Entryism according to some dictionaries
*The net has some interesting views on this, something that came to mind while reading world politics a while back.. * **** *Entryism* is a political tactic in which an organisation or group enters a larger organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, gain influence or to take control of the larger organisations' structure. This technique is commonly used by groups from the far left or right of the political spectrum to enter more centrist institutions. This is experienced more frequently in arenas where opportunities for political activity at the fringes is limited, such as two party/majoritarian systems rather than in multiparty/proportional systems where the cost of entry into the political system is lower. Organisations which are the subject of entryism often react by attempting either to marginalise or expel the pratagonists.
As a non-ICT person-just a KICTANET donor--I am compelled to add my two bits to the debate. To my mind, Brian Longwe's nationality is not so much an issue of entryism, but rather one of xenophobia, a phenomenon that we Kenyans appear have a high affinity to given our propensity to ethnic hatred and even violence. Xenophobia: an intense dislike and/or fear of people from other nationalities. It comes from the Greek <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language> words ξένος (xenos), meaning "foreigner," "stranger," and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe a fear or dislike of foreigners <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(law)> or of people significantly different from oneself. To my mind, Brian Longwe's intelligent and valuable contributions to the ICT sector in Kenya far supercede the issue of his nationality as the key determinant of his contributions. I am a bit puzzled as to how the possession of Kenyan nationality is being automatically equated with positive contributions to the nation-as somehow if we have a Kenyan in the post that things will be done better. This is particularly the case when I look around me and see a Kenyan Commissioner of Police who is happy to kill unarmed pro-democracy advocates; a greedy parliament (all Kenyan) that is happy to award themselves exhorbitantly high salaries without paying tax; and a Kenyan government that is renown worldwide for some of the highest levels of corruption. Is their contribution to our nation calibrated solely on their possession of a piece of paper that labels them Kenyan? I believe we should judge a person's contributions to bettering of the nation by their actions, regardless of their nationality. As the debate for constitutional reform moves forward, I also wonder where this leaves the xenophobes. We may soon have a provision for dual nationality. Best Binaifer Nowrojee ________________________________ From: kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of aki Sent: 2008-12-03 13:27 To: Binaifer Nowrojee Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Entryism according to some dictionaries The net has some interesting views on this, something that came to mind while reading world politics a while back.. Entryism is a political tactic in which an organisation or group enters a larger organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, gain influence or to take control of the larger organisations' structure. This technique is commonly used by groups from the far left or right of the political spectrum to enter more centrist institutions. This is experienced more frequently in arenas where opportunities for political activity at the fringes is limited, such as two party/majoritarian systems rather than in multiparty/proportional systems where the cost of entry into the political system is lower. Organisations which are the subject of entryism often react by attempting either to marginalise or expel the pratagonists.
Binaifer There is just no way a foreigner can or must sit on a government regulatory body which controls all spheres of communication in the country. There is just no way and whether you call it racism, Brianism, Xenophobia, Foreignophobia, or any phobia, there is just no way that should happen whether he is Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Nicholas Negroponte, Tom Watson or Steve Ballmer. Foreigners must not run communication monitoring and regulatory systems in this country Alai On 12/3/08, Binaifer Nowrojee <bnowrojee@osiea.org> wrote:
As a non-ICT person—just a KICTANET donor--I am compelled to add my two bits to the debate.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's nationality is not so much an issue of entryism, but rather one of xenophobia, a phenomenon that we Kenyans appear have a high affinity to given our propensity to ethnic hatred and even violence.
*Xenophobia*: an intense dislike and/or fear of people from other nationalities. It comes from the Greek<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language>words ξένος ( *xenos*), meaning "foreigner," "stranger," and φόβος (*phobos*), meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe a fear or dislike of foreigners <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_%28law%29> or of people significantly different from oneself.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's intelligent and valuable contributions to the ICT sector in Kenya far supercede the issue of his nationality as the key determinant of his contributions.
I am a bit puzzled as to how the possession of Kenyan nationality is being automatically equated with positive contributions to the nation—as somehow if we have a Kenyan in the post that things will be done better. This is particularly the case when I look around me and see a Kenyan Commissioner of Police who is happy to kill unarmed pro-democracy advocates; a greedy parliament (all Kenyan) that is happy to award themselves exhorbitantly high salaries without paying tax; and a Kenyan government that is renown worldwide for some of the highest levels of corruption. Is their contribution to our nation calibrated solely on their possession of a piece of paper that labels them Kenyan?
I believe we should judge a person's contributions to bettering of the nation by their actions, regardless of their nationality.
As the debate for constitutional reform moves forward, I also wonder where this leaves the xenophobes. We may soon have a provision for dual nationality.
Best
Binaifer Nowrojee
------------------------------
*From:* kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto: kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee <kictanet-bounces%2Bbnowrojee>=osiea.org@ lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *aki *Sent:* 2008-12-03 13:27 *To:* Binaifer Nowrojee *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions *Subject:* [kictanet] Entryism according to some dictionaries
*The net has some interesting views on this, something that came to mind while reading world politics a while back.. *
*Entryism* is a political tactic in which an organisation or group enters a larger organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, gain influence or to take control of the larger organisations' structure. This technique is commonly used by groups from the far left or right of the political spectrum to enter more centrist institutions. This is experienced more frequently in arenas where opportunities for political activity at the fringes is limited, such as two party/majoritarian systems rather than in multiparty/proportional systems where the cost of entry into the political system is lower. Organisations which are the subject of entryism often react by attempting either to marginalise or expel the pratagonists.
