Finance Bill 2024 Demos: A Meditation

    The demonstrations that have rocked Kenya in recent weeks have led to a new perception of political discourse in the country. The youth led demonstrations have brought to the forefront the general discontent that citizens of this country have with their government. The following essay is a meditation on the role of social media fueling the protests and suggests possible paths that will make this struggle successful and create an atmosphere of political dialogue between the government and the people. 

    Youth leading these protests is nothing new. In Africa, young people have historically been on the forefront of change. During the struggle for independence, the Mau Mau was mainly comprised of young people. My late grandfather told me that he joined the struggle in 1949 when he was 25 years old. In South Africa, the fight against apartheid was mainly led by young people and students, culminating in the Soweto uprising of 1966, which was immortalized in song by Miriam Makeba in Soweto Blues where she poetically observed that “the children were flying, bullets dying…” (Makeba) Kenya’s second liberation, which led to the repeal of section 2A and the return of multiparty politics was spearheaded by young politicians and university students. As such, Gen Z are doing what was done by generations before them. 

     However, this time social media has been critical in mobilizing the turnouts that have shocked every member of Kenyan society. Political pundits of older generations have openly claimed that they have never seen such demonstrations despite the turbulent history of this country. One possible explanation for this is because the anger of hoi polloi has never been this amplified. The reason behind this amplification is social media. Apart from the obvious communication and logistical advantages of social media such sharing schedules and meet-up locations, social media has also played a critical role in fanning the anger witnessed in towns across the country. It’s interesting to note that the events of the 23rd-27th of June were shared under the banner “Seven Days of Rage”. I think there’s more here than meets the eye. While it indicates the ire the people have against a government that constantly ignored them, the wording hints at the underlying nature of communication on social media platforms. 

    Social media platforms have been documented to lay more emphasis and amplify negative emotions. In his book Zucked: Waking Up to The Facebook Catastrophe Roger McNamee writes “…inflammatory posts work better at reaching huge audiences within Facebook and other platforms” (McNamee). An inflaming word choice makes the audience outrageous, anxious or both, which in turn drives up the engagement. Outraged users return to the site to check for updates more frequently and tend to “share more content to let other people what they should also be outraged about” (McNamee). As a result, the message gets to a much wider audience consequently driving up turn-out, especially the demographic that happens to be heavy social media users. With this in mind, it can be argued that not everyone on the streets was motivated by a newly awakened political awareness. 

    So far so good. The demonstrations have achieved the main goal they set out to achieve. Thanks to social media, the country is now paying attention to young people.. Jaron Lanier paints a very clear picture what is now happening; “A group of hip, young, educated people gets into a social media platform first, because these things come out of the hip, young, educated world. They’re idealistic…They sincerely want the world to be better. They meet early successes, often spectacular, ecstatic successes…” (Lanier) 

    However, social media is a double edged sword and can sabotage everything achieved this far. Since social media algorithms tend to drive up engagement by promoting negative and inflammatory posts it has the “unintended effect of lining idealists up so that they can be targeted with shitposts that statistically make them just a little more irritable, a little less able to communicate with dissimilar people, so a little more isolated, and after all that, a little less able to tolerate moderate or pragmatic politics” (Lanier). The problem is compounded by the presence of filter bubbles where social media algorithms “feed each of us a steady diet of content similar to what has engaged us most in the past” (McNamee). This explains why President Ruto’s refusal to sign the Finance Bill into law is not being hyped as a battle fought and won. 

    The only way to salvage the situation is to pop the bubble. We need to be cognizant of the limits of social media taking the events of recent history such as the Arab Spring and Sudan as examples of what happens when the people rely heavily on social media platforms to carry their revolutionary message. However, this does not mean abandoning the use of these platforms, but rather using them as tools to better political engagement in the country. For instance, social media can be used to create awareness and offer a platform for virtual public participation to marshal the involvement of young people in politics. Since the constitution of Kenya provides for the participation of the people in the creation of laws, using online platforms for this purpose will provide a wider audience. Mistakes can be identified and corrected earlier, and there would be no need to go to the streets. Such participations will have an impact compared to those that came before because now the politicians know what happens if they ignore this crop of Kenyans. As such, we will create an atmosphere of dialogue and the evident chasm between the government and the governed will perhaps be bridged. 

