Kibera Slum After the Election

On March 4^th, Kenyan people across the country queued in long lines to cast vote.  As the official results of the Presidential race has not yet been declared, Kenyans are now patiently waiting for the official announcement on who is going to become their 4^th President.  But as a tallying process prolongs, there are some signs that people’s living conditions in so-called hot spots are tightening up.

Three days after the general election, I visited Kibera slum, which blew up during the 2007/2008 post-election violence.  Kibera is the largest slum in Nairobi, and it is a melting pot of different tribes.  For example, people of Kikuyu, which is Kenya’s largest tribe, live next to Luo people, and the two tribes have been contesting for the Presidential seat in this election; Prime Minister Odinga is from Luo, while Vice Prime Minister Kenyatta is from Kikuyu.  Orange campaign posters for PM Odinga are ubiquitous in Luo-dominant areas in Kibera slum, while Mr. Kenyatta’s red leaflets can be found in every corner of the opposite side of the slum.  As Kenyan people have tended to vote along tribal lines, the tribally mixed slum became one of the sites of the appalling post-election tragedy.

As the 2007/2008 experience still remains a fresh memory, slum dwellers in Kibera have not yet returned to work, taking precautionary measures.  When I visited the slum on 7th, almost 80% of the shops and street vendors in some areas had been closed since the election day.  Even if people open their shops, it is not easy to earn their living.  Households have restrained their consumption in fear of emergency, and customers have not come back yet.  “I am thinking of closing my shop again because there are no customers,” said a lady who stood sadly in front of her rotting tomatoes. 

Higher wholesale prices due to less production raised the overall price level in the slum.  A distribution system has posed another challenge.  Trucks with fruits and vegetables usually come to the slum every day, but the service has been suspended.  As the demand exceeds the supply, prices of food, water and other commodities have gone up by the factor of two to three.  Charcoals, which are basic commodities for the people in the slum, were also sold at higher prices.  “I usually sell one bucket of charcoals at KSh 40, but now I’m asking customers to pay 70,” said a man on the street. 

In sum, their financial inflow has been suspended, while their outflow has increased tremendously.  For those who are living from hand to mouth, such a situation imposes an enormous pressure.  “I have four children, but now, the price of milk is higher, water is higher, and I can no longer afford living here.  I’m taking my children back to my hometown in Kisumu,” said a lady who had not had breakfasts for days.

Once the election results are confirmed peacefully, people will soon return to their ordinary life.  Kenyan people have learnt from their bitter experience how important peace is.  I hope Nairobi would come back to life soon.

48 Hours Before the General Election

Kenya will have a general election for the first time since the 2007/2008 post-election violence in less than 48 hours, and people’s mood here in Nairobi is mixed.  For some, the election is a festive event.  Today I saw some excited young people singing songs together on the street.  But for some, it is a source of anxiety.  When I went for a grocery shopping at 10am this morning, there was already a long line at the register.  It was interesting to see each Kenyan queued with two to three huge carts whereas Westerners waited impatiently with only one cart per person (of course Kenyans generally have larger families than Westerners).  Some daily stuff, like 5-liter water bottles, went out of stock quickly. But the situation is not as serious as to raise the price level.

Such anxieties are well understandable.  More than 1000 people were killed and around 0.6 million lost their homes after the last election.  In December 2007, the voting itself was conducted peacefully.  It was after vote counting started when the peaceful atmosphere suddenly changed.  After people started questioning the results, the violence spiraled out of control just like a wild fire.  Kenyans paid the high price.

President Kibaki called for peace during the election. (Source: KBC)

This time, many people are preaching peace, from young to old, from laymen to religious leaders, and from big names to street beggars.  Yesterday, President Kibaki appeared on Kenya’s national TV and asked Kenyans not to pick up arms.  The eight Presidential candidates pledged for peace during the historic presidential debate conducted for the first time since the independence.  Peace concerts and rallies have been taking place across Nairobi in the past several weeks.

The vote is mightier than the sword.  Let’s hope that Kenyans will show the international community that it is undeniably the leader and role model of East Africa with a free, fair, credible, and peaceful election. 

Magic of Love, Life, and Leaves - How A Leaf Business Turns Japan’s Demographic Challenges Into Opportunities-

Japan has the world’s second most aged population (after Monaco).  The average (median) age of the Japanese population is 45, compared to the world’s estimated median age of 28.  With 23% of the population aged 65 and over, Japan’s demographic chart looks quite opposite to developing countries’ pyramid shapes.  Moreover, rural areas of Japan have been facing serious depopulation, as young people move out of town to pursue higher education and/or find jobs in large cities. 