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small correction I have never sat on any state corporation board. Not that I would turn down an invitation to do so - as I have a lot of space in my heart to serve my nation. The members of CCK's board are clearly posted on the CCK website and have been since CCK's inception http://www.cck.go.ke/cck_board/ I have never been on that list (not that I would mind) Why is it that both John Maina and Alai are constantly and consistently going on rants and raves based on rumor, supposition and entire falsehoods? There might be more here than meets the eye.... Brian On Wed, Dec 3, 2008 at 11:15 PM, Robert Alai <alai.robert@gmail.com> wrote:
Binaifer
There is just no way a foreigner can or must sit on a government regulatory body which controls all spheres of communication in the country. There is just no way and whether you call it racism, Brianism, Xenophobia, Foreignophobia, or any phobia, there is just no way that should happen whether he is Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Nicholas Negroponte, Tom Watson or Steve Ballmer.
Foreigners must not run communication monitoring and regulatory systems in this country
Alai
On 12/3/08, Binaifer Nowrojee <bnowrojee@osiea.org> wrote:
As a non-ICT person—just a KICTANET donor--I am compelled to add my two bits to the debate.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's nationality is not so much an issue of entryism, but rather one of xenophobia, a phenomenon that we Kenyans appear have a high affinity to given our propensity to ethnic hatred and even violence.
*Xenophobia*: an intense dislike and/or fear of people from other nationalities. It comes from the Greek<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language>words ξένος ( *xenos*), meaning "foreigner," "stranger," and φόβος (*phobos*), meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe a fear or dislike of foreigners <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_%28law%29> or of people significantly different from oneself.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's intelligent and valuable contributions to the ICT sector in Kenya far supercede the issue of his nationality as the key determinant of his contributions.
I am a bit puzzled as to how the possession of Kenyan nationality is being automatically equated with positive contributions to the nation—as somehow if we have a Kenyan in the post that things will be done better. This is particularly the case when I look around me and see a Kenyan Commissioner of Police who is happy to kill unarmed pro-democracy advocates; a greedy parliament (all Kenyan) that is happy to award themselves exhorbitantly high salaries without paying tax; and a Kenyan government that is renown worldwide for some of the highest levels of corruption. Is their contribution to our nation calibrated solely on their possession of a piece of paper that labels them Kenyan?
I believe we should judge a person's contributions to bettering of the nation by their actions, regardless of their nationality.
As the debate for constitutional reform moves forward, I also wonder where this leaves the xenophobes. We may soon have a provision for dual nationality.
Best
Binaifer Nowrojee
------------------------------
*From:* kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke[mailto: kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee <kictanet-bounces%2Bbnowrojee>=osiea.org@ lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *aki *Sent:* 2008-12-03 13:27 *To:* Binaifer Nowrojee *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions *Subject:* [kictanet] Entryism according to some dictionaries
*The net has some interesting views on this, something that came to mind while reading world politics a while back.. *
*Entryism* is a political tactic in which an organisation or group enters a larger organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, gain influence or to take control of the larger organisations' structure. This technique is commonly used by groups from the far left or right of the political spectrum to enter more centrist institutions. This is experienced more frequently in arenas where opportunities for political activity at the fringes is limited, such as two party/majoritarian systems rather than in multiparty/proportional systems where the cost of entry into the political system is lower. Organisations which are the subject of entryism often react by attempting either to marginalise or expel the pratagonists.
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-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com
small correction
I have never sat on any state corporation board. Not that I would turn down an invitation to do so - as I have a lot of space in my heart to serve my nation.
The members of CCK's board are clearly posted on the CCK website and have been since CCK's inception http://www.cck.go.ke/cck_board/ I have never been on that list (not that I would mind)
Why is it that both John Maina and Alai are constantly and consistently going on rants and raves based on rumor, supposition and entire falsehoods? I don't know about John Maina but I supposed that he really needs a lot of
On Wednesday 03 December 2008 23:37:28 Brian Longwe wrote: psychiatric medication like his mentor Alai. If anyone searched google on these two, the tones of negatives are a true reflection of their character. ./Ok3ch
Brian and Joseph You can rest assured that anything questionable we will question. And I have never seen anything this person calling himself okechukwu contributes to this forum. I bet that the best thing to do is leave me out of your wars with JM but when you involve me know that I will reply you. Joseph, you will continue mourning but your cry are as good as Toilet rants. Dont expect me to bbe a yes sir man. I will never be that. I never lick **** to get favours ndugu. Its just not my nature and I say what I think the way I think it no matter what cyber manambas like Joseph Oketch will say. Oketch, you will find that you need more psychological analysis as your wife also complains about you. I dont need to go to cyberspace to look for your problems. /Alai On 12/4/08, Joseph Okech <okechukwu@gmail.com> wrote:
On Wednesday 03 December 2008 23:37:28 Brian Longwe wrote:
small correction
I have never sat on any state corporation board. Not that I would turn down
an invitation to do so - as I have a lot of space in my heart to serve my
nation.
The members of CCK's board are clearly posted on the CCK website and have
been since CCK's inception http://www.cck.go.ke/cck_board/ I have never
been on that list (not that I would mind)
Why is it that both John Maina and Alai are constantly and consistently
going on rants and raves based on rumor, supposition and entire falsehoods?
I don't know about John Maina but I supposed that he really needs a lot of psychiatric medication like his mentor Alai. If anyone searched google on these two, the tones of negatives are a true reflection of their character.
./Ok3ch
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The more this continues, the more no one notices the difference between me and you so I will rest. ./Ok3ch On Thursday 04 December 2008 09:27:58 Robert Alai wrote:
Brian and Joseph
You can rest assured that anything questionable we will question. And I have never seen anything this person calling himself okechukwu contributes to this forum.
