Duncan Omanga | Moi University (original) (raw)

Papers by Duncan Omanga

Police and gangs have rarely featured as important loci of popular cultural forms, especially in ... more Police and gangs have rarely featured as important loci of popular cultural forms, especially in Africa. As an institution, the police in Kenya are abstruse, opaque and often seen as against, and not for society. Popular culture is not only a window and a peek into how a society mainstreams ways of "looking" but also a way through which society articulates potentially controversial subjects. Nothing comes close to the controversy surrounding the subject of police killings of suspected gang members in Eastlands, Nairobi, Kenya. News reports on crime in Nairobi, drawing from news-gathering routines and news values that privilege specific experiences while excluding others, have framed gang violence in specific "singular narratives." However, Facebook use in Eastlands Nairobi provides a unique canvas through which the imaginary of a "super-cop" is given multiple, if not conflicting meanings. "Super-cops" describe an unorthodox form of policing where specific policemen (mostly male), through a mix of public consent and state sanction, particularly in Eastlands, Nairobi, use extrajudicial means to confront suspected violent gangs. This paper reveals how Facebook groups' discourse in Eastlands provides lenses that circulate alternative, if not equally controversial readings of so-called "super-cops" in ways that draw from Kenya's conflicted urban histories to managing violent gangs in the city.

What is a gang? The word may conjure up different images to different people; as Moore (1998) not... more What is a gang? The word may conjure up different images to different people; as Moore (1998) notes, a gang may be a group of adolescents hanging out together or an internationally organised network of criminals or drug traffickers. Scholars have long been having difficulty in defining and classifying gangs, particularly when a global perspective is taken. Most agree, at least, that gangs are groups with a commitment to criminal or violent activity (Klein 1997)-though even this may be contested (Hagedorn 2005). 1 The word "gang" tends to assume certain characteristics when, in fact, gangs are hugely diverse, contingent upon the social, economic and political conditions from which they arise (Cooper and Ward 2013). 2 Therefore, the word "gang(s)" is a loose definition and one that we use with caution.

The growth and penetration of the internet in Africa, coupled with the popularity and ubiquity of... more The growth and penetration of the internet in Africa, coupled with the popularity and ubiquity of the mobile phone, have positioned social media platforms as new spaces through which Kenyans organize and imagine political discourse and action. This article highlights the varied roles played by a WhatsApp group in Kenya’s Nakuru County in convening citizens for political discussion and collective action around County government affairs. In the context of political and economic devolution in Nakuru County, this article shows how Nakuru Analysts (NA), a Nakuru based WhatsApp group, uses the platform to convene citizens and elected county authorities in one digital space. Although not exceptionally unique as a political WhatsApp group in Kenya, this article argues that what marks out NA for scrutiny as a digital public is not merely how it is constituted, or how voice is deployed to shape local political agendas, but largely on how it mobilizes around grassroots politics – where online discourse shifts to offline collective action. In the process, this analysis reveals the complex ways through which digital publics develop and nourish unique forms of ‘political personhood’ in the Counties.

The Anvil was a student newspaper at the University of Nairobi launched in the mid-1970s after it... more The Anvil was a student newspaper at the University of Nairobi launched in the mid-1970s after its predecessor The Platform was shut down and its editors suspended from the university. Initially designed to be less militant, The Anvil forged a quasi-Marxist identity at a time of both widespread post-colonial disillusionment in Kenya and a largely conformist ‘patriotic’ press. In this context, the paper shows how ‘Marx’ became a symbol through which The Anvil, arguably the most fearless publication of its time, summoned a politicized ‘student’ public by offering alternative imaginaries of the nation. Drawing from literature on nationalism, publics and ideas from media theory, the paper shows how this socialist lens was routinely used to interpret both local and off-shore events as a tool for proximate political agency by drawing on black cosmopolitanisms, anti-colonial sentiment and Cold War politics.

Malgré l'adoption d'une nouvelle constitution en 2010, les violences postélectorales qui ont suiv... more Malgré l'adoption d'une nouvelle constitution en 2010, les violences postélectorales qui ont suivi les élections générales flouées de 2007 entretiennent des débats incessants au Kenya sur un état de crise politique et une démocratie fragile. Comparant deux parlements de rue dans les villes d'Eldoret et de Nairobi dans le contexte de l'échec du processus électoral et celui de la réforme constitutionnelle, cet article traite des dynamiques de la participation politique par le bas. Les parlements de rue forment des arènes de débats où orateurs et participants s'engagent collectivement dans la formation intentionnelle d'un espace de discours. Inspiré par le travail de Karin Barber, cet article utilise ses notions d' « audiences » et de « publics » comme outils de compréhension du débat et de la participation politique dans ce contexte particulier.

