Then and Now

Martin Olum, an 85 year old resident of Orongo village in Western Kenya, recalls an experience you wouldn’t read about in books or see in a newspaper. Some 50 years ago, he was forced, upon threat of violence or even death by the British colonialists to guard the imprisoned Mau Mau- African freedom fighters (for independence) in Central Kenya. He was trained to “shoot, arrest and guard.” According to Martin and his neighbor James, the British came to the community and picked people- usually heads of household or young men- as they saw fit for the home guard or forced labor of other types. Even the cattle were not spared. It is easy to dismiss the Kenyans who worked under the British against fellow Africans as collaborators, as equally guilty of the crime as the British themselves. Yet, given the way the imprisoned Mau Mau were treated by the British- castration, floggings, forced to walk on gravel with their knees, sexual abuse- such a fate probably awaited those who resisted recruitment.

Yet, when I asked Olum if material conditions were better then or now, he says conditions were better then- “for those who did not go to school. The rich, he explained, used to purchase their goods from urban centers. The poor, on the other hand- bought locally in the village at reasonable prices. “But now the cost of living in the same for the rich and the poor.”

Olum was not the only one who said times, at least in terms of living costs and circumstance. Janabi Oduor, a resident of Uyoma village(some 100 km from Orongo) told me the detailed history of the fighting between whites and different clans. He explained that “during that time.. whites could not manage to be with black people. They hated each other.” Yet, when asked to compare colonial times to now, he said that life then was better. “If you fell sick during colonial times, the doctors treated you free of charge. Nowadays, medical treatment is expensive- and it’s not a good service.” Evans Gundo, a retired teacher in Orongo, said “some would say colonial times over independence- because of corruption. Nowadays, leaders are busy nursing wealth for themselves, forgetting those who fought. The poor remain poor until God.” In Kenya, corruption occurs at all levels, from graft to bribing hiring managers for jobs. This locks Kenya’s poor out of employment and severely retards the development and delivery of basic services and infrastructure.

Thus initially, I could not understand how the people I interviewed could speak “positively” of those times, even if material conditions were better. But then I came across a quote in an April issue of Time magazine, in an article about Jacob Zuma’s bid for the presidency in South Africa. “My life was better during apartheid. Freedom turned out to be just a word. Real freedom, real power, that comes from money- and I haven’t got any money,” said Vincent Ntswayi, a black South African who held a steady job during apartheid but has only been occasionally employed since the end of white minority rule.

I don’t think anyone in their right mind would argue that apartheid South Africa or Colonial Kenya was a better system of governance for Africans. But the words of Ntswayi, and the Kenyans I’ve talked to, remind us that no matter what system of government you have, people need to eat. While political rights and self rule matter deeply, the economic systems that allow people to have a decent standard of living- whether caused by internal policies or external forces- need to be addressed. Aid also matters, because fairness and justice in the economy could take years, if not much more, and the people in today’s world can’t wait forever.