Kenya’s protests: The violent cost of IMF debt

Posted on July 9, 2024July 15, 2024

Peaceful protestors in Kenya against Finance Bill 2023.

Recent demonstrations against Kenya’s Finance Bill 2024 were met with deadly repression. At least 39 civilians were killed and hundreds injured by Kenyan police while protesting the proposed 346 billion Kenyan shillings ($2.6 billion) tax increase. This Bill was intended to generate government revenue, a condition of the $2.34 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) 38-month loan issued to Kenya in April 2021. The proposed tax levies would have increased the price of basic commodities including bread, sugar, and car petroleum,…

[BOOKS] on Phantom Aid

Deeper Dive Reimagining Aid Apartheid book recommendations Economic Sanctions Human Rights Violations inequality inequity International Responsibility LMIC phantom aid public health resource mobilization Social Justice white saviorism

Posted on September 13, 2022September 13, 2023

“Phantom Aid” refers to the phenomenon where foreign aid is promised but not effectively delivered, often due to corruption, mismanagement, or other systemic issues. Here are recommended books to explore the topic more: “The White Man’s Burden: Historical Origins of Racism in the United States” by Winthrop D. Jordan (1974) This seminal work offers crucial historical context on how racial perceptions have influenced foreign aid efforts, providing a foundation for understanding the complexities of aid dynamics. “Dead Aid: Why…

Apartheid logic in global health

Medical Apartheid Apartheid COVID-19 inequity Vaccine Apartheid

Posted on May 7, 2022June 7, 2023

Mosoka Fallah and Eric Reinhart provide an excellent historical perspective on the global apartheid of HIV treatment in the 1990s and early 2000s as a backdrop to understanding the abject failure to provide COVID-19 prevention and care to the disenfranchised peoples of the world. They point out how such efforts perpetuate the “quasi-colonial humanitarian playgrounds of billionaire philanthropists, western officials, and corporate interests that have shaped the modus operandi of global health for too long.” A short read that should…