"Democracy don't rule the world, You'd better get that in your head; This world is ruled by violence, But I guess that's better left unsaid.” – American folksinger, Bob Dylan.
ROSS KEMP, the ex-Eastenders ‘badboy’ last week visited Kenya. If it had been three months ago, one would have thought he was travelling to witness the “successes” of a power-sharing deal between opposition leader Raila Odinga and President Mwai Kibaki brokered by former secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan.
Kemp had a different agenda. In a 90-minute special, Kemp and his BAFTA winning documentary team travelled to Kenya to investigate the Mungiki, an outfit labelled as the most dangerous ‘gang’ in Africa.
Labelled “unreality show” in contrast to many other shows like Simon Cowell’s X-Factor or Pop Idol, or other reality shows like Big Brother and aired at prime time, this documentary had a special political significance.
In the show Ross comments, “I’ve always liked Africa and I loved Kenya when I was there, but I saw it from a totally different point of view from being a tourist to the way I saw it this time. Kenya has the perception of being a leader in Africa in terms of industry and infrastructure, but actually there’s extreme poverty and unrest there.”
As the ex-Eastenders soap gangster travels outside Nairobi, he witnesses what he labeled “intolerable poverty” in the town of Eldoret. Meeting the teenage mothers, their children and the orphans who live on a rubbish dump, Ross learns that they are all addicted to glue. “Those rubbish dumps will stay in my mind for the rest of my life,” says Ross. “When a woman drops her child on its head and picks it up and puts a glue bottle in its mouth, those are the things that stay with you, to see that loss, that desperation. Viewers will definitely be disturbed seeing little kids sniffing glue which has been given to them by their teenage mothers who are addicted to solvents.”
One critic describes the documentary thus: “A Kenya Special is engrossing and immersive viewing, providing insight into a country in crisis.”
In a recent interview, Kemp says: “It is really difficult to understand what is going on in [Kenya] there. … you would need to be there all your life to find out what is truly going on. I would probably suggest that there is corruption going on in the Mungiki tribe, as well as in the police and government.”
It widely believed that the Mungiki were responsible for the reign of terror that we saw in Kenya in December 2007, which left 1,500 people dead and quarter of a million refugees.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE DOCUMENTARY
The documentary had a special significance and the timing is interesting. How did this story evade international media and international attention? How come there’s still violence in Kenya and poverty is on the increase after Odinga had made so many promises? Kenya is on the verge of one of the worst famines in the history of the country.
We saw PM Odinga recently at No 10 Downing Street soliciting assistance from the British PM Gordon Brown. We had seen him earlier in New York for the same reasons and not highlighting the poverty in his own backyard in Kenya.
Many people criticized the ever-increasing demands for assistance by Kenya which was not transforming the lives of ordinary Kenyans. It was politically expedient to call Zimbabwe an "eyesore on the continent" diverting attention from the troubles in his country, but the new Kenyan PM did not think that his words would only be judged on the basis of his performance.
Many skeptics doubted his sweet rhetoric, supposed charisma and political ‘tactics’. In a previous article I wrote on Kenya, I expressed my doubts on the ability of the PM to deliver on his promises given the magnitude of the problems in the East African country.
Videos of the current situation in Kenya follow, and are by no means a diversion of the current problems being faced in Zimbabwe, but should highlight to the world that the "golden boy" of Kenya is not infallible as he has implied in many of his public statements.
VIDEOS
NEW in a gripping special Ross visits Kenya to investigate the Mungiki,said to be Africa's most deadly organization.
adam reid • adampreid@gmail.com Subject: Ross Kemp Tue, 28 Oct 2008 13:17:09 • Mr Kemp and his team deserve our praise for their bravery. The documentary on Kenya was an incredible piece of work devoid of sensationalism and gloss. His confusion, and inability to come to a definitive conclusion, about the situation in Kenya instructs us in the West about the complexity of the issues and that there are no easy answers. Most striking was his encounter with an angry mob. An unforgettable sequence where energized, intelligent young men spoke clearly about their concerns. It would have been so easy for Mr Kemp to have jumped into his jeep and run away, I am glad he did not. Bravo Mr Kemp and your fearless team.
N/A • Odinga Subject: N/A Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:33:01 • Kenya will never be castigated by Britain. Kenya's resources are safely in Britain's hands. There is no way Britain or the BBC will ever do a Zimbabwe on Kenya. Kenya has to be kept sweet especially in these financially troubling times. Kenya handing her resources to her own people would be more than Britian and the BBC could bear. We would then know of every misery the Kenyans are suffering due to Black mishandling of the economy. Kenya will continue to be prosperous for the few as long they never rock the boat and interfere with Britains interests in any shape or form. Britain needs Kenya much more than Kenya will ever need Britain.
N/A • N/A Subject: Kenya Sat, 11 Oct 2008 10:00:07 • Raila Odinga has the cheek to describe Zim as the eyesore on the continent. His country Kenya is the real eyesore on the world.
The level of poverty in Kenya is appalling. What of the slums in Kenya? What of the young children sniffing glue? That United Nations woman Timbuka had a cheek to cry me a river when she came to Zim after Murambatsvina. Why did she not deal with the slums in her own country first? Kenya has IMF/World loans galore, international support, United Nations offices in Nairobi and no sanctions. Why is there such grinding proverty then? As for Odinga exploiting the poor for his own political gains is a crime against humanity. Odinga is a prime candidate for the Haig.
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