Kenya's ostracized Nubians

By David McKenzie, CNN
September 29, 2010 -- Updated 1923 GMT (0323 HKT)Kibera, Kenya (CNN) --

Sixty-eight year old Naima Shaban can't access health care, open a bank account, or even get a death certificate in Kenya. Like thousands of Nubians living in Kenya, she is effectively stateless.

Shaban lost her national identity card 10 years ago. For most Kenyans it takes a few weeks to get a new one; she is still waiting. She has a faded copy that she has kept all this time.

"I don't know why they don't just give me my I.D.," Shaban told me, "I filled out the forms, I am angry."

She can't even improve her mud house. Most Nubians can't get land title to their plots. If they build a formal structure it will be torn down.

Nubians came to Kenya as an accident of history. The British Army began recruiting them out of modern day Sudan at the turn of the last century. They formed part of the King's African Rifles, a regiment raised from the British territories in Africa.

Nubians helped expand the empire and fought in both world wars. To reward veterans, the British government gave families land in a forest near Nairobi. They called it Kibr, now it is Kibera, Kenya's largest slum.

A recent photographic exhibition by Greg Constantine highlights their long history in Kenya.

Check out the online exhibition

Since Kenyan independence in 1964, Nubians have struggled to find a formal place in Kenyan society. Despite living in Kenya for three, sometimes four, generations, Nubian families often struggle to get recognized by the state as Kenyan citizens.

"Obtaining a passport or identity card as a Nubian," says Adam Hussein, a leading Nubian Advocate, "requires that you go through a different process than the rest of Kenyans."

Hussein should know. It took him ten years of struggle to get a passport. He was a member of a rugby team - he couldn't travel. He was a trained chemist - he couldn't get a job with the government.

Read Hussein's blog

According to the Open Society Foundations, there are some 15 million stateless globally. From Thailand's hill tribes to Dominicans of Haitian descent in the Caribbean, stateless people are not recognized by any country.

While some Nubians have become true Kenyans by virtue of luck or patience, in recent years the situation seems to be getting worse, not better.

A senior immigration official told me that the Kenyan government vets many Nubians, regardless of how long their families have been in the country. Immigration, home affairs, and even intelligence gets involved, I was told.

Nubians are even asked for their grandparents' birth certificates to get official I.D.

"Stringent measures aren't aimed at any particular community," the official said. "They have to prove they are Kenyan. Stringent measures need to be put in place to ensure that people are Kenyan."

Nubians do live in other countries in East Africa, but Kenya's Nubians are, in many ways, the first Africans settled in Nairobi. Still, many can't truly feel it is home.

Hussein said: "When a Nubian begins to say we have been here for four generations, this is almost a century plus we have been in this land. [And] the first question that comes from authority is 'are you a Kenyan'"?

View Video at source-

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/africa/09/28/kenya.nubians/index.html

Kenya's Nubians fight for rights

The Nubian community in Kenya traces its roots to the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan. In the 19th century, the British forcibly brought them to East Africa as part of their colonising army. But after fighting for Britain in the first and second world wars, the Nubians were demobilised without any compensation.


The British also left Kenya with no plan to settle the Nubians or send them back to Sudan. Today, Kenya looks upon the Nubians with suspicion because of their role in the British conquest of East Africa.



The government does not recognise them as one of the country's ethnic groups and will not give them Kenyan citizenship. There are more than 100,000 Nubians in Kenya. They have no voting rights and cannot purchase land, or serve in the army or police force.


As part of its coverage of stateless people around the world, Al Jazeera travels to the Kenyan slum of Kiberia to meet one man who says he has spent most of his life fighting for work and for the right of his own land.



This is his story in his own words.



My name is Youssouf Abdallah, I am 73 years old and I am a fifth-generation Nubian living in Kenya.


Our lives here in Kiberia are hopeless because there is no freedom, not like the freedom the Kenyans have.






There are more than 100,000 Nubians in Kenya, yet they have no voting rights
We are not entitled to own land and if we are ever evicted, there is no redress in court.



The problem we have is that the young Nubian generation does not have jobs. They ask for it in the army and police but they do not get it ... so there are many who are unemployed in Kiberia for simply being Nubians ... and we all know you need a job to survive.


We feel like Kenyan citizens but there is no escaping the discrimination against us. We are not even recognised and in the census we are classified as "others".


The government has a budget for other people. Indians and whites feature in it but not us. There is no budget for us.



For a group like us that moved away years ago, it really is difficult to be recognised under international law.



The Sudanese government says we are Kenyans and that we represent Kenya's internal problem.



"Our lives here in Kiberia are hopeless because there is no freedom, not like the freedom the Kenyans have"



When we came here, there was no Kenya, no Nairobi, we contributed to the creation of the state but in return we got nothing.


We just give thanks for being alive.


What we need is land, to know that you own it and that it is yours. Now we have to get a permit to even build a toilet. That is the biggest injustice we face. We want to build property but we are not allowed to.


