The Politically Personal; Nanjala Nyabola in Digital Democracy, Analogue Politics

“The greater battle for Africa is for honest and earnest intellectual Inquiry. It is about decolonizing knowledge about the continent”

The rebellion is palpable from the first pages of the book. The eternal fight against the white-washed agenda-driven narratives on Africa. Against the singular brush stroke, that paints an Africa that constantly needs saving. A celebration of agency. Permitting oneself to tell their story in all its’ complexity.

The prospect of reading through a book that chronicles the reality in which I exist was intriguing. Through a new lens. The lens of an academic, an analyst, a Kenyan and a woman. Like me and unlike me. Nanjala subtly lets us in on her true intention. This is a rebuttal to being left out of academia books. An exercise of writing oneself into history.

I walked in with some bias. Being an active member of the Kenyan digital scene, what new light can be shed on what I already know to be true? Is this another academic talking past me? Talking straight into the arms of the west that we so desperately want to validate us?

I met a delightful and thoroughly researched recounting and analysis of events in and around the rise of social media in Kenya. The Meteoric rise. It paints the complex begins of politics as we know it. The founding fathers with the games they played that laid the foundation of a troubled relationship between Kenyans and traditional media.

Divided into two major sections, the book takes a look at the different yet related spheres of the title. Analogue politics and Digital democracy. The chapters are easy to follow and acquaint one with the undercurrents from the past creating waves that rock the boats in the present. The nine chapters flow into each other with ease. A feat not easy to accomplish considering the complexity of the evolution of politics in Kenya.

1. Analogue politics

I was born in an era where Moi was the president of Kenya. Benevolent ruler and seasoned oppressor are closer to what he should have been referred to. A running joke for the larger part of my childhood was the fact that some people will only ever know Moi as the president for the entire length of their lives. An existence without sporadic shouts of ‘Nyayo’ during public holidays was unthinkable. So the win by Mwai Kibaki in 2002, after Moi’s 23-year rule, was a win for the whole country. The first taste of freedom that ignited the thirst for more.

Nanjala traces the source of the 2007 political chaos in Kenya to the unresolved tensions between the government, the citizens and the way information was relayed between the two. How the traditional media lost the little trust the public hang on to when it became clear that it acquiesced to being a state puppet in 2007. Social media grew to fill that need. The laws of nature dictate that when the temperature and pressure increases, the volume of a mass will proportionally increase. Nature always finds a way to express itself.

I think a lot about Sekou Toure’s words:

‘In order to achieve real action, you must yourself be a living part of Africa and of her thought; you must be an element of that popular energy which is entirely called forth for the freeing, the progress and the happiness of Africa.’

Unexpressed popular energy always finds a way to breathe. The book’s mention of the rise of satirical cartoons in the National dailies in Kenya took me back to some of my best moments growing up. Comedy in Kenya blew up when a trio of young guys decided to amuse the nation with their antics. Under the moniker of Redykyulass (an exaggeration of the word ridiculous), they re-imagined politicians and political diatribe in a completely unexpected way. Setting the ground for a whole industry to thrive and feed into the nation’s need for comic relief in the midst of uncertain political temperatures.

I met one of the trio recently in an advertising pitch and I had to stifle the urge to grin sheepishly as my childhood adoration flooded in. The feeling quickly subsided as he kept talking and I realized that he’s just a guy trying to earn a living. Much like me... Growing up has the unfortunate effect of letting you meet your childhood heroes who almost always underwhelm you.

“Then Minister for Internal Security, John Michuki, famously said in an interview about the incident, ‘If you rattle a snake, you can expect to get bitten’. That day, thousands of copies of newspapers were burnt and journalists’ computers and camera equipment seized.”

Daring to critic the government led to the nationalization of Standard group offices. An act which the government openly admitted to doing. This high handed approach of gagging anyone who caused too much trouble stirred the search for alternatives. 2007 is revealed as a pivotal year when Mpesa(Kenya’s top mobile money service) was launched, Ushahidi ( a crisis- mapping software) was created and Kenya experienced the worst election violence that touched the capital city Nairobi. The same year that saw the most visible tipping point of national sentiment and emotion onto social media.

