{"id":17998,"date":"2021-04-26T11:48:09","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T11:48:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barazalab.com\/?p=17998"},"modified":"2023-09-04T05:40:32","modified_gmt":"2023-09-04T05:40:32","slug":"keyboard-warriors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tuwele.com\/baraza_update\/keyboard-warriors\/","title":{"rendered":"Keyboard Warriors"},"content":{"rendered":"

Greetings, friends:<\/span><\/p>\n

I hope you are all keeping well and staying safe at this time. This week Kenyans online showed up in their best way with their push urging the International Monetary Fund to cancel a Ksh 255 billion loan to Kenya. The petition circulating has over 232,000 signatures by the time I was writing this on Friday 9th April (you can <\/span>sign it here<\/span><\/a>). Even more ingenious was how Kenyans flooded a live event on the IMF\u2019s Facebook page early in the week, with hundreds of comments urging the IMF to stop loaning Kenya money as previous loans have been stolen or used inappropriately by the political elite and ultimately had not benefited Kenyans. There is also the fear that more loans would inevitably lead to more taxation and more corruption.<\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the week, Kenyans have been parked on the <\/span>IMF\u2019s Facebook page<\/span><\/a>; every post is attracting dozens if not hundreds of comments under the hashtag #StopLoaningKenya. Today I discovered that the IMF\u2019s app on Google Play Store is even receiving one star ratings from Kenyans along with even more comments and negative ratings, a move reminiscent of a similar incident with TikTok in India where the app <\/span>received<\/span><\/a> more than four million negative comments and reviews in a matter of days in May 2020 – bringing down its rating on Google Play Store from 4.5 (out of 5) to just 1.<\/span><\/p>\n

The revolution will be digitized, and this decentralized yet organically coordinated campaign is modest but concrete pushback for the claim that Kenyans are apathetic or \u201cnot angry enough\u201d with the political dysfunction that they are forced to survive. Even if this whole campaign does not move the Kenyan government or the IMF, folks are choosing ways to express their frustration, their ideals and yes – their anger, in ways that keep them physically safe for the most part, as opposed to in the line of fire for bullets, water cannons and dogs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I say \u201cfor the most part\u201d because as we\u2019ve seen time and again, even digital satire can land one in police custody, as in the case with Edwin Mutemi wa Kiama this week. I need to think more about what it means that that particular image got him in trouble (I don\u2019t want to link it here, but you can search for it on Twitter). Why would \u201cthe following person is not authorized to transact on behalf of this republic\u201d attract more ire and more sanction than all other complaints that Kenyans have had throughout this week? Does it have something to do with a similar cartoon by Gado published nineteen years ago, portraying the then President as yet another unfortunate soul who\u2019d been forcefully parted with his employment?<\/span><\/p>\n

In the meantime, here\u2019s:<\/span><\/p>\n