Essays, Socio-cultural

How To Be A Kenyan

Brenda Wambui

There comes a time when one is called to great things. One of those things is being Kenyan. How does one become Kenyan, you ask? You have come to the right place.

Religion: Praise God? Amen! It does not matter where you are, who you are with, or what their religious beliefs are, discussions about the wonders and glory of God are always welcome, especially since Kenya is a Christian nation. In a country as confusing as this one, where each day does its best to drive you mad, the only thing that can keep you sane is carrying your … Read More

Essays, Gender, Legal, Sexuality, Socio-cultural

Women and The Law: A Spotlight On Recent Kenyan Legislation

Brenda Wambui

This past weekend, I was fortunate to attend the second Atieno Project Unconference and learn about how the law affects women, especially bills and acts written with women in mind, such as The Protection against Domestic Violence Bill (2013) and The Reproductive Health Care Bill (2014). The discussion was lively and informative, and there were parts of both proposed pieces of legislation that stood out to me as outlined below.

The Reproductive Health Care Bill (2014)

This Senate Bill is for an Act of parliament to provide for the recognition of reproductive rights, to set the standards of reproductive health, … Read More

Economy, Essays, Politics, Security, Socio-cultural

My Land Is Not Kenya: The Folly Of Patriotism

Brenda Wambui

You only got one mama

You only got one pa

You only got one life to live

No matter who you are

You can go the whole world over

Every city has its dawn

But everybody liveth has one place where he was born

And mine is Kenya, so warm and wild and free

You’ll always stay with me here in my heart

My land is Kenya, right from your highlands to the sea

You’ll always stay with me here in my heart, here in my heart.

Good for Roger Whittaker, who sang this song. It is normally used to … Read More

Africa, Essays, Politics, Security, Socio-cultural

Kenya: A State Of Perpetual Fear And Chaos

Brenda Wambui

From Wednesday 18th June to Friday 20th June 2014, I got to experience life in Kakuma, at the refugee camp. A couple of bloggers and I went there courtesy of UNHCR to commemorate World Refugee Day, and each day, we had opportunities to interact with the host community, the Turkana, and the refugees, who are of more than 13 nationalities, and are about 150,000 at the moment.

Every morning, between 8 – 9 am, a lorry would arrive full of people displaced from their home countries, and they would head to the UNHCR offices to register themselves. Many of … Read More

Essays, Internet, Media, Sexuality, Socio-cultural

Outrage Is The New Black: On Vera Sidika and The Campus Diva

Brenda Wambui

This essay was written before the occurrence of the Mpeketoni Attack. We as Brainstorm extend our deepest condolences to all those affected by the attack, and to Kenya as a whole.

Outrage Pornography: Memes, news articles, TV segments, email forwards, or other forms of media that are designed to invoke outrage. This is especially true for political-related topics. Viewers of outrage porn often become addicted and spend many hours per day trying to seek new outrage highs.

Many Kenyan citizens of the internet seem to constantly be on the lookout for things to be outraged by. We are professionally furious. … Read More

Africa, Economy, Essays, Politics, Socio-cultural

Architects Of Our Own Despair: Thoughts On Poverty

Brenda Wambui

“Once poverty is gone, we’ll need to build museums to display its horrors to future generations. They’ll wonder why poverty continued so long in human society – how a few people could live in luxury while billions dwelt in misery, deprivation and despair.”

Mohammed Yunus

It is easy to think of poverty as a thing that once solved, will lead to unending human prosperity. We just need to find its source and cut it off. Only that poverty has several causes, and once you begin to think about it, it begins to seem like a hydra: when you cut off … Read More

Economy, Essays, Politics

Sharing The Spoils: The Division Of Revenue Bill 2014

Brenda Wambui

The Division of Revenue Bill (DoRB), 2014 is at the top of the agenda for parliament in their next couple of sittings, and as such, it is in form to explore its implications.

This bill is the first step in our annual budgeting cycle, and is particularly important as it should work to ensure the success of devolution through adequate allocations to county governments. The revenue is based on the government’s 2011/12 audited revenue, which comes to KES 682.1 billion.

This debate, as with many others, has become overtaken by debates fuelled by supremacy battles between national and county governments. … Read More

Essays, Politics, Security, Socio-cultural

Footnotes On Death

Brenda Wambui

In our sometimes unfortunate journey through this planet, we must experience death. We experience the death of loved ones, unloved ones, and ultimately, our own deaths.

I rarely meditate on the meaning of many of life’s phenomena – I like to joke that I have the emotional depth of a banana – but this week, death has really been with me. Michael Onsando has written extensively on killing (here, here and here), more than I ever will. Still, we have barely touched on death here, and with what has happened this week, it is necessary.

*

I … Read More

Arts, Essays, Gender, Media, Sexuality

Discovering Women

Brenda Wambui

I used to be a boys’ girl. The type of girl who said things like “I have more guy pals than girl pals. In fact, over 90% of my pals are guys. I prefer guys to girls cause guys don’t have drama. They don’t waste time discussing non-issues like nail polish, shopping and guys. They don’t gossip (false!), and they discuss real things, like sports. Guys are chill, not dramatic like women.”

I cringe every time I remember those days. I remember once even joking with a friend of mine about being an honorary member of “the boys” to which … Read More

Arts, Essays, Politics, Religion, Socio-cultural

I Have Seen The Devil

Brenda Wambui

This is what he looks like.

At least that is what some people in Kisumu think he looks like. The Sikh community in the area put up the monument, depicting a praying person (I fail to understand art many times, but this time the meaning of this piece failed to escape me), to commemorate 100 years since they built their temple in Kisumu.

Instead of the warmth and harmony the Sikhs may have imagined the monument would bring in the area, it brought about a three-day protest in which it was vandalized. Residents called it satanic, and said it portrayed … Read More