    In conclusion, social media played a critical role in successfully organizing the protests that led to the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024. Due to the inherent architecture of algorithms that run social media platforms, the anger of the people was amplified in a way never witnessed before in Kenya. Although it led to the success of the demonstrations, not all protesters were politically aware. Despite this shortcoming, social media can be used to improve political engagement in the country and bridge the gap between the people and their government.   

                                                            References 

Lanier, Jaron. Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 2018. E-Book. 

Makeba, Miriam. "Soweto Blues." Welela. By S. Todd H. Masekela. New York, 1989. Compact Disc. 

McNamee, Roger. Zucked: Waking Up to the Facebook Catatrophe. New York: Penguin Press, 2019. EPUB.

Gender Based Violence (GBV) and Femicide in Kenya: A Dialectical Dissection

Gender based violence (GBV) and femicide cases in Kenya have been on the rise lately and the statistics are alarming. ‘Policies’ are being put in place to curb the statistical spike. GBV has always been around, what is intriguing is the sense of ‘alarm’ that accompanies it these days. One of the reason these cases are becoming more disquieting and, as a result, sensationalized in the media, is because they are happening among a demographic that is educated. A demographic which, for all intents and purposes, is seen as ‘enlightened’, liberal and progressive. When you hear these stories you’ll always catch a reference to the education level of the perpetrator or victim such as “he was a doctor” or “she was a university student”. It is taken for granted that violence is beneath an educated person. The question then arises why such persons are increasingly solving their romantic and marital problems via violence? The following is a dialectical analysis of why education seems to have the unintended results by bringing out modes of behavior it is supposed to be eradicating. It seeks to analyze how a hybrid of Western and African worldviews might lead to cases of GBV. The essay will focus on three aspects: it will look at the Western ideals of individualism and objectification theory on the one hand, and the African perception (largely drawn from the proverbs and customs of the Kikuyu) of marriage and romantic relationships on the other. It will attempt looking at how the former have amalgamated and distorted the latter, and how this distortion contributes to the frequent occurrence of GBV and femicide. It is a well-known historical fact that when two cultures encounter each other there is bound to be a conflict of values, and that the values of the domineering culture often replace the values of the conquered one. The advent of Europeans in Africa resulted, to a great extent, in the replacement of African values with European values. This was first undertaken by the Christian missionaries and was cemented by colonization. One of the values that was replaced in such manner was communalism. The concept of community has been steadily and gradually replaced by individualism. African cultures emphasized the importance of the community, and the meaning of being for any individual was primarily based on their place within the extended family, the clan and the tribe. Most African cultures have sayings and proverbs that emphasize this aspect of their society. For example the Kikuyu of Kenya have a saying that “Mundu ni andu” which literally means that “a person is people”. Another proverb by the Kikuyu says “Indo ni kurimithanio” which can be translated as “Riches are gained by working together. The proverb emphasizes the value of communal over individual effort. This is a common philosophy among African cultures often referred to as “Ubuntu” which means “I am because we are”. In her seminal book The River and The Source, M. A. Ogola refers to the Dholuo concepts of dak and wat, the former meaning neighborliness and the latter an extensive brotherhood covering a wide area both physically and socially (Ogola). However, Westernization has resulted in the de-emphasis of this value by placing the emphasis on the individual and personal effort. This is seen through the proliferate use of adages such as “Be yourself”, “Follow your passion” and other similar platitudes. Among the Kikuyu this reorientation can be seen through such sayings as “Kirindi kia remire Musa”, that is, “The people were too much for Moses”. There is even a popular Kikuyu song whose refrain is “Tigana na andu”, which means “Do not mind people”. The above examples indicate that over time, the African perspective has been shifting from communalism to individualism. Another aspect of Western culture that has permeated through African values is objectification of women. Objectification refers to the perception of women as sexual objects. In the modern world, women are perceived as a summation of parts rather than as complete human beings. The melodic lyrics of Kleptomaniax “Sura, macho, mbele na nyuma” aptly captures this perception of women. As a result, the value of a woman is to be measured with reference to her beauty and physical attributes, more specifically her face, bosom and buttocks. Why do I refer to objectification as a Western ideal? Kikuyu proverbs once again shed light on their attitude towards beauty. One proverb says “Nyoko nditugaga” which means “Beauty does no good”. Nevertheless, this does not imply that there was no appreciation of beauty. When Akoko, the heroine of The River and the Source, arrives at Sakwa the whole village stands in awe of her good looks. “Her eyes were set far apart and neither too small nor too big, her teeth were white and even with a bewitching gap at the centre of the upper set. Her ears…were perfectly shaped standing just at the right angle from her head. And that neck! It was fit to inspire praise songs from nyatiti players… As for her