs has had its own highs and lows providing opportunity to learn quite a lot. I think as people get older sharing these lessons of life should become the focus of celebrating birth-days. It is this perspective that I share my 3 epochal moments of my adult life.

Epoch One:

This epoch started in the late 1990s when I got my first job to work for a research and poverty reduction program. Our work focused mainly on youth and women groups. This job I must say was quite fulfilling; observing communities and groups progressively transform their income status can be very gratifying. At a personal level however, I felt very disconnected. There was this “thing – the private self” that I felt I had to hide. 

I had monologues in my head, often wondering, what if the people got to know “the real me” what would happen, how would they treat me? But not knowing better, I often brushed these mental questions aside. Unfortunately these monologues only increased with time – it was as if I was constantly having real eerie “can see us…” moment in a real life ghost movie. 

One time my boss sent me to represent him at an inauguration of a large farming project our program had initiated with the support of the German Government in Kisumu. Almost everyone from the village was there, and since they expected my boss, there was this high-table that I sat at. I recall very vividly, as the women were singing and dancing (as is often the character of these kinds of events), I completely spaced-out. I was wondering, if only they knew, who in the crowd I fancied, would they continue singing? Would they continue treating like this celebrity from NAIROBI? 

Even though I was and remain committed to poverty alleviation initiatives, my secret was fighting ever so strenuously to break loose. It is as if I had secretly murdered someone and the investigators were getting ever so close to the final clue.  

Second Epoch

As you can imagine, after sometime, life just becomes too much. So with the advent of the broadened democratic space after the 2002 general elections, together with some friends, we formed advocacy groups that culminated with the formation of GALCK. I was lucky to become its founding director. Yet this came with its own set of challenges. 

We made some modest advocacy gains that were quite gratifying both at a personal and professional level. But the laser-sharp stigma that came with gay rights advocacy was particularly frightening. Initially, I felt we had to soldier on, that people did not really understand gay and lesbian people; that with time not only would they understand, they would also be more welcoming and accepting. That if we made a very convincing case, the government and general society would see the need to remove the punitive laws and create a social order that respects equity and equality needs for all of us. 

Of course we now know that did not happen. Instead, sharp and insulting words   calculated to emasculate and dehumanize were thrown at the Kenyan gay community and being the community’s public representative, I received them on their behalf. With time, as it always happens with these negative messages, I got to internalize them, and the once high confidence levels plummeted to their lowest. 

The young boy, who once revelled at public speaking, and public adulation, could no longer speak even within closed door meetings. The person who once drew energy from the crowd was no more – I became like a rained-on old lion, who just wished to be left alone to mourn his shame in private. In the end, the thing I miss the most during this second epoch of my adult life is loss of self-confidence and the belief in self-worth.

Third Epoch

The third epoch started last year – thanks to a friend(s), who I have yet to thank sufficiently. After working for GALCK, there were precious few organizations willing to hire a person with my advocacy background. Being positioned as a gay-rights inhibited many from recognizing any other skills I had, so you can imagine how much I appreciate the current opportunity to “rehabilitate” into the mainstream society. As I now work in the mainstream settings, I hope to provide evidence that current gay rights activist, do have skills beneficial in the mainstream settings – I owe them that.

Indeed in this third epoch, I hope to work with others to deliver to the Kenyan and global societies bold and provocative social and political messages that challenge the public’s conventional understanding of the social order. That we cannot and should not be satisfied with a social order that excludes and discriminates on account of ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, economic status, gender or any other such non-essential human differentiator. 

At a private/personal level this calls for re-building my personal confidence and healing the wounds so deeply inflicted by stigma. Yet on a social level, I remain committed to the comedy of the commons. We can and should believe in a social order where all members of the society, are provided opportunity to become better persons and to realize their inherent potential to the fullest. I do this during the day-to-day professional obligations, but also privately through the Kuria Foundation for Social Enterprise – www.kuriafoundation.or.ke

John Mathenge’s HOYMAS & Mpeketoni Terrorist Attacks – What is in Common.

Kenya is country bleeding on so many fronts – both literally and metaphorically. But it is also a country crying for a re-birth of Nationalism, ideals and vision. We should as a country decide whether we want to break down into ethnic fiefdoms or we want a new Kenya, where every single person has equal rights and responsibilities. And that is EVERY SINGLE KENYAN regardless of tribe, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or any such non-essential differentiators.  Every single Kenyan!

