Food or Forum? Contradictions at the Kenyan WSF

On the eve of the World Social Forum, there was a gathering of all the French delegations at one of the plush hotels in business centre of Nairobi; they started with the first among thousands of speeches that will be made in the coming days. The French ambassador chipped in, they had one of the founders of the of this annual global jamboree, Chico Whitaker, comes and say his piece on the maturation of the forums over the last seven years, and many other leading French intellectuals and activists identified themselves.

Near the end, A Kenyan by the name of Wangui Mbatia took the mic with her comrades holding banners saying ‘Food or Forum?’ This powerful woman laid out some bare facts about the forum that hit most in the room quite hard. She and those that were a part of their political group – Bunge la wananchi (People’s Parliament) – could not participate in the WSF for several reasons: first, they could not afford the 500 shilling registration fee that is charged to Kenyans – a weeks worth of food; and second, they could not get all the way out to the venue because it was so far, and transport is too expensive.

She told the collection of French groups that they were of course very welcome to come and participate in the WSF in Kenya, and discuss issues such as poverty, but that they should all take note that the average Kenyan, who earns under a dollar a day, are not welcome. These were the grassroots voices hat the WSF process has benefited from, and gains any sense of legitimacy. And yet, because of some administrative decision, they were excluded. Now they would have to pay to talk about their poverty.

Many of us were left stooped in a funk for the rest of the evening. How could we carry on? But it turns out, the Bunge la wananchi do more than just complain and protest: they started mobilising immediately to make an alternative WSF in the public parks in downtown Nairobi that was free and accessible for all to attend. Some members of their groups would take the ‘Mzungus’ out to parts of Nairobi they don’t normally see, and would talk politics all along the way. Within a few hours of the first action at the French meeting, they had flyers and a progam; and by the following evening there were tents and chairs set up in the park.

What is more, apparently the gates of the main venue were stormed, and now the fee for Kenyans has been officially lowered to 50 shillings. But if you go to the registration office, you’ll find they are still charging the same fees as originally stated. Having such a diffusely organised event means that any changes are difficult to communicate to those on the ground.

With the gradual smoothing out of some of the most egregious contradictions, the WSF seems to be running along with all its diversity and vibrant energy. The first few days have seen a lot of confused people; it does not matter if you are a virgin to the whole process, or a seasoned WSF organiser: no body really knows what is going on. The eclectic program I mention in the previous entry – now in a hard copy which is roughly the size of three Sunday newspapers – was slow in being delivered, and very nearly caused a riot (who would have thought that people coming together in order to increase transnational solidarity and cooperation would be at eachothers throats over a program). Eventually you work out the idiosyncrasies of the forum - program or not - and learn to just go with the flow and enjoy.

ps: for a first hand account of an even more striking contradiction of having the WSF in Kenya, please read Adam Syned’s blog: http://cottonundrum.blogspot.com