Q-MHI Africa Weekly Brief ;

Hi, Q-MHI Africa readers!

IN THE QUICKSAND

Kenya’s repeat presidential election on Oct. 26 was marked by an opposition boycott, protests, looting, arson, and the killing of civilians across the country. The rioters’ running battles with police brought back unpleasant memories of a decade ago when 1,200 Kenyans were killed following a disputed poll. Citing insecurity challenges, the election commission indefinitely postponed voting in four counties—deepening the sense of uncertainty and fear that has pervaded the nation for months now.

And far from being a run-off, the poll has turned into a referendum on Kenya’s young democracy. Election officials said that only one-third of the 19.6 million registered voters cast their ballots—an anemic attendance in a country that prides itself on a high turnout. The indifference was effectively sanctioned by opposition leader Raila Odinga, after he withdrew from the race saying it won’t be free and fair and called for mass civil disobedience.

The electoral commission also didn’t help the situation at hand: its chairman publicly stated that he didn’t know if the poll would be credible. And after spending about $600 million for two elections in 2017, weary Kenyans largely stayed at home instead of, as one voter put it, being “forced into a bus” headed in the wrong direction.

The current tension shows a competitive election alone isn’t the answer to the myriad of problems facing Kenya. After the 2008 post-election violence, Kenyans adopted a new constitution that promised the creation of a more just and peaceful society. Odinga has however accused president Uhuru Kenyatta’s government of using a combination of violence, fraud, and repression to ensure that nothing threatens its grasp on power.

The electoral malaise is also compounded by identity politics, with some ethnic groups feeling both politically and economically marginalized. And even though Kenyatta is expected to be declared winner in this re-run, the fact two-thirds of the electorate snubbed the election process will raise questions about the legitimacy of his mandate.

Kenya stands at a crossroads—yet again. But the best hope is for the entire country to collectively seek a path out of this crisis: a path where national resources are equally shared, governance is improved, and minorities are protected. As the political analyst Nanjala Nyabola recently said, what’s happening in Kenya should be looked at as a moment of growth. We only need to learn how to “lean into the discomfort.”

— Abdi Latif Dahir, Q-MHI Nairobi correspondent

STORIES FROM THIS WEEK

How Bitcoin broke world record prices in cash-strapped Zimbabwe. While the rest of world celebrated Bitcoin finally crossing the $6,000-mark, in Zimbabwe a local exchange was doing business for as high as $10,000 this month. In Harare, Tawanda Karombo decided to find out how this happened.

The Niger ambush underscores the many shadow wars the US is undertaking in Africa. US officials have been struggling to explain why four American soldiers were ambushed in an operation in Niger—or even why they were there in the first place. It brings into sharp focus the precarious nature of US military involvement in Africa as it expands its counterterrorism efforts.

A Ghanaian grad student in Beijing on that Chinese exhibit comparing Africans to animals. Zahra Baitie, a Ghanaian student in Beijing, writes about the problematic racial attitudes of ordinary Chinese towards Africans after the controversial This Is Africa exhibit. “Some Chinese friends saw no immediate problem with the comparison to animals, urging me not to take it too sensitively.”

The “beauty in the mayhem” of Nairobi during the rainy season. Photographer Peter Ndung’u was heading home from downtown Nairobi one evening two weeks ago when the rains started. Rather than simply hide to keep himself dry he started snapping and the outcome is some pretty stunning photography. As Ndung’u tells Lily Kuo, “When it rains in Nairobi, it gets crazy.”

If you were a black South African student during apartheid, you had better odds of graduating than today. Sobering data from South Africa’s statistics agency show that while there may be more black students today than during apartheid, a lower share of them are graduating now. It’s a reminder why the #FeesMustFall movement isn’t going away anytime soon.

Nivea’s “racist” ad campaign for fairer skin plays on age-old African insecurities. An ad campaign by German skincare brand Nivea in some African countries promoted “visibly fairer skin” causing an uproar on social media and in Ghana a successful #pullitdown campaign. But as Lynsey Chutel finds, many young Africans also feel Nivea was simply meeting market demand.

CHART OF THE WEEK

Ethiopia has made a remarkable economic turnaround. In 2000, Ethiopia, the second-most populous country in Africa, was the third-poorest country in the world with more than half of the population living below the global poverty line. But as Quartz’s economics writer Dan Kopf finds, from poring over IMF data, Ethiopia’s economy today is one of fastest growing in the world, and despite the country’s current political turmoil, the good times could last.

OTHER THINGS WE LIKED

Boko Haram strapped “suicide” bombs to these girls—but somehow they survived. New York Times’ Dionne Searceyand photographer Adam Ferguson interview 18 young girls in north east Nigeria about their individual traumatic experience as potential “suicide” bombers during the peak of such attacks in the region.

A photo essay of African orphans learning Mandarin, Buddhism and kung fu. For Al Jazeera, photographer Cornell Tukiri visited Amitofo Care Centres, founded by a Taiwanese Buddhist monk. The centers in Malawi, Lesotho, Swaziland and Namibia, take in orphans and vulnerable children and teach them the local curriculum alongside Mandarin, Buddhism and kung fu.

Q-MHI Africa