Thursday, April 23, 2009

Book on Kenya corruption spirited into country

By: Liz Hasseld

In Kenya a book has made booksellers discussing the corruption inside Kenya's government. The book by Michela Wrong reveals the corruption of top officials in Kenya. Some booksellers are reluctant to stock the book for fear of being sued by the government. Even so, the book's unavailability has not kept Kenyans from reading it.

The book is being circulated from a stolen PDF file. The book is also being bought in other countries then copied and brought back to Kenya. The publisher of the book also released an e-book version and now Kenyans are able to download it from the Internet.

"It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistleblower," tells the story of John Githongo, The Kenyan government hired him 2003 to investigate 'anti-gaft' behind the scenes in Kenya. His investigations revealed detailed plots involving top Kenyan politicians. Githongo fled Africa and a year later released a report detailing government corruption.

The fact that the publisher released an e-version of the book is a huge step! Now that Kenyans have this information about their country, maybe the public will push the government to change. The fear of the government must first be overcame but this book marks a start of new thinkers in Africa.



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