I bet that the best thing to do is leave me out of your wars with JM but when you involve me know that I will reply you. Joseph, you will continue mourning but your cry are as good as Toilet rants.
Dont expect me to bbe a yes sir man. I will never be that. I never lick **** to get favours ndugu. Its just not my nature and I say what I think the way I think it no matter what cyber manambas like Joseph Oketch will say.
Oketch, you will find that you need more psychological analysis as your wife also complains about you. I dont need to go to cyberspace to look for your problems.
/Alai
On 12/4/08, Joseph Okech <okechukwu@gmail.com> wrote:
On Wednesday 03 December 2008 23:37:28 Brian Longwe wrote:
small correction
I have never sat on any state corporation board. Not that I would turn
down
an invitation to do so - as I have a lot of space in my heart to serve my
nation.
The members of CCK's board are clearly posted on the CCK website and have
been since CCK's inception http://www.cck.go.ke/cck_board/ I have never
been on that list (not that I would mind)
Why is it that both John Maina and Alai are constantly and consistently
going on rants and raves based on rumor, supposition and entire
falsehoods?
I don't know about John Maina but I supposed that he really needs a lot of psychiatric medication like his mentor Alai. If anyone searched google on these two, the tones of negatives are a true reflection of their character.
./Ok3ch
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: alai.robert@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alai.robert%40gmail. com
Oketch We can never be the same because your problems are not my problems and vice versa. But you know what I mean and it can be very painful sometime Alai On 12/4/08, Joseph Okech <okechukwu@gmail.com> wrote:
The more this continues, the more no one notices the difference between me and you so I will rest.
./Ok3ch
On Thursday 04 December 2008 09:27:58 Robert Alai wrote:
Brian and Joseph
You can rest assured that anything questionable we will question. And I
have never seen anything this person calling himself okechukwu contributes
to this forum.
I bet that the best thing to do is leave me out of your wars with JM but
when you involve me know that I will reply you. Joseph, you will continue
mourning but your cry are as good as Toilet rants.
Dont expect me to bbe a yes sir man. I will never be that. I never lick
**** to get favours ndugu. Its just not my nature and I say what I think
the way I think it no matter what cyber manambas like Joseph Oketch will
say.
Oketch, you will find that you need more psychological analysis as your
wife also complains about you. I dont need to go to cyberspace to look for
your problems.
/Alai
On 12/4/08, Joseph Okech <okechukwu@gmail.com> wrote:
On Wednesday 03 December 2008 23:37:28 Brian Longwe wrote:
small correction
I have never sat on any state corporation board. Not that I would turn
down
an invitation to do so - as I have a lot of space in my heart to serve
my
nation.
The members of CCK's board are clearly posted on the CCK website and
have
been since CCK's inception http://www.cck.go.ke/cck_board/ I have never
been on that list (not that I would mind)
Why is it that both John Maina and Alai are constantly and consistently
going on rants and raves based on rumor, supposition and entire
falsehoods?
I don't know about John Maina but I supposed that he really needs a lot
of psychiatric medication like his mentor Alai. If anyone searched google
on these two, the tones of negatives are a true reflection of their
character.
./Ok3ch
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kictanet mailing list
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke
This message was sent to: alai.robert@gmail.com
Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alai.robert%40gmail.
com
Can we atleast keep our personal issues aside and deal with things which affect this industry. I tend to believe this is why as a country we still lagging behind in so many things because we deal more with the side issues than the real issues which is meant to bring us together. Maxwell Robert Alai wrote:
Oketch
We can never be the same because your problems are not my problems and vice versa. But you know what I mean and it can be very painful sometime
Alai
On 12/4/08, *Joseph Okech* <okechukwu@gmail.com <mailto:okechukwu@gmail.com>> wrote:
The more this continues, the more no one notices the difference between me and you so I will rest.
./Ok3ch
On Thursday 04 December 2008 09:27:58 Robert Alai wrote:
Brian and Joseph
You can rest assured that anything questionable we will question. And I
have never seen anything this person calling himself okechukwu contributes
to this forum.
I bet that the best thing to do is leave me out of your wars with JM but
when you involve me know that I will reply you. Joseph, you will continue
mourning but your cry are as good as Toilet rants.
Dont expect me to bbe a yes sir man. I will never be that. I never lick
**** to get favours ndugu. Its just not my nature and I say what I think
the way I think it no matter what cyber manambas like Joseph Oketch will
say.
Oketch, you will find that you need more psychological analysis as your
wife also complains about you. I dont need to go to cyberspace to look for
your problems.
/Alai
On 12/4/08, Joseph Okech <okechukwu@gmail.com <mailto:okechukwu@gmail.com>> wrote:
On Wednesday 03 December 2008 23:37:28 Brian Longwe wrote:
small correction
I have never sat on any state corporation board. Not that I would turn
down
an invitation to do so - as I have a lot of space in my heart to serve
my
nation.
The members of CCK's board are clearly posted on the CCK website and
have
been since CCK's inception http://www.cck.go.ke/cck_board/ I have never
been on that list (not that I would mind)
Why is it that both John Maina and Alai are constantly and consistently
going on rants and raves based on rumor, supposition and entire
falsehoods?
I don't know about John Maina but I supposed that he really needs a lot
of psychiatric medication like his mentor Alai. If anyone searched google
on these two, the tones of negatives are a true reflection of their
character.
