Rift Valley Institute

On Friday 15 January 2016, the Rift Valley Forum hosted Gérard Prunier for the Nairobi launch of the book Understanding Contemporary Ethiopia: Monarchy, Revolution and the Legacy of Meles Zenawi, co-edited by Prunier and Éloi Ficquet. This anthology of essays by noted scholars of Ethiopia's culture, history, politics, and society seeks to transcend the clichés of suffering and visions of a past empire that often colour perspectives on the country. This book presents a measured, detailed and systematic analysis of the powerful forces that have rapidly transformed Ethiopia into a regional power. RVI Fellow Gérard Prunier is a historian and author of The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide and of Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide.

The Nairobi Forum, in collaboration with Kwani? and Storymoja, brought Ugandan writer Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi—whose novel Kintu won the 2013 Kwani? Manuscript Prize—together with Zambian writer and 2015 Caine prize winner, Namwalli Serpell, and Nigerian author and editor, Emmanuel Iduma, for a discussion on historical research and the uses of history in fiction writing. Ngala Chome chaired the event, which took place at the 2015 Storymoja Festival, at the Nairobi National Arboretum. The Nairobi Forum is a sponsor of Storymoja 2015.

On Friday 18 September 2015, the Nairobi Forum hosted Ugandan writer Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi, whose novel Kintu won the 2013 Kwani? Manuscript Prize. The novel follows the adventures of Kintu Kidda and generations of his heirs, telling the story of a family and a nation contending with the burdens of the colonial past while seeking to reconcile tradition with the modern world. Jennifer was joined by Tom Odhiambo, Lecturer in Literature at the University of Nairobi, for a conversation about history, culture and the resurgence of kingdoms in Ugandan politics.

On Saturday 9th May, the Nairobi Forum hosted an evening with renowned Somali author Nuruddin Farah at the offices of the Rift Valley Institute. Nuruddin spoke about Somali cultural losses in the civil war. Nuruddin is the winner of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature and the Lettre Ulysses Award, and has been nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature several times. His body of work includes two trilogies, Variations on the Theme of an African Dictatorship (1980) and Blood in the Sun (1986). His most recent novel, Crossbones, was published in 2011.

This podcast, made during the 2014 Book Fair, records a conversation between the poet Jack Mapanje and Dr Adan Abokor about their experiences of being imprisoned under the former authoritarian governments in Malawi and Somalia, respectively. They explain how while isolated in their prison cells they developed secret languages that enabled them to communicate with fellow prisoners and to sustain their minds and their spirits. The interview was conducted by Elizabeth Spackman.

The Rift Valley Institute’s Nairobi Forum, in partnership with Storymoja Africa, hosted a panel discussion with Rasna Warah (Kenya), author of War Crimes in Somalia, Michael Walls (UK) of UCL, author of A Somali Nation-State, to discuss Somali history, political transitions and foreign aid at the 2014 Storymoja Festival. The authors were joined on the panel by Parselelo Kantai (Kenya), investigative journalist and regional editor of the Africa Report, Fatuma Abdulahi (Somalia), founder of the Warya Post, and Neil Wigan, the British High Commissioner to Somalia. The panel was moderated by lawyer Ramsey Beck (USA).

Mohammed Adow discussed his recent documentary, Not Yet Kenyan, which aired on Al Jazeera English Channel on 14 November, at a meeting of the Nairobi Forum. The documentary brings to the fore a divide in Kenyan society, revealing a history of discrimination since independence against ethnic Somalis in North Eastern Kenya. Born and raised in Garissa County in northeast Kenya, Mohammed Adow witnessed at first hand the political and economic marginalisation of this part of Kenya. For "Not Yet Kenyan" he went back to see how the region and its people had survived and started to prosper, only to find that Kenya's intervention in Somalia and the actions of al-Shabaab are threatening to throw the region into turmoil. During the meeting RVI fellow Justin Willis, Professor in History at the University of Durham, talked with Mohammed Adow about his experiences and the story behind this documentary. They discussed the issues with Dr Ekuru Aukot, a Constitutional Lawyer, who hails from Turkana in northwest Kenya.

Berouk Mesfin, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), interviews Christopher Clapham, Emeritus Professor at the University of Cambridge, and Lee Cassanelli, Associate Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania, on the topic of a life of research in the Horn of Africa, on the 2013 Rift Valley Institute Horn of Africa Field Course in Jinja, Uganda.

Thousands have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced as a result of the political crisis in South Sudan. Armed conflict continues as peace talks between government and opposition begin in Addis Ababa. Leading South Sudanese civil society institutions came together in Nairobi to sponsor discussion of the current situation, its historical origins and the prospects for a peaceful resolution. The meeting was organised by the Rift Valley Institute's Nairobi Forum and supported by the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa.

On 25 October 2013, the RVI Nairobi Forum convened a distinguished panel of speakers to reflect on IGAD’s past and future role in Somalia. Ambassador Mahboub Maalim, the Executive Secretary of IGAD, was the keynote speaker. He was joined on the panel by Ambassador Mohamed Ali, Somalia’s Ambassador to Kenya. The meeting was chaired by Jan-Petter Holtendahl, Counsellor for Somali Affairs for the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi.

On 4 October, the RVI Nairobi Forum held a public meeting to discuss the Lamu Port-South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET), a flagship project of Kenya’s government-sponsored Vision 2030. A panel composed of representatives of government, parliament and civil society discussed the effects that this major project will have on communities in northern Kenya and neighbouring countries. The meeting attracted participation from donors and researchers, representatives of government and the communities affected by the project.

Thousands have died and hundreds of thousands have been displaced as a result of the political crisis in South Sudan. Armed conflict continues as peace talks between government and opposition begin in Addis Ababa. Leading South Sudanese civil society institutions came together in Nairobi to sponsor discussion of the current situation, its historical origins and the prospects for a peaceful resolution. The meeting was organised by the Rift Valley Institute's Nairobi Forum and supported by the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa.

On 4 October, the RVI Nairobi Forum held a public meeting to discuss the Lamu Port-South Sudan Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET), a flagship project of Kenya’s government-sponsored Vision 2030. A panel composed of representatives of government, parliament and civil society discussed the effects that this major project will have on communities in northern Kenya and neighbouring countries. The meeting attracted participation from donors and researchers, representatives of government and the communities affected by the project.

On 25 October 2013, the RVI Nairobi Forum convened a distinguished panel of speakers to reflect on IGAD’s past and future role in Somalia. Ambassador Mahboub Maalim, the Executive Secretary of IGAD, was the keynote speaker. He was joined on the panel by Ambassador Mohamed Ali, Somalia’s Ambassador to Kenya. The meeting was chaired by Jan-Petter Holtendahl, Counsellor for Somali Affairs for the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Nairobi.

On 11 September the RVI Nairobi Forum hosted a discussion about UK and US banks' discontinuation of their services to Somali remittance companies. The occasion was the launch of a report by Oxfam and Adeso Keeping the Lifeline Open: Remittances and Markets in Somalia. The report highlights the positive impact of remittances on Somali livelihoods and assesses the compliance of money transfer operators, and their due-diligence procedures. Speakers at the meeting appealed to Barclays—the last bank to offer such services—to postpone their 30 September deadline for another year. On 30 September, a fortnight later, Barclays postponed the deadline for two weeks.