legs, Were must have carved them out personally rather than one of his apprentices” (Ogola pg. 28). However, it was still understood that “Uthaka nduriagwo” i.e. “Beauty is not eaten”, and Akoko’s self-image is not based on her appearance. Growing up she was taught Chik, tradition, and she understood “…that the way to keep a man was by the work of my hands and the words of my mouth” (Ogola pg. 35). Furthermore, her husband does not value her because she is beautiful but because “…she was unafraid of him, and spoke candidly…rarely failed to make him laugh… [And] her advice on most matters was sound” (Ogola pg. 30). Due to these attributes Owuor Kembo adores his wife so much that he is disinclined to be polygamous despite being a great chief (Ogola). From these examples, one can argue that objectification and the emphasis on beauty is, to some extent, alien to the African perception of women. Individualism and objectification are predominant values among the educated. The primary reason is because education is the means through which most Africans are introduced to the Western worldview and its values. However, once outside of the classroom, people live in an African society, and the educated still uphold some aspects of African culture. However, these aspects are often distorted. The distorted cultural aspect relevant to us in this context is the African perception of marriage and male-female romantic relationships. Most African customs place a great emphasis on bride price whose payment is often accompanied by elaborate ceremonies. Only after the ceremony of paying bride price can a man and a woman be seen as a proper couple. In the original African context, for instance among the Kikuyu, such payment was not a one-time deal but was meant to continue in perpetuity. The main reason for this is because the bride price was seen as compensation to the extended family and community for losing one of their member. Since her value could not be replaced by a deposit of cash and goats, the husband was expected to continue compensating his in-laws with tokens and gifts. Furthermore, the bride price was also meant to bolster the relationship between the two families involved, hence the proverb “Ngari ihitagwo ni mundu na muthoniwe” which translates as “A leopard is hunted together with one’s in-laws”. Ogola also makes a similar remark observing that “a home without daughters can never prosper but is faced with eventual poverty and lack of friendships forged in marriage” (Ogola pg. 13). As such, marriage was seen as two families forming an everlasting bond that would remain intact through thick and thin. However, the western ideals of individualism and objectification have distorted this perception of African customary marriage. Individualism has narrowed the scope of who should be involved in relationships. Today, romantic affairs between lovers are seen as private matters of concern only to the couple. The role of parents, the extended family and clan have been reduced to mere symbolism. Furthermore, objectification has distorted the meaning of paying bride price. The ceremonies are now viewed as a one-time deal, where a man coughs up resources to “buy” a wife. The deep cultural meaning of the event has been eroded and since women are objectified, the man consequently “owns” the woman for whom he has paid bride price. The factors elaborated above play a role in cases of GBV and femicide when conflict arises in a relationship. Firstly, emphasis on individualism has led to the rise of egocentrism. The individual is now seen as the source of moral authority and the adage by Protagoras that “Man is the measure of all things,” has been corrupted to “I am the measure of all things”. When conflict arises, people with such a mindset do not pause to consider the legitimacy of the other side, and adamantly view themselves as being on the right. Under such circumstances, reconciliation becomes more difficult, and coming to blows becomes more probable. Secondly, objectification compounds the problem because the man views the woman as an object that he “owns”. As a result, he is predisposed to be authoritarian and dismiss the concerns of the woman regardless of their validity. In addition, internalized objectification increases the susceptibility to emotional abuse where women are made to view themselves as worthless, instead of as matriarchs, the more they age. Moreover, objectification that is internalized adds weight to the sense of being “owned” by the husband/boyfriend, and explains why many women stay in abusive marriages and relationships until they become fatal regardless of their education level. Gender based violence and femicide continue to plague Kenyan society. The above analysis does not purport to be exhaustive, and more analysis into the underlying factors that lead to GBV and femicide in Kenya is much needed. Nonetheless, the fact that an educated demographic resorts to violence when solving romantic disputes is partly why the cases of GBV and femicide have gained an ironic aspect of “alarm”. An education that lays emphasis on the Western ideals of individualism and objectification has distorted the African perception of marriage and romantic relationships. Individualism has led to the rise of egocentrism, consequently making it difficult for partners to appreciate the views and concerns of each other. Objectification has led to the perception of women as sex objects and has made relationships an unequal partnership where the woman is “owned” by the man. A perception that arises due to the distortion of the African concept of bride price, which instead of being a way of cementing the relationship between two families and communities, is now seen as a man “buying” a woman therefore adding weight to the concept of “ownership”. The amalgamation of two world views has led to the distortion of one by the other and the result is tragic.   References Ogola, Margaraet A. The River and The Source. Nairobi: Focus Publishers Ltd, 2012. Book.

