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

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, 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

Essays, Gender, Sexuality, Socio-cultural

All Animals Are Equal

Brenda Wambui

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

George Orwell, Animal Farm

Animal Farm satirizes human beings and the nations of the world, specifically the Russian Communist state, using animals. The main message of the book comes out clearly by the end: that power cannot be divided equally – that once power is acquired, it will always be abused – and that it is impossible for everyone to be equal.

The weekend before last, I attended a music festival which many had been anticipating because of its excellent line-up. As expected, the turnout was huge. The … Read More

Africa, Economy, Essays, Politics, Socio-cultural

The EAC Conundrum

Brenda Wambui

The East African Community (EAC), a regional intergovernmental organization, was re-formed in 1999 by the Republic of Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Uganda after the collapse of the original EAC in 1977. The Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Burundi became member states in 2007, and South Sudan has expressed interest in joining the community.

Its vision is a prosperous, competitive, secure, stable and politically united East Africa, and its aim is to widen and deepen integration and co-operation among partner states politically, economically, socially and culturally for their mutual benefit. So far, it … Read More