Cabral Pinto : Willy Mutunga under Cover / edited by Willy Mutunga.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Mutunga, Willy, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Africa--Politics and government.

Africa.

Kenya--Politics and government.

Kenya.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (486 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Nairobi, Kenya : Vita Books, [2022]

Summary:

For over 30 years, Willy Mutunga has blazed the trail in starting many important public conversations about remaking Kenya and the wider world into a better society. As a public intellectual, he has consistently challenged convenient stereotypes in an effort to bring down the social barriers erected by fear and ignorance, and led in persuading individuals and communities to re-examine widely held prejudices and to start difficult dialogues. Between 2006 and 2011, Mutunga wrote a weekly column in the Saturday Nation. It is from these contributions, under the pen name Cabral Pinto � a combination of the surnames of the two African ideologues he greatly admired � that the 146 articles in this volume are selected. The clarity of Willy�s moral voice is unmistakable on a broad variety of themes, ranging from exhortations for an alternative leadership that would deliver a human rights state, to an unapologetic call for mass action as a peaceful way to bring change. This collection by Cabral Pinto is the story of Kenya�s long democracy struggle, told by a pro-democracy activist.

Contents:

Intro

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Willy Mutunga

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Contents

FOREWORD

The Mystery of Cabral Pinto

INTRODUCTION

I. TALKING ABOUT A REVOLUTION

1. Wanjiku, Moi, Anyang-Nyong'o and Charles Njonjo

2. Is stagnated middle class activism the sign of a dying spirit?

3. Mass action is a double-edged sword, but one that must be wielded

4. Peaceful protest through mass action is an agent of change

5. The workers' movement needs fundamental reforms

6. Kenya is ripe for mass action to achieve change

7. Maj-Gen Hussein Ali must resign over police violence in protests

8. When will our institutions become humane in dealing with people?

9. Examining the other side of sin in the matatu strike

10. Calling Kenya's middle classes to action for progressive change

11. Political caravans must be forced to discuss people's issues

II. FREE SPEECH AND RELIGION

12. We must speak up for the XYZ show to continue being on air

13. The Vice-President must learn to stomach dissent

14. Religion is still the opium of the masses

15. Does the robe shield God's message or promote personal agendas?

III. ALTERNATIVE POLITICAL LEADERSHIP

16. 'Wizard of the Crow': Ngugi's homecoming gift to Kenyans

17. Not in Our Name: Resisting the ideology of negative ethnic

18. What are the prospects for social democracy in Kenya?

19. Security and safety is a right for all Kenyans

20. Spotting and avoiding the wolves in sheep's clothing

21. A different kind of politics can separate the wheat from the chaff

22. These people are not your garden variety traitors

23. Qualities of positive political leadership in Kenya

24. Six demands Kenyans should make on the coalition government

25. Career politician or statesman: Time for the real Raila to stand up.

26. Human rights can be a vehicle for political change

27. An Open Letter to Mary Jo Wangari Maathai

28. Media does play a role in imposing political leaders on Kenya

29. Emergent leadership must make hay while the sun shines

30. Does Kenya really have a choice of presidential candidates?

31. Is the media imposing the current political leadership on Kenya?

32. Justice should not only be blind, but also impartial

33. A report card for the Kenyan people

IV. PRAISE FOR OUTSTANDING (WO)MEN

34. Ordinary wananchi should honour Kenya's heroines and heroes

35. Karua: Brave and brilliant, if flawed, woman of political influence

36. Why we must continue to commemorate the spirit of Saba Saba

37. Kimaathi, Ouko spirits still cry out for justice from the grave

38. Celebrating the memory of Pio Gama Pinto - a patriot for change

39. The spirit of JM Kariuki is still crying out for justice

40: In Memory of Prof Elisha Stephen Atieno Odhiambo

41. Immortalise intellectual giants sans double standards

42. Glorifying the outstanding activities of an unsung heroine

43. How would Pio Gama Pinto judge us were he alive today?

44. Ann Njogu is honoured both here at home and abroad

45. A man of the cloth and a son of the soil

46. Raila stands apart in the 2012 presidential candidates field

V. JUSTICE IN TRANSITIONAL MOMENTS

47. Conditions for building the nation through unity in diversity

48. Correcting an inadvertent historical implication on resettling IDPs

49. Attorney General must protect the rights of youth in custody

50. Why commission records of past political crimes matter

51. Which critical voices are yet to be heard on the Waki Report?

52. Let us hold parties and politicians to account on the Waki Report

53. Without northern Kenya at the centre, TJRC investigation is moot.

54. Yash Ghai the ideal choice to chair the Citizen's TJRC

55. 'An eye for an eye' should not be our moral standard

56. Building a culture of consistent follow-ups on investigations

VI. WOMEN AND JUSTICE