Tokushima Prefecture, where I was born and brought up, is one of the prefectures with highly aged population.  Nearly 30% of the population in Tokushima is above 65.  This means that three out of ten people you meet in my hometown are likely to be older than 65.  Such demographic composition poses big challenges.  As the ratio of the retiree to workers becomes larger, increased social security costs need to be born by diminished working population.

But there is a ray of hope to this gloomy situation.  During my 3-day homecoming trip, I visited Kamikatsu town in Tokushima and saw an encouraging business model that fully utilizes elderlies’ capabilities.   Kamikatsu is a mountainous, remote area with its 88.5% of land covered with forest.  Among the 24 cities and towns of Tokushima prefecture, Kamikatsu town has the highest average age of citizens: 59.  The share of people who are 65 and above is 49% compared to the Prefecture’s average, 30%.  Kamikatsu became a household name in Japan thanks to its successful leaf business by senior citizens.  Believe it or not, Kamikatsu’s elderlies have made a fortune from local leaves.  Some grandmothers earn ten million yen (approximately $125,000) per year by selling leaves.  The number of Kamikatsu farmers who take part in this leaf business grew to 200 from four in the 1980s, and the business has become a good model of utilizing elderlies’ potential and local nature.  Even a movie was made this year based on the true stories of Kamikatsu town.

How can elderlies make such an amount of money from leaves?  The hint lies in Japanese food culture.  When you travel to Japan, you will be served Japanese dish with some colorful leaves and flowers.  They are called Tsumamono.  A good Japanese dish appeals to your eyes, smells nice, tastes good, and it is filled with a sense of the season.   In this respect, Tsumamono, which adds colors and seasonality to the dish, plays a vital role in authentic Japanese cuisine.  Moreover, it is used for not only aesthetic but also hygienic reasons; Tsumamono kills and repels bacteria.  Thus, Tsumamono represents a wisdom of our ancestors to make food look more appetizing as well as safer, and beautiful leaves and flowers can be sold at a good price in Japan.

Although the high economic benefit from the business is well known, it is just a small part of what the leaf business has brought to Kamikatsu.  The leaf business matched well with the mentality of Japanese senior citizens, most of whom are quite healthy and active and usually prefer to be independent than to be taken care of by others.  “It is quite painful to be told to just sit and watch TV.  I want to continue working,“ said one of the farmers who take part in the leaf business.  Senior citizens became livelier  and healthier as they found themselves playing a vital role in their society.  Indeed, Kamikatsu bears the lowest medical cost for senior citizens in Tokushima Prefecture.

Another positive effect of the leaf business was the return of young people to the aged, depopulated town.  Every year, around 25 people move into Kamikatsu, mainly to support their families engaged in the leaf business.   As families started living together in the town again, the number of three-generation households has increased.  Senior citizens became even more cheerful with the return of their children and grand children to the town.  Moreover, 556 students visited the town as interns in the last two years. Although the lack of successors remains a headache, the small town has succeeded in improving the welfare of the local citizens by utilizing its rich nature and healthy senior citizens.

Visit by Hon. Shimba, Parliamentary Senior Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, to Kenya’s PKO Training Center

On December 4th, Hon. Kazuya Shimba made an official visit to the International Peace Support Training Centre (IPSTC) during his 6-hour stopover in Nairobi, Kenya.  The IPSTC is one of the best PKO training centers in Africa, and the Government of Japan has been supporting the center since 2008.  The center has two campuses in Nairobi: PCSS (Peace and Conflict Studies School) in Karen and HPSS (Humanitarian and Peace Support School) in Embakasi.  PCSS provides lecture-based courses on strategies, while HPSS offers exercise-based courses focused on tactics in the field.  This time, the Vice Foreign Minister visited the campus of HPSS to see operational exercises conducted there.

After a short briefing by the Director of the PKO center, Vice Minister Shimba and his staff moved to the Peace Support Operation Training Village, where the IPSTC provided a special demonstration on civilian protection for the Vice Minister.  The storyline of the demonstration was that an armed rebel group attacked an IDP camp in a small village when the Red Cross was providing a health check-up inside the camp. 

“BANG!”  Loud gunfire echoed throughout the training village.  Taking advantage of the vast area, vehicles raced around the field and lined up in formation.  As the facilitators of the center tried to make trainings as close to the real situation as possible, the demonstration made us feel as if we were witnessing a real case.  

Vice Minister Shimba was very impressed by the realistic trainings provided at the center.  He welcomed African initiatives to address conflicts in the continent by themselves and stressed the important role played by Kenya in promoting the region's peace and stability.  

Vice Minister left Nairobi on the same day.  After Kenya, he visited Juba, South Sudan, to hold meetings with UNMISS and then headed to Dublin, Ireland, to attend a Ministerial Council of the OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe)).