Maandamano

The Kenyan people continue to protest against the country's political and economic crisis

The famous economic theory of "games" tells of the diamond experiment. On the table in one room there is a pile of diamonds that must be distributed between two players. Whoever enters the room first decides how many diamonds to take. The second player has two options: take the remaining diamonds or blow the game: neither the first nor the second player takes anything. So how many diamonds would the first player have to take for the second player to also accept his choice? In the various tests carried out, the most frequent answer varies between 50% and 70%, but from the point of view of economic rationality the answer is "all but one". But there is something that goes beyond rationality and it is the sense of justice that leads people to prefer "nothing" over "unjust".

And this is what has happened in recent months in Kenya: maandamano, continuous protest. The politician is the one who enters the room first and the citizens are left with almost nothing. «People don't have anything to eat, says an elderly man from the village of Rongai, school costs more than double, transport has tripled, so people have taken to the streets. The public school has become like a private school: every day we have to bring money, I don't know where we can go. Since the elections (August 2022) nothing goes right. The protests have been going on for months. Previously it was once a week, now three days of protest every week. It means that for three days you don't work, therefore you don't eat. Then to school every time you have to bring 400/500 shillings (4/5 euros) or flour, corn, oil, otherwise they won't let you in. The children stay at home then go for a few days then home again. Parents have gone out onto the streets, if there were no NGOs no one would go to school anymore, many have been excluded, but then if they don't eat at home they can't go to school."

Since the protests began in March, according to Amnesty International, 50 people have been killed by the police, hundreds have been injured and arrested, and damages amounted to millions of euros. According to the opposition leader: "many hospitals have been instructed not to reveal the number of dead and injured and not even to let people in: many are being treated at home." People are hungry for justice and no longer accept crumbs even if they are diamonds.

Fabrizio Floris

NP Ottobre 2023