57. Gender Equality: A tale of five women and two men

58. A women's political party no solution to gender inequality

59. Abu Ghraib and parallels in gender inequality

60. Violence against women and men is a human rights issue

61. Gender dialogues are necessary to break down old stereotypes

62. Referendum puts Kenyan men's love for women to the test

VII. IDENTITY, SEXUALITY AND PUBLIC MORALITY

63. Does age have anything to do with political leadership?

64. No future without addressing the plight of Kenya's youth

65. Emergent consensus is fundamental reforms are not negotiable

66. Kenyans need to debate national morality without hypocrisy

67. Ongoing debates on the morality of leaders need to continue

68. Bringing Caster Semenya closer home in search for gender identity

69. It's healthy for society to discuss controversial issues like homophobia

70. Debate on sexual orientation, gay rights shows progress in Kenya

71. Rectifying the poison of identity politics through new identities

72. Will the debate on abortion dent the credibility of religion?

73. Revisiting the sore points on the abortion debate

74. 'Comrade' Mugabe should take the justice route on his sex grievance

75. Was debate on Sonko's stud earrings worth parliamentary time?

VIII. KENYA'S 2007 ELECTIONS

76. Will the ODM Kenya party guarantee social democracy?

77. New stereotypes to watch out for as country catches election fever

78. Coalition politics the Trojan horse for maintaining the status quo

79. Political arithmetic the scion of Kenya's first president must confront.

80. Solid questions rather than ethnic politics should shape elections

81. The Machiavellian machinations of Ukambani politics

82. Underhand abuses still rife in processes leading up to elections

83. Kalonzo's politics and the need for political bravery

84. Is it the end of an era as Moi's political projects exit the stage?

85. A new presidential election only way to guarantee peace, justice

IX. SPEAKING TRUTH TO THE GRAND COALITION

86. Use the bully pulpit for the national interest, Mr Speaker

87. Political crisis in Kenya is a chance to birth patriotic ideas

88. Power sharing crisis signals continuity in the culture of the pillage

89. Cabinet stalemate calls for equity and equality across the board

90. Who will have the last word on the fate of ECK?

91. Grand Coalition will not save Kenya from impending collapse

92. Bankruptcy of the political leadership on full display yet again

93. Chief Justice Gicheru: For whom the bell tolls

94. Here are more facts that are relevant to Ringera's appointment

95. Kibaki's hubris and the Muslim leadership's political naivety

96. There's still some honour in falling on one's own sword

97. Kibaki should be impeached for refusing to arrest Omar Bashir

98. Is it time to declare war on the Grand Coalition government?

99. Responsibility for decisions cannot be left to coalition principals

100. An open letter to President Raila Odinga

X. A NEW CONSTITUTIONAL ORDER

101. Agenda 4 must be about implementing reforms

102. A new religion is needed for tangible, equitable reform

103. Focus on public officers' relatives in struggle against corruption

104. Are the forces opposed to reform doomed to fail?

105. Constitutional reform will be the graveyard of the political class

106. A case for national convention on the draft constitution.

107. Kenyans must keep eyes on the prize in search for a constitution

108. Referendum on the constitution is a blessing in disguise

109. Politicians must not use religion as a Trojan horse for their desires

110. Prosecute criminals who killed, maimed Kenyans at Uhuru Park

111. The anti-reform forces will reveal themselves as time goes by

112. The New Year 2011 will either make or break Kenya

113. Has Charity Ngilu become our first war lady?

114. Leaders are already violating values of the new Constitution

115. Kenyans need to learn the meaning of taking responsibility

116. How did anti-graft body give judicial candidates a clean bill?

XI. PATRIOTISM AND NATIONALISM

117. Celebrate ethnic diversity instead of using it as a political tool

118. Ending deep inferiority complex that kow-tows to foreign power

119. Sports can be an important catalyst for national unity

120. Revenue authority must get the entire taxation picture right

121. Is creative capitalism a solution to the world's woes?

122. What kind of security do the Kenyan rich need?

123. Humanity: Kenyans must be each other's keeper

124. Struggling against what stops us from achieving national unity

125. Who will deliver Nairobi from road terrorists and lunatics?

126. We need action in the Mau Forest debate

127. Claims of 'illegal tourism' deserve a full investigation

128. Raila should not abandon his position on Mau Forest

129. Passion for Kenyan soccer better bet for nation-building project

XII. EYES ABROAD

130. In whose name will the next leaders rule?

131. Foreign factor in Kenya's quest for peace and justice

132. Messages behind the political and diplomatic doublespeak

133. So, where is the voice of the international community on amnesty?

134. When does diplomacy turn into the politics of dominance?.

135. Kenya's stand on Zimbabwe: An open letter to the Foreign minister.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Other Format:

Print version: Mutunga, Willy Cabral Pinto

ISBN:

9789914992182