./Ok3ch
_______________________________________________
kictanet mailing list
kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke>
This message was sent to: alai.robert@gmail.com <mailto:alai.robert@gmail.com>
Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alai.robert%40gmail.
com
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Only a month ago, Kenyans gladly accepted OBAMA's victory as a "Kenyan" President of the USA. That was still the theme at the Ramogi Night at Carnivore restaurant last Friday. Should we not accord Brian Munyao Longwe (if he's not Kenyan) similar treatment as we expected Obama to receive in the USA? Attempts were made by conservatives during the campaigns to present Obama as "muslim" or "Kenyan"...or simply, non-american. The lessons we should have learnt from the post-election crisis and the US elections is what Martin Luther King Jr. died trying to teach us. Do not judge a person by their heritage...colour of their skin...etc etc... Stretching the argument further, should Kenyans now reject "foreign aid" that finances alot of our ICT issues (including KICTANet)...and we may just be asking for some more now that we have a food crisis... Should judge Kriegler have been Kenyan? Should we have kicked out Kofi Annan?...a Ghanaian? Are we telling the world that it was okay for Kenyans who were in strategic positions in RSA to be kicked during the xenophobic attacks? It started with M.L. King Jr....and Obama brought the message home to the unconverted...let us not sprint backwards. That said, we should instead learn to adopt Brian Longwe's of this world (the non-kenyan ones) and giving them full Kenyans status. ;-) All Kenyan, All the time ;-) WM On 12/3/08, Binaifer Nowrojee <bnowrojee@osiea.org> wrote:
As a non-ICT person-just a KICTANET donor--I am compelled to add my two bits to the debate.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's nationality is not so much an issue of entryism, but rather one of xenophobia, a phenomenon that we Kenyans appear have a high affinity to given our propensity to ethnic hatred and even violence.
Xenophobia: an intense dislike and/or fear of people from other nationalities. It comes from the Greek <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language> words ξένος (xenos), meaning "foreigner," "stranger," and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe a fear or dislike of foreigners <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(law)> or of people significantly different from oneself.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's intelligent and valuable contributions to the ICT sector in Kenya far supercede the issue of his nationality as the key determinant of his contributions.
I am a bit puzzled as to how the possession of Kenyan nationality is being automatically equated with positive contributions to the nation-as somehow if we have a Kenyan in the post that things will be done better. This is particularly the case when I look around me and see a Kenyan Commissioner of Police who is happy to kill unarmed pro-democracy advocates; a greedy parliament (all Kenyan) that is happy to award themselves exhorbitantly high salaries without paying tax; and a Kenyan government that is renown worldwide for some of the highest levels of corruption. Is their contribution to our nation calibrated solely on their possession of a piece of paper that labels them Kenyan?
I believe we should judge a person's contributions to bettering of the nation by their actions, regardless of their nationality.
As the debate for constitutional reform moves forward, I also wonder where this leaves the xenophobes. We may soon have a provision for dual nationality.
Best
Binaifer Nowrojee
________________________________
From: kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of aki Sent: 2008-12-03 13:27 To: Binaifer Nowrojee Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Entryism according to some dictionaries
The net has some interesting views on this, something that came to mind while reading world politics a while back..
Entryism is a political tactic in which an organisation or group enters a larger organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, gain influence or to take control of the larger organisations' structure. This technique is commonly used by groups from the far left or right of the political spectrum to enter more centrist institutions. This is experienced more frequently in arenas where opportunities for political activity at the fringes is limited, such as two party/majoritarian systems rather than in multiparty/proportional systems where the cost of entry into the political system is lower. Organisations which are the subject of entryism often react by attempting either to marginalise or expel the pratagonists.
-- Sent from my mobile device
Ndugu Wainaina Well argued. I think that your argument is very good. You know what makes people hate the foreigners, its when they are being used wrongly to attack the nationals. We love all foreigners including and not exclusive to Bill Lay, Michael Joseph, Rene Meza, Jean of Telkom Kenya, and many others. What makes people hate the likes of Longwe, and the other attack dogs used in this forum to attack people who question suspicious deals is how tehy behave. They think that people dont know whom they are. We respect all and I hhave benefited alot from foreigners and more so Malawians, Congolese, Burundians, Tanzanians and Ugandans and many others. But when I am in the respective countries, I tend to respect them and support the locals in every aspect and not be used as an attack Dog when people question the corrupt. And if Brian Longwe wants to be Kenyan, due process of the law must be followed and not short cuts to serve interest of people. The interest we serve is Kenyan interest. But I agree ndugu Wainaina that its true that if a foreigner is doing fine and helping in making a better place then he must be given all support and just the way wakina Janet Feldman in KCA are fighting for dual citizenship for Kenyans, I support it Alai On 12/3/08, Wainaina Mungai <wainaina@madeinkenya.org> wrote:
Only a month ago, Kenyans gladly accepted OBAMA's victory as a "Kenyan" President of the USA. That was still the theme at the Ramogi Night at Carnivore restaurant last Friday.
Should we not accord Brian Munyao Longwe (if he's not Kenyan) similar treatment as we expected Obama to receive in the USA? Attempts were made by conservatives during the campaigns to present Obama as "muslim" or "Kenyan"...or simply, non-american. The lessons we should have learnt from the post-election crisis and the US elections is what Martin Luther King Jr. died trying to teach us. Do not judge a person by their heritage...colour of their skin...etc etc...
Stretching the argument further, should Kenyans now reject "foreign aid" that finances alot of our ICT issues (including KICTANet)...and we may just be asking for some more now that we have a food crisis...
