It's Our Turn to Eat [Paperback]

In the early `90's I used to travel frequently on business to Africa - but primarily West Africa and usually Nigeria. I enjoyed it (mostly) and learned a great deal and met some wonderful people - but I did find it extraordinarily stressful. It was always a relief and relaxation to make a trip to Kenya. Warm, friendly, educated people living in a truly beautiful country. I only had the most superficial view/experience of it but it did seem to me to be a largely successful country which sat outside the stereotype of African countries.

I thoroughly enjoyed both of Michaela Wrong's early books - particularly the second about Eritrea and so was looking forward to this. It is a painful, shocking and illuminating read. Other reviewers here have commented well on the contents. What struck me by the end was the complicity of the British in a thoroughly corrupt political process - with a few notable exceptions such as Sir Edward Clay - and, indeed, worsening it through the totally mistaken implementation of DfID policies under Hilary Benn. When I read those splendid statements about our government's commitment to relieving poverty and strengthening democracy in Africa - I had no idea of the reality on the ground.

I thoroughly recommend this book - it should be read by every government minister - past, present and future - and by anyone interested in Africa.

For anyone with an interest in Kenyan politics or recent African history, John Githongo's whistle-blowing story is not news in March 2009. The story first broke in January 2006 and caused something of a small storm in the pages of newspapers in the UK and a hurricane across Kenya's intelligentsia. It was, therefore, with bewildered curiosity that I approached reading "It's our turn to eat". I wondered why Ms Wrong thought Githongo's story - about being a corruption-excoriating journalist , to government anti-corruption czar, to frustrated fugitive in fear of his life - was not, by the standards of this insatiable journalist worth any more than a column in a sensibly selected liberal newspaper or political journal. But, no, Ms Wrong felt this story and its context to be so important that she chose to use it as her third vehicle in (what I see as becoming) her treatise : "Africa, a dysfunctional continent".

Having read her first two books with much enthusiasm, I was puzzled. Kenya is a much photographed and written-about country. It is instantly familiar to people throughout the world mostly for its sandy beaches, volcanic lakes teeming with birdlife, vast savannas and snow-capped mountains. I couldn't see what there was to write about in Kenya for a fearless journalist who was physically present braving bullets at the collapse of the Mobutu regime in the then Zaire and who managed to dig into the entrails of Eritrea's tortured history. Surely, I thought, there were more interesting, more challenging places to investigate than Kenya. After all, even taboo subjects like Mau Mau had been picked over and exhaustively examined by Westerners like Caroline Elkins and David Anderson. I was hopelessly wrong.

In "The Godfather", Don Vito Corleone instructs his burly lieutenant, Luca Brasi, to investigate a potential business partner with circumspection. "See what he has under his fingernails," says the Don. This is exactly what Ms Wrong has done with Kenya. In her research into the country, she refused to take anything or anybody at face value. In so doing she managed to unearth truths about the country which will make uncomfortable reading for most Kenyans and their many friends. She paints a picture of an unremarkable African country in thrall to a tribal community with ideas well above its station. A country stupidly refusing to accept that it is teetering ever more precariously on the edge of a vast abyss from which there can be no return.

John Githongo - a close friend of Ms Wrong who will, I am sure, have winced at her description of his sometimes uncaring dismissal of her time (the expression she uses for being ignored by John is being "Githongoed") - turns out to be the unlikely hero of Kenya's long ignored masses. Unlikely, for Githongo belongs to a significant minority of Kenyans: its Kikuyu middle class.

Despite being repeatedly Githongoed, Ms Wrong gets underneath the fingernails of this self-important mass of people and learns things about them and their country which have, until now, been conveniently ignored. What she is able to capture in "It's our turn to eat" is the thing which escaped President Kibaki and his clique of "wazee" (old men) when they chose to select Githongo - a man whose own credentials were beyond reproach - as their disguise; the clean face to show the world while they carried on "eating" behind the scenes.

In assuming that Githongo thought like they did, the wazee forgot a fundamental point. The education and lifestyle John Githongo's parents had afforded him set him well apart from them; he thought in ways they would never understand. His generation did not grow up in a village running about barefoot. They were weaned while watching Rupert the Bear on television, learned to read through Ladybird's Janet & John, swapped Enid Blyton novels in primary school with their friends and were more likely to look upon Biggles than Field Marshall Dedan Kimathi (a Mau Mau warrior) as a hero. Githongo's parents (and their contemporaries) might have done the best by their children but in so doing they had ensured that forever more their children were not like them.

Ms Wrong picks this up expertly. She is cannily able to identify that people of Githongo's ilk are more relaxed having a conversation in English than Kikuyu, more likely to switch television channels to the BBC than listen to a heavily Kikuyu-accented minister like Chris Murungaru and more desirous of a holiday in New York than a sojourn in Muranga. The purple prose employed by former British High Commissioner, Sir Edward Clay, would not have been lost on the likes of John Githongo. He and his friends probably sniggered into their sleeves while the wazee cringed at Clay's cheeky employment of his version of A.A. Milne's "The King's Breakfast". This is the perfect whistle blowing generation. And it took a muzungu (white person) journalist to pick this up. Shame on Kenya!

