Rubber bungs ama zile bladaa za kuunda feya. When you pull them with your hands they’ll certainly recoil and hit you on your fingers. For every action there’s a reaction. Nine months after the election, unmet expectations borne out of lofty promises have given way to discontent. The opposition bares its teeth to the establishment every week after suspending its protests. And yet we’ve witnessed crass commentary from the ruling elite. The gaslighting and delegitimisation of grievance; the most recent one being the proposal in the Finance Bill 2023 to tax workers 3% of their basic pay to fund the government’s plan to build low-cost homes. Earlier on in the year, certain ethnic communities were told that they were majority shareholders in the government and they would get higher dividends for their electoral investment. What was not said in this triumphalist performance of ethnicity was that many Kenyans including the purported ethnic beneficiaries, courtesy of the impoverishment they have suffered for decades, are invisible non-shareholders. Ukombozi Review attempts to tell their stories of struggle.
In this 13th issue, Okakah Onyango takes us through his experiences as a community organizer. Go through Minoo Kyaa’s poetic reflections of the struggles in her community written on Valentine’s Day 2023. Get some insights on the participation of Women in Kenya’s 2022 elections from Maryanne Kasina. Finally, Sunguh Oyoo will bring you up to speed on the recent political developments under a new administration – the reaction(s) to the new ruling elites’ action(s). It’s a new team running the company (read: government) but, as in the past, the struggle continues.
Mwongela Kamencu
Assistant Editor
