Monday, February 06, 2006

Rage at Kenya's corrupt elite

The Telegraph meets the Mungiki, a strange and violent bunch that has grabbed power in some of the squatter areas of Nairobi. "Their standing in their ghetto strongholds has risen in the wake of a huge corruption scandal that has rocked the administration of President Mwai Kibaki in recent weeks," the newspaper reports.

When I was in Nairobi, the Mungiki reportedly controlled several matatu [minibus] routes and exacted tribute from all the drivers. They were rumored to be violent and corrupt, albeit on a slightly smaller level than Kenya's government officials. Still, I rode a matatu to Gitare Marigo and Dandora at a time that Mungiki violence was said to be high and didn't witness anything. Luck? Perhaps. Or perhaps the newspapers don't really know what's happening in poor communities and take all their info from the police, who are also notoriously corrupt.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

bob, i can't find your email, so i wanted to ask here, when does your book come out in paperback? thx

rn said...

Hello anon. I'm told that the paperback edition should be available by the end of March.