🧵 Ten years ago, I visited a place that that Kenya forgot. A small hamlet that sprung up between godowns and depots in Changamwe, Mombasa. What I saw there stayed with me in a way that very few stories I have told do. A community was slowly being poisoned to death. A lead smelting plant right next to them belched toxic fumes laced with lead into the air. Dozens of men, women and children had already died. Hundreds in the community were poisoned. Some who were interviewed were, unbeknownst to me or them, already at deaths door. Yet, despite there having been sufficient evidence that this was happing , precious little did. So with the cooperation of the community we inducted blood tests, flew to India to track down the owners of the plant and interviewed senior officers from @NemaKenya and memberes of a senate committee to whom this had been flagged. When the story came out, the county government of Mombasa swore that it would take action. No action was taken.

🧵While on the road I usually have dinner alone. Yesterday two young men broke this self-imposed tradition when they came to say hello, inviting themselves to my table. They had something they needed to get off their chests. Lighthearted banter turned to something more serious; cancer. Both are oncology nurses at a national hospital. The conversation began when one told me how they had lost two patients to cancer in as many days - the other told me how this death rate had become normal. So normal that at times, clinicians were afraid of prescribing medicine to patients who were clearly on the road to palliative care

The hangover of poor borrowing choices ten years ago is here. Kenya is going after one of Africa's most expensive Eurobonds - largely to settle our first Eurobond. How'd we get here? @AfUncensored has been tracking Kenya's debt since 2019. Here's a short thread, beginning with our National debt clock: wizileaks.africauncensored.online/debt-clock/ "At the national level I saw a lot of bad behaviour being systematized" - Former Auditor General Edward Ouko on what created a "need" for an initial Eurobond. He told us what he saw when trying to audit it. Lessons for this new issue when tracking where it goes & how it is to be used #INDEBTED:

It used to be that a wholesale attack on the media fraternity would cause outrage. I do still think it is wrong but sadly, SADLY, there's a lot of that sentiment that many agree with, and I have to say, so do I. Here's why, beginning with the last election (short thread): The 22' election was an opportunity for the news media to band together and provide the public with credible tallies and reporting of the election results. As many have explained, for numerous reasons, this didn't happen. But then something far scarier took place

Lots of concern on my TL about the cost of fuel, #Wizileaks debt and corruption. Here's a thread with content from @AfUncensored that may help explain the situation Kenya is in: Four years ago in August, @DavidNdii and I had a series of very prescient conversations worth revisiting today in their entirety. Here's one to start with: #WiziLeaks

Uhuru Kenyatta's reign came to an end today. His regime compares very poorly against all others since 1978 in terms of corruption. Here's a thread that should get you thinking: #Wizileaks

A thread/request to Kenyans: if you want to really know which candidates will win in the August election, then you need to be part of tens of thousands of Kenyans who volunteer to share results from your polling station. Here's why: The media won't do it. To get results from the polling station requires upwards of 52,000 people who will share results once posted by returning officers at the polling station. No single media house that I am aware of has that capacity internally or the money to do it alone...

While we have your attention, here's a THREAD on some of our other money-related investigations: 1. #CAPTURED - This series was also based on a leak of documents, but from IFMIS. We looked into the role of enablers of tendepreneurs, found a SENATOR & MP owning companies with very strange activity, and looked into the Managed Equipment Leasing Scheme:

@KTNNews promised to publish #TheProfiteers tonight. They will not. WE, @afuncensored ,WILL. A THREAD. Let me start by saying that I have profound respect for many of the journalists and editors at @KTNNews. So it was indeed a shock when I learnt earlier today that @KTNNews decided not to run the story as promised and promoted. #TheProfiteers