Post by aeichener on Dec 20, 2006 16:15:23 GMT 3
Kenyans love moral panics. And the pre-Christmas time is the ideal season for that. Hearts are mellow, blood moralin level is high.
Thus, Unicef Kenya very purposely launched their report on "Child Prostitution at the Kenyan Coastline" right now. And of course, there was the inevitable politician wringing his hands, shedding crocodile tears and clamouring for harsher laws and sterner sentences (even though the very report shows that exactly this was largely useless and even counterproductive in combatting the abusive practices). This role was played with great acumen by Uncle Moody Awori.
There also was the - evitable - knowledgeable commentator warning against the criminalizing of juveniles who find themselves victims of the circumstances; this role was filled by the Finnish Unicef representative Heimo Laakkonen.
The next acts of the tragicomedy will involve a police sweep of 20 coast hotels, and the arrest of 429 prostitution suspects (equally distributed among sex workers, beach souvenir sellers, truant school children, and the offspring of hotel employees living on the premises and therefore suspect). Followed by the rape of 76 % of the female and 24 % of the male juvenile suspects by our courageous police who feel that life this time finally has been good to them. Add the suicide of one elderly Swedish pastor and the subsequent divorces of 17 foreign couples, and the trial of one 68-year old Austrian pensioner, living modestly on his Austrian railways disability pension in a leased small coast house, and whom the Exalted Court will find guilty of having slept with his now 19-years old sugargirl at least once when she was still seventeen years of age. Our bedazzled pensioner will be convicted to 30 years of prison with hard labour, the young woman with one child (from a local beachboy, not from the mzungu mzee) loses her job and livelihood, and Njoki Ndung'u will present a new draft bill (hotter, with even more chili) before flashing media cameras.
Stay tuned for the forthcoming sequel of "Morality TV", your favourite Kenyan channel. But I'll just excuse myself for a moment, have to vomit now...
(Originally posted in www.kenyaimagine.com )
Thus, Unicef Kenya very purposely launched their report on "Child Prostitution at the Kenyan Coastline" right now. And of course, there was the inevitable politician wringing his hands, shedding crocodile tears and clamouring for harsher laws and sterner sentences (even though the very report shows that exactly this was largely useless and even counterproductive in combatting the abusive practices). This role was played with great acumen by Uncle Moody Awori.
There also was the - evitable - knowledgeable commentator warning against the criminalizing of juveniles who find themselves victims of the circumstances; this role was filled by the Finnish Unicef representative Heimo Laakkonen.
The next acts of the tragicomedy will involve a police sweep of 20 coast hotels, and the arrest of 429 prostitution suspects (equally distributed among sex workers, beach souvenir sellers, truant school children, and the offspring of hotel employees living on the premises and therefore suspect). Followed by the rape of 76 % of the female and 24 % of the male juvenile suspects by our courageous police who feel that life this time finally has been good to them. Add the suicide of one elderly Swedish pastor and the subsequent divorces of 17 foreign couples, and the trial of one 68-year old Austrian pensioner, living modestly on his Austrian railways disability pension in a leased small coast house, and whom the Exalted Court will find guilty of having slept with his now 19-years old sugargirl at least once when she was still seventeen years of age. Our bedazzled pensioner will be convicted to 30 years of prison with hard labour, the young woman with one child (from a local beachboy, not from the mzungu mzee) loses her job and livelihood, and Njoki Ndung'u will present a new draft bill (hotter, with even more chili) before flashing media cameras.
Stay tuned for the forthcoming sequel of "Morality TV", your favourite Kenyan channel. But I'll just excuse myself for a moment, have to vomit now...
(Originally posted in www.kenyaimagine.com )