(Man vs. Machine) Vs. (Machine + Man)

Artificial intelligence is poised to be one of the last greatest and riskiest innovation that will ever be made by humanity. Computers are evolving at a rapid pace, and this has made us aware that our position in the hierarchy of lifeforms is not a permanent one. The result of this awareness has been uproar, mostly among intellectuals, who are continually finding the task of guiding the rest of us through the binary coded maze of the 21^st century complicated. We don’t yet know how the development of AI will turn out, but two scenarios have been proposed as the most likely. Scenario number one involves the man versus machine paradigm, where we oppose but eventually submit to our computer overlords. The second scenario is based on the man plus machine model where we help AI help us, humanity happily coexists with superintelligent machines and possibly upgrades itself into one. We can all agree that scenario two is the most desirable. However, the difficulty lies in making it the most probable. At the moment, both situations can play out.

The probability that humanity will be engaged in a losing battle with AI is pretty high because of our stupidity and insecurity. Ignorance is the primary reason this is likely to happen. Nick Bostrom, who has warned that AI might lead to our extinction, compares our current situation to that of a child playing with a grenade (Bostrom). We might be the ones developing the AI, but that does not imply we have a clue what we’re doing.  We might giggle as we pull the pin, but we’d be blown to bits before we realize what happened. Our advantage is that we have been aware of our knowledge limit, which is primarily why the most significant branch of AI development is machine learning. Computers can learn because they are now capable of listening and seeing, which makes independent knowledge acquisition possible. However, we have no way of telling the kind of power that we have handed machines, and this is what makes AI an existential risk (Bostrom).

Another reason we might form an antagonistic relationship with AI is linked to our insecurity. Via machine learning, humans will become economically expendable. Many things that we do will be done better by robots, and future businesses will optimize through full-scale automation. This doesn’t augur well for humans since many of us will be left jobless, and without jobs, many capitalist souls will lack a raison d'être. By the time we reach the halfway mark of this century, we are likely to witness the emergence of a useless class (Harari). A social class that makes no economic or artistic contribution to the economy. This is likely to happen because it is becoming increasingly difficult to create jobs that humans can do better than computer algorithms. The difficulty emerges from the “singularity hypothesis” where machines continually improve themselves, including their ability to improve themselves (Bostrom). As such, it will always be a matter of time before robots learn the novel jobs created for humans. Consequently, humanity’s sense of insecurity will be amplified leading to the perception of AI as rivals, an attitude that sets the stage for an antagonistic relationship. The cornerstones of such a relationship are already in place.

In the early months of 2016, the Kenya United Taxi Organization gave the government a 7-day ultimatum to lock Uber out of Nairobi claiming they were being driven out of business, quite literally1. This was basically a bunch of humans urging a human government to help them keep an algorithm out of their business. The humans failed, and the government sided with the algorithm, a position that prompted random attacks and arson against Uber drivers2. This will be the position mechanics, doctors, lawyers, stock brokers, and soldiers are likely to find themselves in. You might argue that making us jobless isn’t an existential threat. However, how we react to being jobless will make it so. We might think the taxi drivers over responded by burning other people’s cars, but that’s how we are likely to react as a species. Once AI is perceived as a threat to human bliss, we might throw a tantrum and embark on a journey to destroy it. However, if we decide to pull the plug, AI algorithms might get into defense mode and pull our plug first. They are intelligent after all, and will be able to counter any attack. Furthermore, their sense of self-preservation might make them wary of a self-destruct code being sneaked in by insecure Homo sapiens. We’d be doomed in such a scenario.