Should judge Kriegler have been Kenyan? Should we have kicked out Kofi Annan?...a Ghanaian? Are we telling the world that it was okay for Kenyans who were in strategic positions in RSA to be kicked during the xenophobic attacks? It started with M.L. King Jr....and Obama brought the message home to the unconverted...let us not sprint backwards.
That said, we should instead learn to adopt Brian Longwe's of this world (the non-kenyan ones) and giving them full Kenyans status. ;-)
All Kenyan, All the time ;-) WM
On 12/3/08, Binaifer Nowrojee <bnowrojee@osiea.org> wrote:
As a non-ICT person-just a KICTANET donor--I am compelled to add my two bits to the debate.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's nationality is not so much an issue of entryism, but rather one of xenophobia, a phenomenon that we Kenyans appear have a high affinity to given our propensity to ethnic hatred and even violence.
Xenophobia: an intense dislike and/or fear of people from other nationalities. It comes from the Greek
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language> words ξένος (xenos), meaning
"foreigner," "stranger," and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe a fear or dislike of foreigners
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(law)> or of people significantly
different from oneself.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's intelligent and valuable contributions to the ICT sector in Kenya far supercede the issue of his nationality as the key determinant of his contributions.
I am a bit puzzled as to how the possession of Kenyan nationality is being automatically equated with positive contributions to the nation-as somehow if we have a Kenyan in the post that things will be done better. This is particularly the case when I look around me and see a Kenyan Commissioner of Police who is happy to kill unarmed pro-democracy advocates; a greedy parliament (all Kenyan) that is happy to award themselves exhorbitantly high salaries without paying tax; and a Kenyan government that is renown worldwide for some of the highest levels of corruption. Is their contribution to our nation calibrated solely on their possession of a piece of paper that labels them Kenyan?
I believe we should judge a person's contributions to bettering of the nation by their actions, regardless of their nationality.
As the debate for constitutional reform moves forward, I also wonder where this leaves the xenophobes. We may soon have a provision for dual nationality.
Best
Binaifer Nowrojee
________________________________
From: kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee <kictanet-bounces%2Bbnowrojee>= osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of aki Sent: 2008-12-03 13:27 To: Binaifer Nowrojee Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Entryism according to some dictionaries
The net has some interesting views on this, something that came to mind while reading world politics a while back..
Entryism is a political tactic in which an organisation or group enters a larger organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, gain influence or to take control of the larger organisations' structure. This technique is commonly used by groups from the far left or right of the political spectrum to enter more centrist institutions. This is experienced more frequently in arenas where opportunities for political activity at the fringes is limited, such as two party/majoritarian systems rather than in multiparty/proportional systems where the cost of entry into the political system is lower. Organisations which are the subject of entryism often react by attempting either to marginalise or expel the pratagonists.
-- Sent from my mobile device
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Thanks for your kind words... May I request that we also agree not to call others "attack dogs" and similar terms? It may be more helpful if we all use polite language...and more preferable if we substantiate claims. I have known Brian for long and have worked closely with him. I would appreciate if we would all be courteous enough to accord him the benefit of doubt for now since the jury is still out on his nationality? Thanks again. WM On 12/3/08, Robert Alai <alai.robert@gmail.com> wrote:
Ndugu Wainaina
Well argued. I think that your argument is very good. You know what makes people hate the foreigners, its when they are being used wrongly to attack the nationals. We love all foreigners including and not exclusive to Bill Lay, Michael Joseph, Rene Meza, Jean of Telkom Kenya, and many others. What makes people hate the likes of Longwe, and the other attack dogs used in this forum to attack people who question suspicious deals is how tehy behave. They think that people dont know whom they are. We respect all and I hhave benefited alot from foreigners and more so Malawians, Congolese, Burundians, Tanzanians and Ugandans and many others. But when I am in the respective countries, I tend to respect them and support the locals in every aspect and not be used as an attack Dog when people question the corrupt.
And if Brian Longwe wants to be Kenyan, due process of the law must be followed and not short cuts to serve interest of people. The interest we serve is Kenyan interest.
But I agree ndugu Wainaina that its true that if a foreigner is doing fine and helping in making a better place then he must be given all support and just the way wakina Janet Feldman in KCA are fighting for dual citizenship for Kenyans, I support it
Alai
On 12/3/08, Wainaina Mungai <wainaina@madeinkenya.org> wrote:
Only a month ago, Kenyans gladly accepted OBAMA's victory as a "Kenyan" President of the USA. That was still the theme at the Ramogi Night at Carnivore restaurant last Friday.
Should we not accord Brian Munyao Longwe (if he's not Kenyan) similar treatment as we expected Obama to receive in the USA? Attempts were made by conservatives during the campaigns to present Obama as "muslim" or "Kenyan"...or simply, non-american. The lessons we should have learnt from the post-election crisis and the US elections is what Martin Luther King Jr. died trying to teach us. Do not judge a person by their heritage...colour of their skin...etc etc...
Stretching the argument further, should Kenyans now reject "foreign aid" that finances alot of our ICT issues (including KICTANet)...and we may just be asking for some more now that we have a food crisis...
Should judge Kriegler have been Kenyan? Should we have kicked out Kofi Annan?...a Ghanaian? Are we telling the world that it was okay for Kenyans who were in strategic positions in RSA to be kicked during the xenophobic attacks? It started with M.L. King Jr....and Obama brought the message home to the unconverted...let us not sprint backwards.