Despite the adoption of a new constitution in 2010, the post-election violence surrounding the fl... more Despite the adoption of a new constitution in 2010, the post-election violence surrounding the flawed 2007 General Elections have fuelled on-going debates in Kenya about a state of political crisis and fragile democracy. Comparing two street parliaments from Eldoret and Nairobi in the context of electoral failure and constitutional reform, this paper investigates dynamics of political participation from below. The street parliaments form arenas for oral debate where speakers and participants collectively engage in the intentional shaping of spaces of speech. Inspired by the work of Karin Barber, the paper uses her notions of audiences and 'publics' as a lens for understanding public debate and political participation. The paper traces the trajectories of public debate in Kenya in order to situate the compared cases in the wider national historical context. It is argued that oral debate in the form of street parliaments -a phenomenon rooted in democratic practice -does not necessarily manifest itself in the democratic ethos of the discipline of equivalence. Despite the differences between the responses to localised contextual influences and the national political crisis given by the provincial and the metropolitan street parliaments, in both cases the core activity of public debate has an educative and ultimately democratic impact as it provide participants with tools for engaging in political debate.

As artifacts of political culture, editorial cartoons reveal prevalent public opinion on a partic... more As artifacts of political culture, editorial cartoons reveal prevalent public opinion on a particular issue with direct or indirect effects to members of society. The central question addressed in this paper is how editorial cartoons in Kenya’s press framed the 9/11 event and the extent to which such framing accorded or denied terrorists, government agencies and other stakeholders legitimacy. Specifically,

In this podcast, I shed light on my fieldwork on digital media, and the refashioning of the Chief... more In this podcast, I shed light on my fieldwork on digital media, and the refashioning of the Chief's baraza in Kenya

The present collection addresses the intricate ways in which events, processes and phenomena are... more The present collection addresses the intricate ways in which events,
processes and phenomena are apprehended and reproduced in
Africa. Inasmuch as the contributions fall under the gamut of media,
literary, linguistic and translation studies, they are all underlined by
an investigative quest for the understanding of meaning making
processes in Africa. Generally, meaning making is a natural
characteristic of every society. As a means of survival, human beings
have an inherent tendency to make sense of the world from the most
benign to the most enigmatic of social phenomena. However, it is
important to pose the following fundamental questions: Can anything
ever be known in positivist terms? Can we ever attain the kernel, that
irreducible element in matter/meaning that is void of any peripheral
attrition?

This article probes the dominant frames in the first three months after the launch of the War on ... more This article probes the dominant frames in the first three months after the launch of the War on Terror as revealed through Kenya's editorial cartoons. While most studies on media and terrorism have focused mainly on the traditional media of television and the mainstream print media, editorial cartoons reveal that the legitimacy of the War on Terror was still a coveted attribute, as is the case in other media. To achieve its objectives, this study appropriates frames from the analysed media content and reveals the ideological positions and discourses that paved the way for the invasion of Afghanistan. Additionally, the study shows that after the launch of the War on Terror in early October, it was not very long before counter-hegemonic frames critical to the war effort emerged. Focusing on the two leading newspapers in Kenya, the Daily Nation and The Standard, this article reveals that even before troops landed in the Gulf, the War on Terror had already found a nascent legitimacy that was to mutate to varying degrees of illegitimacy as the promised war script increasingly veered from the actual war.

This article probes the frame 'terrorist almighty' that featured prominently in editorial cartoon... more This article probes the frame 'terrorist almighty' that featured prominently in editorial cartoons in Kenya's two main newspapers in the high noon of the 'war on terror'. From this frame, the article reveals that as the war on terror veered off from the promised script of a surgical war and the swift capture of the alleged 9/11 masterminds, increased terror attacks by suspected al-Qaida militants globally saw editorial cartoons systematically construct a symbolic reality of a vastly powerful terror network, personalized as Osama bin Laden. These editorial cartoons provide us with a critical look at the many phases of Osama bin Laden, from the acme of evil, a verminized villain, and finally mutating to the terrorist almighty, a particular frame that may have played a critical role in the discourse that followed the killing of the world's most wanted fugitive.