However, some have argued that such a conclusion is Hollywood inspired and is only possible in Sci-Fi movies. Those who take this position argue that it is possible for humans to develop AI in a benign way that makes it possible for us to co-exist with superintelligent machines. Nicholas Agar points out that we might not know how to control AI yet, but that through continuous development of AI, we might make a breakthrough (Agar). AI will help us deal with the risks it poses. Secondly, current AI algorithms are clumsy, and their development is incremental (Agar). As such, rather than being decimated by an explosion of intelligence, we are likely to witness a stage by stage growth in artificial intelligence, which makes it possible for humans to influence the direction this development takes by correcting human “unfriendly goals” (Agar). As to the economic future of humans, the development of AI might take some jobs from people, but it will also lead to the emergence of new jobs that algorithms will not be able to perform. However, as we mentioned earlier, this is unlikely to be the case for long. Therefore, although humans should not be oblivious to the risks AI pose, we need not worry about being rendered worthless or wiped out by superintelligent robots.

So which of these scenarios is likely to play out? Honestly, we do not know.  At the moment, each scenario is probable and the problem currently facing us is how to make it possible for man and machine to help each other build the future. The manner in which we should go about this is still not clear. I’m of the opinion the answer lies in the decoupling of morality from consciousness. AI was made possible because of the “great decoupling’, when we finally realized awareness is not a prerequisite for intelligence (Harari). We need a second decoupling that will enable us to disentangle morality and consciousness.

Our current fears and faith about AI are based on the notion that humans operate on a higher moral ground. As a result, the idea that AI might develop no moral code makes as wary of what this technology might do to us. On the other hand, the impression that human moral superiority will help us teach machines Kantian moral imperative makes us have faith in our ability to control AI. These two views are based on the assumption that morality will remain a monopoly of conscious, carbon-based lifeforms, specifically humans. However, we need to think of morality as distinct from consciousness if we are to solve our current conundrum. AI is not, and might not evolve to be a social life form. Therefore, the evolution of their morals will not follow the path of social animals like humans. However, this does not disqualify the probability that a silicon-based superintelligence will develop a sense of morality on its own. It is highly probable that intelligent machines will base their morals on algorithmic values rather than emotions like humans do. For instance, computers can’t feel disgusted, which is an emotion at the core of many human moral decisions. Whether or not humans develop the ability to conceptualize the possibility of an unemotional moral code, and understand it once it emerges, will determine the kind of relationship we will have with superintelligent machines. In turn, this relationship will decide whether or not we have a man vs. machine or man+machine future.

Works Cited

Agar, Nicholas. "Don’t Worry about Superintelligence." Journal of Evolution and Technology (2016): 73-82. PDF.

Bostrom, Nick. Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. Print.

Harari, Yuval Noah. Homo Deus. London: Vintage, 2016. Print.

End of the Line for Amateur Agriculture

As I type this, three and a half million Kenyans will most likely go to bed hungry today. Six of the forty-seven counties in Kenya are food insecure, and more counties are likely to follow if the rains continue being scarce. All this in a country where thirty-eight million people are employed in the agricultural sector, and clichés like “Agriculture is the backbone of the Kenyan economy” are thrown around in classrooms, sitting-rooms, and airwaves. Much attention has been given to the sector, but the paradox of a starving agricultural economy has continued to baffle successive administrations. This kitendawili has been so complex that Uhuru Kenyatta’s government has figured it is time Kenya became an industrialized country. If the plan becomes successful, Kenya will be on the path taken by other developed countries. However, much thought has to be given to how transitioning from an agricultural economy to a manufacturing one will mean for our food security, another core “pillar” of the current administration.