This would call on us to create inclusive and fairer political system in which every individual, whether a devout Christian, devout Muslim or one who does not believe in any religion, feels as being equal and full stakeholder in the Kenyan citizenship. This calls for governance systems and structures that distribute state resources evenly among Kenyans of all walks of lives, all ages, and ethnic groups. No one, absolutely no one should feel alienate d in the new political dispensation. All should share in this Kenyan Utopia.

About John Mathenge

John Mathenge and his group HOYMAS do not feel included in this Utopia. Let me tell you something about John Mathenge. I remember when John Mathenge walked into the office. He had called earlier to ask for an appointment. There were people who were not happy that he had recently relocated from Mombasa to Nairobi. They did not want me to give him a hearing – but as a leader of a National coalition (GALCK), one does not have the luxury choosing who to work or not work with. 

Mathenge had this idea of starting a rescue and nutritional centre for people (gay men and other men who have sex with men – MSM mainly) living with HIV. Mathenge noted that adherence to treatment on empty stomachs or when living on the streets was near impossible. What I did was to task Mathenge to start this group, promising to offer him the support he needed. He started the group and it’s known as HOYMAS.

Today HOYMAS is one of the few groups – and certainly the only MSM group that offers opportunity for persons living with HIV to adhere to treatment by providing for safe keeping for the HIV drugs. HOYMAS also offers comradeship necessary for treatment adherence. HOYMAS has managed to break the stigma that comes with being on treatment.

The Attack

But all this calm was brought to a halt last Friday. A group of hired young men broke into the HOYMAS offices, destroyed property and even called on neighbours and passers by claiming that HOYMAS was spreading homosexuality. About 150 people surrounded the office to witness the spectacle. The police arrested the ringleader, but later released him on a free bond. There are unverified rumours that while the assailant was in custody, he was visited by the leaders of Maendeleo ya Wanaume and it is they who secured his release.

Yet when Mathenge went to follow on the issue the police now threatened to detain him. John was saved by high level calls to senior government officials in the ministry of health, UNAIDS and luckily for John, a few friends that he has in the police department.

How is this related to Mpeketoni Terrorist (or political) Attacks

It takes a keen observer to note the basic mould of the HOYMAS attack is informed by the same security weaknesses and vulnerability to moral vigilantism that afflicts Kenya on a National scale. In HOYMAS case, the attack were motivated by the clossing of ranks between anti-gay groups such as Maendeleo ya Wanaume, and gay blackmailers. Realizing that anti-gay groups are willing to pay a price for hunting down gays in Kenya, the black-mailers are now working for such groups. For the anti-gay groups, working with the blackmailers is a question of the end justifying the means.

Yet, is this not the same reasoning that informs the murderous gangs that kill people in Mpeketoni and other terrorist attacks? How is it possible that an individual or a group can go around killing others with absolute impunity? – The End Justifies The Means!  But this is possible because of a number of factors unique to Kenyans:

• The mainstreaming of the view that other people are “lesser than” therefore their lives are expendable. The view that others are “lesser than” could be on account of their tribal affiliation, religious or moral affiliation or in the case of HOYMAS, sexual orientation.
• The mainstreaming of protection for “our criminals.” These could be the tribal corruption lords, the moral vigilantes that beat up gay people and women who dress in certain styles or it could be politicians from our tribe.
• The “outsourcing” of our capacity for agency and reasoning to local political thugs. These have no respect for our constitution especially the National values and principles of governance.

What do we do?

I think the answer to our problems is very simple. As a country we are ethnically and religiously divided because of poor leadership. The leadership has failed to unite the country, since we have chosen to hold on to the view that others are “lesser than,” we are willing to protect “our criminals” even as we “outsource” our reasoning capacity to these “criminals.”

We can easily dismantle the hegemony of these “criminals” by asserting as our constitution does in Article 27, the dignity of every person in Kenya. That regardless of their tribal affiliation, regardless of their religious or moral affiliation, regardless of their sexual orientation (and yes we need to start using this phrase as a metaphor of inclusivity) ALL Kenyans have equal dignity, due to them as human beings. 

This will then call for us to create governance systems and structures that distribute state resources evenly among Kenyans of all walks of lives, all ages, all religions and ethnic groups. No one, absolutely no one should feel alienate d in this political dispensation. All should share in this Kenyan Utopia.

Are Sex workers Rights Women Rights?

“Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.” Joshua 6: 17    “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.” Mt 21:31  “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient” Hebrew 11:31 

Estimated number of active FSW in Kenya

The question of sex workers and their rights is very emotive for a lot of people.In Kenya sex work is criminalized (not exactly). The sections of the law that discuss prostitution include sections 182, 153 – 156 of the penal code. These laws do not criminalize prostitution per se but on living “wholly or in part on the earnings of prostitution” and “keeping or managing” a brothel.  While these sections of the law criminalize both men and women, it is women who are almost exclusively prosecuted. 

Cases of sex worker harassment are largely based on being in a “…public place [to] persistently solicits or importunes for immoral purposes.” They are also arrested on account of being “Idle and disorderly” according to section 182 of the penal code. In addition, a number of cities such as Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu have put in their By-laws provisions under “General Nuisance” that are used to harass sex workers. In Nairobi it is a General Nuisance for one to be found “Loitering, importuning or attempting to procure a female/male for prostitution purpose.” 

These provisions have increasingly become the basis for violence, extortion and constant harassment meted out to the sex workers by police and criminal groups. The National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) in 2012 released a report entitled “Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights in Kenya: A myth or reality?” http://www.knchr.org/Portals/0/Reports/Reproductive_health_report.pdf .  In this report, detailed testimonies received from sex workers reported the following human rights violations:

•  Rape and harassment by law enforcement agents;
• Violence from their clients who demand for sex and sometimes decline to pay;
• Arrests by police officers who extort money from them;
• Stigma and discrimination of both the sex workers and their children by the society;
• Exposure to HIV transmission when their clients refuse to use condoms or engage in rough sex that tears the condom during the intercourse;
•   Exploitation by male clients who pay very little for the services;
•  Stigma and discrimination as they are labelled as “sinners” or evil people who should not access spiritual services in places of worship.

But why are mainstream women rights organizations not doing more? Are female sex worker rights parts of the global understanding of women rights? Many in the Kenyan women rights movement would beg to differ. This perhaps has to do with conceptual framework adopted in analysing the sex work phenomenon. There are three main theoretical approaches to sex-work. These are:

1.       Sexual exploitation (victim-hood) Framework – sex work is seen from the context of “men who think that bodies of weak and vulnerable women are commodities that can be bought.” Self-agency of women involved in sex work is not recognized for young and poor women who engage in sex work as one the few options to earn a living. This seems to be the position taken by National Gender and Equality commission when they assert that “Lack of financial security and employment opportunities may also lead women and girlsto engage in sex work or other forms of transactional sex. ."  The victim framework emphasizes that certain women are at greater risk of being victimised hence lured into sex work than others. Holders of this view push for criminalization of buyers of sex – and this is called the Swedish Model. Unfortunately even though National Gender and Equality commission takes sex workers as victims (either of poverty, access to education, inequality etc.), its unclear why they (and other holders of this view) don't challenge the current laws that further criminalize and marginalize the victim. Would one not imagine of them pushing for laws that criminalize the one victimizing, rather than the victim?

2.       Market Framework - This holds that sex work brings together service-sellers and buyers. The sex workers as selling a service that is in demand at the “right price”. The holders of this position believe that sex workers are free agents voluntarily engaging in sex work as their preferred means of livelihood. Holders of this view feel that Governments has no role to play between willing-buyer-willing-seller interactions. As a result, sex work they feel should be decriminalized

Under this group, there are some who feel that markets are hardly efficient, and will often require the intervention of the regulator to protect the weak from exploitation. These call for legalization of sex work so that regulations can be put in place, both to protect the sex workers but also the society from possible harms of sex work.

3.       Public Space Framework – These hold that sex work happens within a particular social, moral and cultural context. Because of that, the impacts of sex work are not limited to the two individuals who engage in the transaction, but have a broader social and moral impact. It is therefore necessary for the state to regulate if and how sex work takes place. Religious conservative oriented societies, push for its complete elimination, while more progressive societies push for legalization which then provides regulations of the lawful context for sex work. Such regulations would include, public health requirements, zoning of areas allowed for sex work and proactive measures to guard against trafficking in women (and especially children). 

Much of Kenyan law around sex work is inherited from our colonial history. While progress has been made in the Children’s act towards protection of children from sexual exploitation, the act fails to recognize the vulnerabilities of the children and children of sex workers. This is a remarkable omission, when one recognizes that theoretical framework informing laws against sex workers emanate from a moral/religious assumption of the Kenyan state. 