The narrative in analogue politics circles around the events in the past that led to the lowest time in Kenya. A time where the reputation as a haven of peace was shattered. When there was a collective grappling for identity and truth. Zadie Smith, in an essay called ‘On optimism and despair’ says this;

‘Only the willfully blind can ignore that the history of human existence is simultaneously the history of pain: … No land is free of it; no people are without their bloodstain; no tribe entirely innocent. But there is still this redeeming matter of incremental progress.’

The internet infrastructure in Kenya was not nearly as well developed as it is now, but it was enough to set the wheels in motion. Michuki’s statement of rattling the snake unwittingly dared the people to find a way to poke the dragon. And poke they did.

2. Digital Democracy?

Nanjala offers the story of emancipation from silence. How the development and uptake of social media by Kenyans become the tool by which people demanded to be seen. The efficacy of social media allowing people to form new communities. Away from the traditional tribal cocoons.

From the emergence of #KOT (Kenyans on Twitter) who shamed international media into decency through the hashtag #SomeonetellCNN to the Kenyan Feminist movement that championed the #MyDressMyChoice march speaking to the right of women to exist in their spaces unbothered by men. A behind the scenes look into the story of #Jadudi, the best crowdfunding campaign in Kenya, and the story of #JusticeForKhadija which brought to light the prevalence of violence against women.

“Individuals with a basic sense of decency can’t ignore such criticism, and this is part of what makes public shaming on social media such an effective tool for policy in Kenya”

The emergence of embarrassment as a weapon of activism is identified as an interesting tactic that helps activists get offline traction for online trends. Offline activism is often thankless and tedious but the speed of online noise helps move the cogs a bit further, faster. This approach has its limitations that Nanjala outlines in detail in the book. From the digital divide of access, need for support from social media super users and presumption of the presence of a conscience in the authorities you seek to shame into action.

The stories of the fight by the feminists in Kenya resonated deeply with me because it validates my inner struggles. Oft unspoken inner fears, thoughts and debates that search for an outlet. The story of women who decided to demand a space to be heard. Attracting a tribe that validates their truth. Young women especially. Sharing their truth gives permission to the silent majority to raise their heads just a bit higher. This book serves as a chronicle of their fight and an archive that begins to document the complexity of womanhood in Kenya. Or the larger Africa.

“The process of archiving tells us who we are and how we came to be, and if the person who controls the archive editorializes it to such an extent that it no longer represents how people see themselves or the journey that led them to their current moment, then that archive essentially writes its own obsolescence.”

What does Brexit, Trump’s win and Kenya have in common? Cambridge Analytica. Nanjala explores a sobering topic of the paradox of globalization. The irony of platforms that were not made with Kenya or Africa in mind, having seismic effects on life and politics. Does the same technology that runs the advertising world cross the line when used for politics? Is influencing ideology and affiliation through algorithms the line that needs to be drawn? What would be the shape of this line?

The problem of digital colonialism is brought to light as a possible and increasing threat. Far greater than the previous physical conquest, as this breed of colonialism leaves room to profit without the obligation to spur development.

When power is so interlinked with platforms whose efficacy depends on the depth of one’s pockets, what happens to the concept of democracy? Is there stopping predators who ship in to manipulate behaviour via data for profit? How effective is fake news in affecting the behavior of a population that thrives on rumours?

Digital democracy, analogue politics is a crucial read in this century. It makes politics personal. A three dimensional model of what’s been brewing in African Politics. To spark necessary questions of what these models need to evolve into. The question of democracy relying fully on technology is challenged by the weakness of an algorithm led system. One reinforcing bias bubbles. An important read to influence policy and political decisions. The agency to shift the conversation from Africa rising or Africa failing to Africa being.

“In all this… the underlying conversation is not conflict, it is agency.”