My friend from another country is traumatized by the stories of school violence that Kenyans are casually recounting.

He can't believe the levels of violence, and the lack of moral outrage.

Outsiders' reactions help us see the absurdity of what we call "normal."
#tyrannyof3pc
Kenya has accomplished the feat that our mother country Britain has: we cover up our reality so effectively and project a different image of ourselves. That's why my friend is shocked that Kenya is like this. We are so good at cover up.
Cover up has become an instinct with us Kenyans, that during the PEV, the first concern of the elites was not the people dying, but what would happen to the Kenya brand. This brand thing is repeated to us through the colonial rhetoric of tourism. theelephant.info/features/2018/…
Check any crime or bad policy in Kenya. The first concern is to stop exposure. Whether it's rape, shooting a DJ, corruption, bad education policy, the role of the elite is to kill the story and use PR to distract Kenyans.

We're drowned in bullshit.
We artists need to wake up and take back the space that was seized by communication and public relations. It is we artists who tell stories and connect emotion with reality. Media and PR weaponize emotion for the state and corporate world. @zinduko @AdhiamboKE

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More from @wmnjoya

30 Jan
A few weeks ago, I asked this question: since Muigai doesn't respect the 2010 constitution, why is he invested in #BBInonsense, and in getting Kenyans to accept? He can just run for another term, send cops to kill people, the US will support him and he will remain in office.
The great #KOT explained this to me: #BBINonsense isn't about destroying the constitution. It's about destroying the story. Unfortunately, the only story which we use to challenge Muigai is the constitution.
We don't know our history, we have no theology, our arts are commercialized, our cultures are corrupted, and our education is destroyed. The last pillar standing between us and full scale uthamaki fascism is the Constitution 2010.
#BBINonsense #UhuruinSagana
Read 10 tweets
29 Jan
Supporters of caning in schools are traumatized Kenyans proving that caning in schools is demeaning and doesn't work.

A thread.
Most of the people supporting violence in schools have nothing to say other than that kids deserve it. They have nothing to do except throw bile, trantrums and insults. That's already a sign.

But it points to another sign of trauma.
It's what Catherine Liu, art and media scholar, calls defeatism a refusal to think, and the replacement of contradiction with difference. We who believe in dealing with contradictions say "your position contradicts mine," and we explain our position so as to convince you of it.
Read 14 tweets
28 Jan
Dear @nationafrica @StandardKenya @TheStarKenya @CapitalFMKenya and other media

If you continue to report the Jubilee nonsense expressed by the president in Central to the exclusion of the rest of Kenya, you lose the right to lecture us about unity and BBI.

Get a conscience.
The media needs to speak with one voice and decide tell the president that it is unethical to talk on such important nation issues to the exclusion of everybody else, and then preach that BBI is for inclusion. That's an insult to our dignity and intelligence.
And don't listen to cultural purists with that tired argument about pride in our languages. It's a lazy, argument that doesn't apply here. We have an African language called Kiswahili that is accessible to more Kenyans.

We have to take a stand and stop being cowards.
Read 7 tweets
23 Jan
On Lupita and Brand Kenya.

An album thread.
This is what @BrandKenya says about us. I took it from the older Magical Kenya website before the web page was removed.

Tell me how Lupita would fit here.
This photo I've shared numerous times. It was a poster at the JKIA arrivals.

Where would Lupita fit here?
Read 8 tweets
23 Jan
.@NationAfrica knows that it doesn't have the argument to justify promoting TVET in its current colonial form. So they get young students to write articles so that Mwalimu here finds it difficult to challenge a young person.

That's identity politics. nation.africa/kenya/news/the…
When it comes to complicated things like policy, the responsible thing to do is get experts to write. During the CBC roll out, I constantly asked media to host a debate where the experts who wrote the thing defend it. No such debate happened. We still don't know who wrote CBC.
We have noted that commercial media houses have become notorious for not employing seasoned journalists. Journalists are not allowed to improve their craft and carry out long term investigations. Most are let go to join public relations, the few who remain become managers.
Read 7 tweets
22 Jan
#Hustlernation is built on trauma which Kenyans don't want to deal with.
And it's really interesting that when Kenyans talk about the hustle, they equate it not to the work they do, but to a rich man.

The kind of trauma that makes you suppress your own story and focus on someone else's is the stuff of fiction. #hustlernation
Kenyans are so exploited. And every time we try to talk about it, we're told the problem is "policy," or that we're not following the rules.

The people who should be helping us are unions. But what is @AtwoliDza doing? Promoting the agenda of exploiters. #hustlernation
Read 9 tweets

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