That said, we should instead learn to adopt Brian Longwe's of this world (the non-kenyan ones) and giving them full Kenyans status. ;-)
All Kenyan, All the time ;-) WM
On 12/3/08, Binaifer Nowrojee <bnowrojee@osiea.org> wrote:
As a non-ICT person-just a KICTANET donor--I am compelled to add my two bits to the debate.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's nationality is not so much an issue of entryism, but rather one of xenophobia, a phenomenon that we Kenyans appear have a high affinity to given our propensity to ethnic hatred and even violence.
Xenophobia: an intense dislike and/or fear of people from other nationalities. It comes from the Greek
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language> words ξένος (xenos), meaning
"foreigner," "stranger," and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe a fear or dislike of foreigners
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(law)> or of people significantly
different from oneself.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's intelligent and valuable contributions to the ICT sector in Kenya far supercede the issue of his nationality as the key determinant of his contributions.
I am a bit puzzled as to how the possession of Kenyan nationality is being automatically equated with positive contributions to the nation-as somehow if we have a Kenyan in the post that things will be done better. This is particularly the case when I look around me and see a Kenyan Commissioner of Police who is happy to kill unarmed pro-democracy advocates; a greedy parliament (all Kenyan) that is happy to award themselves exhorbitantly high salaries without paying tax; and a Kenyan government that is renown worldwide for some of the highest levels of corruption. Is their contribution to our nation calibrated solely on their possession of a piece of paper that labels them Kenyan?
I believe we should judge a person's contributions to bettering of the nation by their actions, regardless of their nationality.
As the debate for constitutional reform moves forward, I also wonder where this leaves the xenophobes. We may soon have a provision for dual nationality.
Best
Binaifer Nowrojee
________________________________
From: kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke [mailto:kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee <kictanet-bounces%2Bbnowrojee>= osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of aki Sent: 2008-12-03 13:27 To: Binaifer Nowrojee Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Entryism according to some dictionaries
The net has some interesting views on this, something that came to mind while reading world politics a while back..
Entryism is a political tactic in which an organisation or group enters a larger organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, gain influence or to take control of the larger organisations' structure. This technique is commonly used by groups from the far left or right of the political spectrum to enter more centrist institutions. This is experienced more frequently in arenas where opportunities for political activity at the fringes is limited, such as two party/majoritarian systems rather than in multiparty/proportional systems where the cost of entry into the political system is lower. Organisations which are the subject of entryism often react by attempting either to marginalise or expel the pratagonists.
-- Sent from my mobile device
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: alai.robert@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alai.robert%40gmail.com
-- Sent from my mobile device
Ndugu Wainaina I call them so since they are used by people whose intergrity are questioned here. They will be seen attacking left right and centre without any point. Anyway lets know the truth about nationality but one thing I have known for sometime now is that Brian is not Kenyan and others who we also see being appointed to various boards Anyway I have noted your reservation with the term 'attack dogs' and will surely correct that. Thanks Alai On 12/3/08, Wainaina Mungai <wainaina@madeinkenya.org> wrote:
Thanks for your kind words...
May I request that we also agree not to call others "attack dogs" and similar terms? It may be more helpful if we all use polite language...and more preferable if we substantiate claims.
I have known Brian for long and have worked closely with him. I would appreciate if we would all be courteous enough to accord him the benefit of doubt for now since the jury is still out on his nationality?
Thanks again. WM
Ndugu Wainaina
Well argued. I think that your argument is very good. You know what makes people hate the foreigners, its when they are being used wrongly to attack the nationals. We love all foreigners including and not exclusive to Bill Lay, Michael Joseph, Rene Meza, Jean of Telkom Kenya, and many others. What makes people hate the likes of Longwe, and the other attack dogs used in this forum to attack people who question suspicious deals is how tehy behave. They think that people dont know whom they are. We respect all and I hhave benefited alot from foreigners and more so Malawians, Congolese, Burundians, Tanzanians and Ugandans and many others. But when I am in the respective countries, I tend to respect them and support the locals in every aspect and not be used as an attack Dog when people question the corrupt.
And if Brian Longwe wants to be Kenyan, due process of the law must be followed and not short cuts to serve interest of people. The interest we serve is Kenyan interest.
But I agree ndugu Wainaina that its true that if a foreigner is doing fine and helping in making a better place then he must be given all support and just the way wakina Janet Feldman in KCA are fighting for dual citizenship for Kenyans, I support it
Alai
On 12/3/08, Wainaina Mungai <wainaina@madeinkenya.org> wrote:
Only a month ago, Kenyans gladly accepted OBAMA's victory as a "Kenyan" President of the USA. That was still the theme at the Ramogi Night at Carnivore restaurant last Friday.
Should we not accord Brian Munyao Longwe (if he's not Kenyan) similar treatment as we expected Obama to receive in the USA? Attempts were made by conservatives during the campaigns to present Obama as "muslim" or "Kenyan"...or simply, non-american. The lessons we should have learnt from the post-election crisis and the US elections is what Martin Luther King Jr. died trying to teach us. Do not judge a person by their heritage...colour of their skin...etc etc...
Stretching the argument further, should Kenyans now reject "foreign aid" that finances alot of our ICT issues (including KICTANet)...and we may just be asking for some more now that we have a food crisis...
Should judge Kriegler have been Kenyan? Should we have kicked out Kofi Annan?...a Ghanaian? Are we telling the world that it was okay for Kenyans who were in strategic positions in RSA to be kicked during the xenophobic attacks? It started with M.L. King Jr....and Obama brought the message home to the unconverted...let us not sprint backwards.
