Jambo from Mombasa: NGO Spotlight: Ujamaa Center

"Everyday we fight; what we fight for is social change" - Martin, Ujamaa Center

“In Africa land is everything” began Martin, the financial manager of human rights and advocacy NGO, Ujamaa Center. “It is a means of production and guarantees economic wellbeing”, Martin continued. Ujamaa Center was founded in 2002. This was a time when NGOs were few, as they were considered “noisemakers” by former President David arap Moi, whose fondness for civil society was pretty much nonexistent. In Kiswahili, Ujamaa means Socialism. An apt name, as the center is heavily involved in political, social and economic campaigns and activities that aid to sensitize local communities to alternative methods of development. Despite Kenyans being well informed about national and local politics, there remains an issue regarding good governance. In this regard Ujamaa’s past projects have revolved around advocacy initiatives on issues of local governance.

The scenery on the way to Ujamaa Center in beautiful Nyali

The same building hosts both Ujamaa Center, as well as their "brother organization" Transparency International

"Everday we fight; what we fight for is social change”, said Martin. Ujamaa is fighting for the Constitution to be more than “just a piece of paper” and against, what Martin believes, is the current governments agenda to “shrink civil society”. The main goals of the Ujamaa Center are to:

Enable coastal communities to own land
Empower youth (in particular, to take full advantage of the opportunities available in the tourism industry)
Advocate against radicalization by informing citizens, especially unemployed youths, on how to express their dissent through available channels, rather than through violence

Their main target community are the landless and “squatters” who make up “over 70% of the population” in coastal counties.

“Land matters” explained Martin. This was clearly demonstrated in the riots and killings that erupted after Kenya’s disputed 2007 elections, and marked the post election violence of 2007/2008. One of the root causes of the violence was built up resentment about “historical injustices” that has led to the present unequal distribution and access to resources. Martin progressed to explain what these historical injustices were with a brief history lesson of what came after the “[first] liberation” of Kenya. Martin explained that upon independence, the first President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, experienced great pressure from his community* to resettle people who were displaced during British colonial rule. Searching for a solution, the government came to identify the coast region. The land in the coast was free for everyone (as was land everywhere) prior to, and during colonial rule, but was then legally given to the newly resettled. A byproduct of this resettlement was squatting, or rather, “squatting”, as those who are termed squatters do not see themselves as such. They argue that the land they live on has been passed down through their family for generations, and it is hard for them to believe and understand that a piece of paper changes all that, and that now this land, that is theirs, is owned by some absentee landlord from upcountry**.

This is important because “those who have benefitted from the injustice are part of the government” and is thus reluctant to change the status quo. The government, meant to respond and address its constituencies’ grievances has been doing just the opposite, by profiting and further perpetuating injustice. It is also just one of many examples of bad governance, and if the issue is not addressed presently may pose more of a challenge to do so in the future. This is because those who are affected are also some of the poorest people in Kenya. With issues such as unemployment and radicalization affecting this marginalized demographic, Kenya cannot afford to wait for the issue to compound to address it when it is in fact the government’s onus to protect the private property of its people. But ultimately, it is because “poverty and land ownership go hand in hand in Africa”.

*In Kenya, the word community refers to a person’s ethnic background (tribes). For example, President Jomo Kenyatta’s community is the Kikuyu community, who are renowned for being business savvy.

**I once asked someone about which regions Kenyans refer to when they speak of ‘upcountry’. He replied that it is “Nyanza and Western provinces” and after a second thought he said that it is “basically everything North of Nairobi”.

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Soko Kijiani Workshop

On a brighter note, I would like to highlight one of Ujamaa’s projects: Soko Kijiani workshop, which means Green Market in English. This project seeks to empower youth through acquiring skills that will enable them to support themselves and increase their standard of living.

Image credit: Soko Kijiani Website

This is the awesome website that fellow FSD intern, Michiyo, created for Soko Kijiani

The Soko Kijiani Workshop is located a few paces from Ujamaa Center (15 m or so). This is a very small, temporary workshop. A bigger workshop with better facilities is currently being built

This is where the beading for the leather sandals is done

Colorful beads from the Central African Republic and China

Beading in progress

Soko Kijiani currently employs 4 people and the workshop sells merchandise that are completely handmade. At the moment, their mainproducts are sandals, bags and belts. However, Michiyo is currently researching into expanding their product base and markets.