This book has more in common with her first, "In the footsteps of Mr Kurtz", than it does with her second, "I didn't do it for you". Unlike the latter, a scholarly historical work, this book is about capturing a moment in time, attempting to place it in its historical context and imagining what the future may hold for a country.

Best of all, Ms Wrong, much like she did in "In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz", peppers her work with vignettes of personal experience: she was one of the journalists warily present at the chaotic victory celebrations in Nairobi in January 2003 and was there when Nairobi, Kisumu and Eldoret exploded in January 2008. In reading her book, one gets the feeling of watching a pot of explosive ingredients slowly bubble away. By the last chapter, the lid has blown off the pot and Kenya is engulfed in flames.

I would hate to describe Ms Wrong as a Jeremiah but if this book is not taken seriously, there is no telling what may happen to Kenya.

I had read a review of Michela Wrong's book somewhere, and had it on my list of books to buy.

The book tells it all, and outlines the levels of corruption that exist in Kenya. What is amazing is that the Prevention of Corruption Act has been on the Kenyan statute books since 1956.

Examples are John saying that he had friends in the Narc administration that bought three properties at once, and were giving their wives $100,000 in spending money. The conflicts of interest that exist between donors and the corrupt regime, i.e. the World Bank director who rented his house from Mwai Kibaki. John tells us how tribal rivalry is used by the key players as a cover for theft.

I enjoyed the analysis of John Githongo. The struggles that he comes up against in challenging the system i.e., The Mt Kenya Mafia/Kiama (council of elders)/Big Men. John is not a saint, and the reader is shown how he goes through various stages of denial. He starts off believing that Kibaki is backing him to the hilt and then confronts the reality that Mwai Kibaki is in on the Anglo Leasing scam, and it becomes clear to him that he is investigating the President. He is faced with internal conflict, having to make some difficult decisions which will impact on his family, and friends.

John Githongo has a natural ability to befriend everyone, and we are shown how this enabled him to access information from various sources.

There were several bits of the book that I found hilarious. Wycliffe Muga a journalist saying that John Githongo was a coconut and a mzungu (white person) because of his commitment to transparency, honesty and accountability. Wycliffe Muga's belief system has no room for Kenyans who possess these qualities, and in his view Kenyans who are not dishonest, and corrupt, are Mzungus.Wycliffe Muga revises his opinion, after John has released his findings to the public, and acknowledges that he was wrong, and John Githongo was the right man for the job.A description of Lucy Kibaki first lady and ageing drama queen, never one to wear her privileges lightly. Edward Clay and his vomit one and two speeches, and his attempts to make a difference.

I was alarmed by the position that DFID took, or did not take on the Anglo Leasing scam. Michela Wrong illustrates the role that donors play, and the various agendas they come in with. In 2007 the UN awards Kenya with its public service award, while public servants have conspired to steal $750 million in public funds.

We are then shown how John Githongo is viewed by some of his own. Burning down the house of Mumbi. He is betraying the tribe. Loyalty to the tribe should come first. A Kikuyu woman talks about how if your mother is naked, you cover her with a blanket, and don't call the neighbours in to have a peek. The message to John Githongo is turn a blind eye, and keep your gob shut. Let the millions continue to die of hunger, we must remain billionaires. Power in Kenya must rest in the hands of a narrow ethnic clique. John has a conversation with Lands and Settlement Minister Kimunya before the elections who tells him that uncircumcised people have no right to rule Kenya. This gives you a clear idea of the mindset of some of these Big Men, who are not village idiots, but people who went to university.

Most of John Githongo's critics are Kikuyu. There were death threats against him, and I do not for a minute believe he is a coward for having left the country. We are aware of what happened to people who challenged the system in previous regimes e.g., JM Kariuki, and Robert Ouko, murder.

I can see how one of John Githongo's greatest difficulties, was seeing Mwai Kibaki for what he would have liked him to be, rather than for what he was. He acknowledges that he had difficulty coming to terms with the betrayal of his tribe and class.

Towards the end of the book we are brought to events that took place after the recent elections. Had all Kenyans believed they enjoyed equal access to state resources, there would have been no explosion.

I have the utmost admiration and respect for John Githongo. He walks the talk, and makes it clear that he was not employed by Gikuyu Inc, but employed to serve his country. He has taken some huge risks, and may never be free of the assassin's bullet. However, for those who feel he has betrayed them, I see it the other way. He has done them a favour. He is sorting out his own house first. I believe he speaks for the millions of oppressed Kenyans, and it is important that these issues are spoken about and resolved.

What John Githongo has exposed is just the tip of the iceberg, it would have been easier for him to collude with his own. However he is a man of integrity, and honesty, and this was not an easy task. There are lots of Kenyans who would rather put up and shut up, because the costs are too great. Samuel Kivuitu(the Electoral services commissioner) is a perfect example. He tells us that if it was up to him, he would not have signed off the election results, but he says he is alone and wants to live!

The book was informative, gripping, and uncomfortable reading. I thank Michela Wrong, and John Githongo for recording what is going on in Kenya today.

I understand the book was supposed to be on sale in Kenya but read an article in the Guardian that mentioned that bookshops would not risk selling it for fear of being sued. Bookshops that sold the Dr. Iain West's Casebookcasebook,about Robert Ouko were sued to the tune of 10M shillings.

I will give this book to every Kenyan I know.