[New-imc] on kenya imc

[Blicero]

just to let people know how it is developing

people from the swhealing group did not answer a single email and do not seem
connected at the moment to any specific movement (maybe they are but at the
moment we don't really know)

me and francois have been working since some months with a gorup of kenya people
to estabilish a network of contact to make an imc site in kenya. Below you can
find the list of groups already contacted by our contacts (and i have to admit
is fairly impressive).
All this group were waiting for our contact to come back in kenya from a travel
to have a meeting and submit the application form, so i guess the best way to
proceed is invite the shealing group to meet this people when they will be able
to join and decide once and for all about kenya imc, and join forces with them.

I feel that the work done by our kenya contact has been very big in terms of
outreach and would not feel fair to give precedence to the swhealing group just
because they submitted the form first, particularly since they do not seem to
have done the same work of outreach.
I feel that asking the shealing group to join forces with the previous network
that was trying to estabilish an imc there is the best course

below you can find the group already gathered in a network that would support
kenya imc already.

Let me know what you think

----------

Since we started discussing this issue with Francois  a couple of months
ago, I have contacted a few groups that I know for sure are doing
something about pushing for an alternative vision in Kenya. 

These groups are:

The Nairobi based Mulika Media Collective- a group of former political
prisoners and young activists that have been using audio and video to
document the Kenyan history of struggle and expose human rights
atrocities. Their spokesperson is called Ndungi
Githuku and I currently have several of their
videos here in Montreal. Githuku was in Canada recently and we are in
constant contact.

The Nairobi based ECONEWS, a well respected group that has done wonders
in times of advocacy around environmental action, challenging the World
Bank and the IMF. Their main contact is  Oduor Ongwen, a former Kenyan
political prisoner who was recently among a group of activists who
issued a very critical statement denouncing George Bush's recent trip to
Africa.

The Nairobi based Labour Research Centre, a fledgling group of young
Kenyans quite disenchanted with the mainstream COTU- the country's trade
union federation. The main contact is Mwandawiro Mghanga, a  very good
personal friend of mine who spent years with me at Kamiti Maximum
Security Prison in the early to mid eighties for our actions in
confronting the Moi Dictatorship. Mwandawiro is now an opposition member
of parliament and he recently spoke out in parliament to denounce the
proposed Terrorism Bill. He was one of the few Kenyans who was bold
enough to speak out publicly when the CIA collaborated with the Turkish
secret police and the Kenyan government to abduct Abdulllah Ocalan, the
leader of the PKK a few years ago.

The Stockholm based Kenya Socialist Democratic Alliance whose main
contact is  Okoth Osewe. KSDA maintains a website and publishes a
regular newsletter with a clear anti-imperialist stance.

The  Toronto based Kenya Human Rights Organization(of which I was a
founder member) whose main contact is Adongo Ogony.

An Oslo based grouping of Kenyan activists whose main contact is Omondi
Kabir.

There are other contacts, but they are a bit loose and some of them are
meandering in the direction of more mainstream and "safe" concerns and
are therefore studiously avoiding those of us who are seen to be "too
radical and extreme" for their NGOs.

As you can all see, these networks exist. I have been waiting for the
time I would be in Nairobi to meet face to face with some of these
people before we can firm up a formal proposal to set up an IMC in
Kenya.

-- 
ciao
blicero