If you rattle a snake...

...prepare to get bitten, as the organisers of the World Social Forum have discovered.
  • theguardian.com,
  • Jump to comments ()

"If you rattle a snake, you must be prepared to be bitten by it." That was how Kenya's internal security minister John Michuki justified ordering a raid on Nairobi's The Standard newspaper a few years back. John Michuki doesn't take kindly to criticism.

Michuki has an interest in the World Social Forum. He owns the Norfolk Hotel which operates a five star food concession, the Windsor Cafe, in the forum's grounds. There, participants can buy a bun for Ksh40 or spend over Ksh500 on barbecued chicken. The Windsor is used by Jose Chacon, a leading organiser of the WSF, for his early morning press conferences.

This week he's been interrupted by the ongoing issue about the cost of participation in the forum. Activists from the slums have organised an alternative, and free, forum in Jevanjee gardens, a park in central Nairobi. Nevertheless the clear injustice - that they were effectively excluded from the event by an entrance fee they couldn't afford - rankled. The point of the forum is that activists come together, pool their experiences and discuss the way forward. They didn't want to be in Jevanjee gardens, they wanted to be at the real WSF.

Earlier this week, militant protest by local activists managed to open the gates and the price of admission for locals was reduced from Ksh500 to Ksh50. It was still too much for too many. On Tuesday, 200 protesters stopped the traffic and again forced open a main gate. They then took themselves down to the Windsor cafe chanting "Free Everything" and "This meeting is about the poor and marginalised people of the world" - which put Chancon on the spot. They wanted free entrance, free water and free food.

Chanon managed to calm the protesters down. He told them he couldn't control the price of the food, but he knew where they could access free water on site and he could do something about the cost of admission. The protesters had won a victory. From today, entrance to the WSF is free to all Kenyans.

The action of the protesters illuminates the contradictions of the WSF.The leadership emphasise the autonomy of the event but at the same time providing facilities where thousands of people can meet is expensive. The Kenyan WSF has cost an estimated $5 million dollars to stage, much of which has come from various NGO's. Sponsors include Oxfam, Christian Aid and Actionaid.

It also includes Celtel, a major East African cellphone company, whose slogan "Making Life Better" is on an awful lot of posters in the forum's grounds. Every participant from the global south has been given a Celtel sim card on registering. That an event which denounces multinationals accepts sponsorship from such sources has prompted a lot of disquiet. And although entrance is now free, many still haven't got Ksh40 to spend on a bun. People are angry. As angry as a rattled snake - and you can ask John Michuki what you can expect if you rattle a snake.

Latest posts

Today's best video

Today in pictures