As a country, Kenya is following the capitalist model of development. Western countries have successfully pulled off this plan, and have been zealous in selling it to the rest of the world. In these countries, agriculture accounts for very little regarding GDP contribution and employment. In 2015, the contribution of American farms was 1% of the total GDP, and direct on-farm employment accounted for 1.4% of full employment1. In Europe, the picture is the same, and in a country such as Sweden only 3% of the economically active are employed within the agricultural sector, and in 2016 only 1.3% of Sweden’s GDP was from agriculture2. Despite the small size of their agricultural industries, Sweden (81.7%3 of total households) and the USA (87.7%4 of total households) are food secure. If Kenya is to industrialize, the figures recorded by our agricultural sector, 24% direct GDP contribution and 60% full employment, need to drop drastically5. Here’s the catch, even with these figures we can’t feed ourselves. The agricultural output of 29 million Kenyans who work in the sector can't feed the producers and the 19.3 million Kenyans engaged in industry and service sectors. More than 51% of our population lacks access to adequate food. Therefore, as the economy makes the transition to industrialization, and the agricultural sector shrinks, food security is going to continue being a problem. Corruption and inefficiency on the part of the Kenyan government will ensure even more Kenyans starve. However, this need not happen... Forever

One of the critical issues that need to be addressed for us to conquer drought once and for all is to change the modus operandi, and image of the farmer. Today, farming is often viewed as the occupation of the old retiree or the frustrated youth unable to find employment. The issue is not that such a demographic is involved in farming, after all, agriculture is the most amateur-friendly economic sector. The problem lies in the transference of knowledge. Despite the investment in agricultural training in all levels of education, Kenyan farmers are still amateurs. Firms in the sector dedicate much of their resources to extension services aimed at upgrading the production methods employed by farmers. This is the case because few of those trained in agriculture become full-time farmers. Instead, they join the legions of trainers deployed to train the inexpert youths and retirees on how to become better farmers. As a result, the sector’s output continues to stagnate despite investments in new technologies and training models. In a country where there's an extra mouth to feed every 20 secs, stagnation in food production is catastrophic.

It is high time those equipped with technical knowledge go to the fields themselves because amateurs cannot handle the challenges now faced in the agricultural sector. Climate change has become a significant problem and is a contributing factor to our current food crisis. Adapting the country’s farming practices to overcome this problem will require the efforts of our best farmers and rethinking of our farming models. For instance, livestock farming is responsible for 14.5% green house gas emissions and is partly responsible for causing climate change (Rojas-Downing, Nejadhashem and Harrigan). In Kenya, the livestock sector employs 50% of those working in the agricultural industry and contributes 40% to the agricultural GDP7. Do we get rid of livestock farming and sacrifice the economy for the sake of the planet? If yes, how do you cushion pastoralist communities from the economic and cultural loss? If not, is there a sustainable way to keep livestock?

We are not going to find the answers to such questions in policy board meetings and conferences, but by experimenting with our farming practices, creating models that address such challenges, and tweaking them until we optimize our farming operations in a sustainable manner. The expected shrinking of the agricultural sector due to the industrialization of the country means that we can’t proceed with amateurish M-Os. As fewer farmers are trusted with the food security of millions of households, we better be damn sure those farmers know what they are doing or risk subjecting even more Kenyans to food insecurity. Having experts as farmers would also cut the costs agribusiness firms incur in their endeavors to train farmers, and such resources can be diverted to R&D. Needless to say that such farmers would not be taken advantage of by politicians. For example, they would know whether farming genetically modified crops is good or bad and so on. It would also make it easier for knowledge and technology to diffuse from colleges and labs to the farm, facilitating faster achievement of efficiency, which is the hallmark of agricultural success.

We live in the 21^st century, at a time when the world is interlinked via the internet, air, and sea. Unlike previous eras, the surplus in one country can be easily transferred to another part of the world experiencing a deficit. Anyone with a basic understanding of economics and agriculture will know that “if people starve to death…it is because some politician wants them to” (Harari). In this era, food security is a political issue, and anyone pointing at the skies is lying. We need to work towards making our agricultural sector efficient by letting our best farmers, and those trained in farming to apply their knowledge. Once the pros are in the fields, and we have a supportive, corrupt-free government, no Kenyan will ever go to bed hungry.

Works Cited

Harari, Yuval Noah. Homo Deus. London: Vintage, 2017. Print. 

Rojas-Downing, M. Melissa, et al. "Climate change and livestock: Impacts, adaptation, and mitigation." Climate Risk Management (2017): 145-163. Print.