What is the appropriate response for Kenya?

Kenyan leadership is not known for taking bold stances on many social issues – especially those touching on conservative moral positions. When the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, issued the report calling for decriminalization of sex work, uproar was loudest from those who had yet to read the report.

 But how should we deal with the sex work in Kenya. 

I think we should legalize it so that we can regulate the appropriate context – place, time, and individuals engaged in sex work. Because of blanket criminalization, Kenya has failed the most vulnerable in the industry especially children. Sex workers know best who is engaged in sex work, and how it is done and where it done. The country needs to engage with them in the fight against child trafficking and exploitation as well as public health imperatives. They are not going to be able to do that under conditions of blanket criminalization.

In order to protect the rights of the conservative moralists, it may be helpful to allow for zoning of certain places, where sex work can be allowed to legally take place. Cigarette smoking for which there is overwhelming evidence of its harmful outcome both for the smokers and non-smokers has used this approach. Why not use the same approach for sex work?

Lastly we must admit that in our context, there are many who have been forced into sex work due to poverty and joblessness. Thus we must combine our legalization efforts with social protection mechanisms so that those who wish to leave sex work, can be enabled to do so in a socially acceptable way. We already have a clear view of how many sex workers there are in this country – one such example is this study. Let us as a society provide a mechanism where people can be supported. Those who wish to remain in sex work should be supported with conducive work environment (as we do for any other category of workers), but also those who wish to leave, should be supported to do so without undue sufferings.

The Link between Raila and Maina Njenga

In an this article earlier in the week, I was asking leaders to be courageous, imaginative and to demonstrate initiative, by doing what is right and just for the people of Kenya. By making this call, I too must be ready to show similar courage, imagination and initiative. That is why in this article I write about a question many have in their minds but fear to ask. Today, I shall focus on Raila’s association with Maina Njenga.

There are many people in Central Kenya region (whose moniker is Mt. Kenya), that just do not understand the lovey-dovey relationship that Raila continues to have with Maina. While there are many leaders in the Mt. Kenya region that court Maina’s support, none would do it in open day light. They all know any public association between themselves and Maina Njenga is political suicide. 

Yet Raila not only court’s Maina’s support, but he does this ostentatiously. This of course infuriates most people in the Mt. Kenya region. But for most moderates in the region, by this action they feel, Raila denies them an opportunity to vote for him.  The moderates feel forced into voting for a candidate they would otherwise not vote for, just because they cannot countenance Maina Njenga close to the seat of power.

Surely Raila knows that it is easier to mobilize people to vote against something, than to vote for something. He therefore knows that by closely associating himself with Maina he is mobilizing the people of Central region to vote against him. Many would ask why he does this – Is it not counterproductive for his political interests?

I think I know why Raila does it. In my considered view, Raila would like to preserve the “41 – against – 1” Narrative. By uniting the Mt. Kenya vote firmly against him, he is able to advance the narrative that “these people” cannot vote for anyone else “other than their own.”

Like many Mt. Kenya moderates, I feel very much cheated by this approach to his politics. Faced by the option of voting for a homophobic Deputy President Ruto, and Raila who could potentially have Maina as the Cabinet Secretary for Internal Security, I would go with Ruto any day. It’s a no brainer. Yet this potentially firms up the narrative that I voted for Uhuru Kenyatta because he is a Kikuyu. Fear is a big determinant of how people make voting choices – Riala knows it.

So for now, CORD should give us a break. Advancing the “41 vs 1” political narrative is using tribal divisions for political gains, and is not any different from the supposedly tribally biased political appointment by the Jubilee Coalition. 

Lastly, for the Civil Society – I think the emphasis on Chapter six (LEADERSHIP AND INTEGRITY) is misplaced. We need instead to emphasize the National values and principles of governance. We need to teach them in schools, in churches, and we need to have them on Billboards, on Bus stations and even on graffiti. If every Kenyan lived by these values, they will then vote for candidates that reflect their values and principles – Chapter Six, gets realized by default!

These national values and principles of governance include––

(a) Patriotism, national unity, sharing and devolution of power, the rule of law, democracy and participation of the people;

(b) Human dignity, equity, social justice, inclusiveness, equality, human rights, non-discrimination and protection of the marginalised;

(c) Good governance, integrity, transparency and accountability;