That said, we should instead learn to adopt Brian Longwe's of this world (the non-kenyan ones) and giving them full Kenyans status. ;-)
All Kenyan, All the time ;-) WM
On 12/3/08, Binaifer Nowrojee <bnowrojee@osiea.org> wrote:
As a non-ICT person-just a KICTANET donor--I am compelled to add my
two
bits
to the debate.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's nationality is not so much an issue of entryism, but rather one of xenophobia, a phenomenon that we Kenyans appear have a high affinity to given our propensity to ethnic hatred and even violence.
Xenophobia: an intense dislike and/or fear of people from other nationalities. It comes from the Greek
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_language> words ξένος (xenos), meaning
"foreigner," "stranger," and φόβος (phobos), meaning "fear." The term is typically used to describe a fear or dislike of foreigners
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(law)> or of people significantly
different from oneself.
To my mind, Brian Longwe's intelligent and valuable contributions to
On 12/3/08, Robert Alai <alai.robert@gmail.com> wrote: the
sector in Kenya far supercede the issue of his nationality as the key determinant of his contributions.
I am a bit puzzled as to how the possession of Kenyan nationality is being automatically equated with positive contributions to the nation-as somehow if we have a Kenyan in the post that things will be done better. This is particularly the case when I look around me and see a Kenyan Commissioner of Police who is happy to kill unarmed pro-democracy advocates; a greedy parliament (all Kenyan) that is happy to award themselves exhorbitantly high salaries without paying tax; and a Kenyan government that is renown worldwide for some of the highest levels of corruption. Is their contribution to our nation calibrated solely on their possession of a
ICT piece
of paper that labels them Kenyan?
I believe we should judge a person's contributions to bettering of the nation by their actions, regardless of their nationality.
As the debate for constitutional reform moves forward, I also wonder where this leaves the xenophobes. We may soon have a provision for dual nationality.
Best
Binaifer Nowrojee
________________________________
From: kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee=osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke
[mailto:kictanet-bounces+bnowrojee <kictanet-bounces%2Bbnowrojee><kictanet-bounces%2Bbnowrojee>=
Of aki Sent: 2008-12-03 13:27 To: Binaifer Nowrojee Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions Subject: [kictanet] Entryism according to some dictionaries
The net has some interesting views on this, something that came to mind while reading world politics a while back..
Entryism is a political tactic in which an organisation or group enters a larger organisation in an attempt to gain recruits, gain influence or to take control of the larger organisations' structure. This technique is commonly used by groups from the far left or right of the political spectrum to enter more centrist institutions. This is experienced more frequently in arenas where opportunities for political activity at the fringes is
such as two party/majoritarian systems rather than in multiparty/proportional systems where the cost of entry into the
osiea.org@lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf limited, political
system is lower. Organisations which are the subject of entryism often react by attempting either to marginalise or expel the pratagonists.
-- Sent from my mobile device
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: alai.robert@gmail.com Unsubscribe or change your options at
http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/alai.robert%40gmail.com
--
Sent from my mobile device
For those who have not read this opinion piece, I would urge you to do so and reflect on it. Why do we need to bring down Brian Longwe on the basis of his nationality? Why not celebrate his success? Why assume that a non-Kenyan will not positively contribute to Kenya? Best Binaifer Nowrojee Barack Obama and the graveyard of hope Wambui Mwangi (2008-08-11) http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/50078 Printer friendly version <http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/50078/print> There are 2 comments <http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/50078#comments#comments> on this article. ________________________________ I am finding it very difficult to join in the jubilation about Senator Barack Obama. Not that I want to deny the man his victory, but my impulse to celebrate keeps deflating on the idea that the best thing that happened to little Barack was not growing up in Kenya. I have been imagining alternative trajectories for him if he had come to know the world through the eyes of a Kenyan citizen, if his mother and grandparents had not rescued him from our chaos and contradictions and brought him up somewhere his intellect and talent could grow. If he had grown up here, and had he somehow managed to retain most elements of his current self, he would have been another outstanding, intelligent and competent Luo man in our midst: and he would have been killed. Yes, we would have assassinated a Barack Obama if he had remained ours, with us, one of us here in this schizophrenic cauldron we call home. This is not going to stretch the imagination of any Kenyan - after all, when we had that incredibly good-looking and charismatic home-grown hero, Tom Mboya, we shot him to death. And when that austerely intellectual and elegant leader, Robert Ouko, threatened to look overly intelligent to the world, we killed him too. We killed Pio Gama Pinto and we killed JM Kariuki. There is no reason to suppose that Barack Obama, whose integrity of purpose and stringent sense of ethics even his enemies concede, would have survived his Kenyan roots. He is much too intelligent, too charged with the promise of history, too bold in his claim to a shining destiny, too full of the audacity of hope, for us to have let him survive. Kenya would have killed Barack Obama, or at least his dream, as we inevitably destroy, in one way or another, the best and the boldest of us. Goldenberg whistle blower David Munyakei's challenge to his country to be bigger than our greed was met with a whimper, and then with rapid abandonment. We did not deserve him, either. As for John Githongo, he should have known better than to take the idea of public ethics seriously - this is Kenya, after all. Let him enlighten people at Oxford instead; such considerations are too virtuous for us, too sensible, too conducive to a promising future. We do not even remark on the haunting wastage of all this shining accomplishment - Micere Mugo sings her lyrical poetry for Americans, and we do not even know enough to mourn the loss. And yet we are all enchanted with the power of the idea of Barack Obama, the hope of him, the beauty of his life's trajectory, the universe of