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Or, The Good Thief

Mar 03, 2025

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Reader,

Listening to Kimani Ichung’wah speak to Mehdi Hasan speak about police brutality and corruption in Kenya meant hearing him say that the problem is Kenyans are a bit too active online and that was so surreal. Less posting, more capitulating to the state I guess!!!

In a time when the Kenyan government is being credibly accused of all manner of crimes and failures in regulation, it was telling that these events led to commentary on how Kenyan media needs to challenge State representatives like Ichung’wah and a perennial favourite of mine: that those who steal from Kenyans are gauche.

On the media (also the title of a show I love): Media all over the world is in dire straits - in terms of funding, intimidation and so on. We’ve seen, in Kenya, what happens when the government takes away its significant ad purchasing power from publications in retaliation for what it regards as negative coverage. Unless we have steady funding for the press, independence - and with it the room in which to ask the hard questions Hasan can with Al Jazeera behind him - is going to be quite the hill to scale.

I know what folks mean when they speak about how gauche those who’ve become rich by stealing from Kenyans are - we’ve all seen photos of their houses, their watches and so on. I think they mean that that money should be spent in the same way some robber barons spent their money in the US - on foundations (much to be said here!), libraries, philanthropic investments (thinking here, most recently, of the Sacklers; for instance) and so on.

These sentiments strike me as a justification for theft and I for one think Kenyans should get their money back (with interest!) and spend it on what it was intended for and/ or whatever they deem fit. If I wouldn’t trust the person who stole my phone to make some calls that transform my life, I think it’s asking too much for the people who steal billions from public coffers to do something for the public good. Of course, under this regime (and all that came before it!) even getting that money back wouldn’t be a guarantee that anything good would come from it. I just want us to get beyond “taste bad; why don’t we have the thieves with refined taste?” — I want so much more for my people (with the usual caveats about the nation state etc etc).

I’m going to treat these feelings as a prompt to seek out books about social transformation - and an invitation to you to send me books that imagine a world in which citizens get reparations from all the entities that have stolen from them. More than good taste, we deserve justice.

Quick news/ things that may be of interest:

Subscribe to my WhatsApp channel for texts I find while I spend time online
Add me to your New York Times Crossword leaderboard!
If you’re in the Global North and would be open to engaging in the North-South solidarity that is sharing a library card, please email or message me so we can figure things out. Thank you!
Software resources for audiobook management. Especially Audible-centric, including organization and removing DRM from Audible files
A thread for folks looking to support Usikimye’s work
The Queer Liberation Library 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️, which is free to join here
Digital Library of Korean Literature, which is free to join here
How to Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the visually impaired
An interactive self care flow chart
Links to Reading Lists, Free Books, Book Recs, Book-related Items in this document (most recent links at the top)
Since Elon seems to want (some of) us gone, I’m trying to post more often on Bluesky. Follow me there if you’re on it!
You can send me books, postcards, letters, and assorted items via PO Box 102439, Jamia Posta 00101, Nairobi, Kenya (I write back!)

I have finished two books since I last wrote to you (reviews up on Fable, still on Goodreads and Storygraph): a hybrid read of Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield (e-book & audiobook; narrated by Annabel Baldwin and Robyn Holdaway) and a hybrid read of Grief Is for People by Sloane Crosley (e-book & audiobook; narrated by the author).

As ever, please write back to me and tell me what books you’re reading or looking forward to reading — it’s always a great time talking about books.

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