possibilities and probabilities that it conjures for the least of the rest of us. If someone's cousin's friend's neighbour makes it to the United States... then we all have a chance. We have a strange predilection for schizophrenic loves and loyalties; we let geography dictate our alliances and imaginary lines decide our friends. It is as if our social contract states that here, at home, we are obliged to behave like fighting rats to each other but when abroad, when released from the shackles of kin and clan and conclave, we can fly and soar and master the sky. When Wangari Maathai is abroad, we feel that her Nobel Prize is partly represented in each of our Kenyan living rooms; when she comes home, she is just another Kikuyu politico. We preen about our athletes winning yet another international competition to anybody who will give us half a chance, but when they are at home we turn them into more fodder for militias. Caine Prize winners are Kenyan by automatic assent, but Binyavanga Wainaina is a Kikuyu writer when at home and Yvonne Owuor is indelibly a Luo - we shrink them to fit the midget-sized visions we have of ourselves. It is clear to all of us, and the evidence continues to accrue, that we have, collectively, a certain global competence, as Kenyans, that we produce individuals of substance and historical purpose. Being Kenyan, however, we prefer to drown in the pettiness of our parochial quarrels when at home, and if one of us threatens to be too hopeful, too ambitious, too intelligent, too creative or too inspirational to fit into our trivial little categories of hatred and suspicion, we kill them, or exile them from our societies, or we just cause them to run away inside, hiding from us and from themselves the grandeur of their souls, the splendid landscapes of their imagined tomorrows. Nothing but the worst for us, at home. We recognise each other by our most rancid rhetoric. We insist upon it, we cultivate it, we elevate it to an art form: Kenyan, and quarrelsome. Kenyan, and clannish. Kenyan, and counter-productive. Kenyan, and self-destructive. Kenyan, and consistently heart-breaking. Genius everywhere, and not a thought to be had. Promise and potential everywhere, and not an opportunity to be had. Money everywhere, and not an honest penny to be earned. Helicopters aplenty, but no help for the needy. A land awash in Cabinet ministers and poverty. I have been watching Kenyans getting high on Obamamania, and I am wondering what we are so happy about? It is perhaps that we are beginning to acknowledge what we should always have known - given a half a chance, an ever so slightly conducive context, Kenyans are more likely to over-achieve than not. At the faintest provocation, Kenyans will leap past expectations without breaking their stride or breaking a sweat, especially if they happen to have escaped the imprisoning edifice we call home and found foreign contexts to flourish in, no matter how alien. I went to a town in the Canadian Arctic once, in the far north, where in summer the sun shines even at midnight and in the winter the world is an endless landscape of ice and snow. Here, far, far away from home, where nothing was familiar except the gentleness of elderly Inuit women and the comforting weirdness of the white residents, I was told that the local dentist had, for many years, been a Kenyan. Everybody said he had been an excellent dentist, out there in the desert of the cold. I was unsurprised. We are an adventurous people, we Kenyans, and we take to the world outside our home as if born to a conquistador culture - we are brave and brash and bold, out there. We buy and sell things, and make money at it, out there. We go to school and excel and cover ourselves with accreditations, out there. We win things, out there. We get prizes, out there. We are at our best, out there. However, at home, for some reason we refuse to either acknowledge or examine - we have chosen simply to set aside this capacity. Here, at home, nothing but the very lowest common denominator will do; nothing but the basest and most brutal aspects of our selves are to be presented to each other; nothing but the most cynical manipulation is the basis of our political space. We prefer to be ruled by individuals whose mediocrity is matched only by their mendacity, here at home. We prefer to abdicate our adult responsibilities and capacity for reason to "leaders" whose lack of virtue is as legendary as our attractively exotic pastoralists. We do not only waste talent, here at home - we go out of our way to suppress and repress it. We do not only deny dreams, here in Kenya - we devour them, and ask each other, "Who do you think you are?" As if the success of another is an affront. In Kenya, grand vision and soaring imagination is illegitimate; here, they just call you naive. Out there, you stand a chance of becoming a hero; at home, you will have nothing but the taste of ashes in your mouth. Mothers, take your children abroad. Barack Obama has written two books, in which he discusses ideas. Ideas. This is a man with vision and conviction, and enough good ideas that even those who do not like the pigmentally-advantaged are listening, and changing their minds. Even those who think that his name sounds suspiciously like a terrorist's are reading his books and listening to his speeches, and changing their minds. This is a man with interesting and inspiring things to say - which disqualifies him from any Kenyan-ness we would have liked to claim. Americans like the image of them that Barack Obama has painted in words; which Kenyan leader would dare to build dreams bigger than his roots? Which Kenyan leader would ever be so foolish as to attempt inspiration instead of instigation? Barack Obama has seduced the world by the power of his persuasiveness, and while Kenyans raise another glass to the accomplishments of "one of our own," it seems clear to me that we gave up our rights to him when we gave up our hopes for ourselves. When we settled for incompetence, and corruption, and callousness, we defined ourselves out of his universe, and out of his dreams. We rejected Barack Obama-ness when we allowed those pangas to slash our dreams, when we watched our hopes spiral away in smoke. We allowed the ones who had done this to become the only mirrors of ourselves, and then squelched our disgraced selves back to the mire of our despondency. Barack Obama cannot be a Kenyan, and Kenyans cannot grasp Barack Obama's dream. We have already despaired of it, and of ourselves. His dream would have died with ours, here at home, here in the graveyard of hope. But oh, how we yearn to see ourselves reflected in his eyes... *Wambui Mwangi is an assitant professor of Political Science at the University of Toronto, Canada. This article first appeared inThe East African, June 15 2008. *Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/
participants (7)
-
aki -
Binaifer Nowrojee -
Brian Longwe -
Joseph Okech -
Ochieng Maxwell -
Robert Alai -
Wainaina Mungai