We get identification cards (IDs) now but we are still marginalised. It does not get you anywhere. If an ID was a true symbol of being a Kenyan, then why are we not entitled to land rights as well?


We have no land and cannot vote. We have no representation and no voice. But we have to fight for our rights here. We will not give up. We will die here and we will be buried here. We are Kenya.

Source- http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2007/08/200852517380140544.html

Another Govt Gimmick To Hoodwink Nubian to Yes

Days after the government allegedly agreed to transfer a 300 –acre plot to Nubians living in Kibera controversy has already started over whether the beneficiaries will gain.
A number of the community members feel they will be shortchanged in the deal with the officials of Kibera Land Committee out to exploit them.
The 3000- acre land is located in Makina, Mashimoni, Lindi and Kambimuru all in Langata constituency.
However, others are reading politics in the move since the area MP Prime Minister Raila Odinga does not enjoy full support of the populous Nubian Community. By allocating the land, he wants to endear himself to the tribe.
Those opposed to the move say the community could have been awarded over 4,000 acres they have been demanding.
The deal was allegedly brokered by Kibera Lands Committee with Heidar Abeyd playing a major role.
However, Abeyd is being accused by a rival group, Kenya Nubian Council of Elders of selling the community for political and economic gains. Lands Minister James Orengo, PM’s ally agreed the transfer process.
Those in the know however say that the matter is just a political gimmick by the government to lure the Nubian vote in the referendum. Every time there are elections, the Nubian Land question is revived and is forgotten before the ink fades from the finger.
The Nubian community is divided on the educated ones opposing it saying that it does not tackle the community’s nightmarish land problem while others back it because of Kadhi courts.

Source- Weekly Citizen- July 26-August 1, 2010. Page 12. Vol 13. No.30.
Title- Another Govt Gimmick To Hoodwink Nubian to Yes.

"Kenya's Nubians: Then & Now" Opens in Nairobi

Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Event Date: July 17, 2010 - August 14, 2010

"Kenya’s Nubians: Then & Now" is a project that documents and exposes the history and struggles of the Nubian community who have lived in the Kibera area of Nairobi, Kenya, for the last 100 years.

Greg Constantine, recipient of a 2009 Open Society Institute Distribution Grant, has worked with the Nubian community in Kibera to collect rare, historical photographs of the community dating back as far as 1912. A selection of the photographs will be reprinted and combined with Constantine’s own work in an exhibition that not only chronicles the history of the Nubian community in Nairobi, but also documents the consequences statelessness and the denial of citizenship have had on them in their struggle to gain recognition.

In partnership with UNHCR, Constantine will launch the project in mid-July with a large exhibition in downtown Nairobi followed by an outdoor exhibition/installation in Kibera in mid-August.

"Kenya’s Nubians: Then & Now" will be exhibited at the Go Down Arts Centre from July 17 to August 14, 2010. The outdoor exhibition will be shown at the Kibra Academy in Kibera on August 13, 14, and 15.

The Nubians in Kenya website will be launched at the exhibition on July 17.

The exhibition will travel to London later this year.
Location

Go Down Arts Centre
Dunga Road, Industrial Area
Nairobi, Kenya

http://www.nubiansinkenya.com/

Islamic Widget

Islamic Widget

Islamic Widget

First Nubian Census in Kenya

First Nubian Census in Kenya
Posted on: 2009-Jan-13 : 10:33

A population census is the process of collecting, compiling, evaluating, analyzing and publishing demographic, social and or economic data pertaining to all persons in a country or a well delimited part of a country. On the morning of 14th December 2009, Nubian Community living in Kenya will hold its First Community Population and Housing Census.

The Census has been organized by Nubian Council of Elders. Beledianubi has learnt from close sources that Census process has been funded by Open Society Organization. The Nubian Census has just come 4 months down the line after the National Census by Kenya Government and when Kenya is celebrating its 46th birthday.

Every Nubian Kenya is expected to be counted and those in Diaspora, Hospitals, Prisons and Travelers, Household members will be asked some questions about their relatives living abroad and any absentee members. Counting of people will start on the morning of 14th December 2009 and continue up to 17th December 2009 when counting is scheduled to end. It is expected that enumerators will spend about 20minutes in each house, though this may be shorter or longer depending on the size of the household.

Mr. Issa Abdulfaraj Nubian Council of Elders Chairman emphasized on the importance of Nubian Census saying that the census provides us with a window to our current realities and provides us with the information we require to embrace the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. He further lamented, “Information gathered from the census is an integral requirement for the development planning process and management of the affairs of the community. The statistics will tell us of our current status and can be used to provide information on how we can move on where we intend to go”.

A number of quality assurance measures are in place to ensure complete and accurate information is collected. Qualified and well trained Supervisors and Coordinators from every Nubian Village in Kenya will control quality at the field level. Enumerators have been recruited from where they live therefore; they are people who are known by the locals. Enumerators will also be accompanied by village elders or headmen who are well known by the households to help in security.

The census data collected will be widely used in conducting social and economic research. The census is designed to meet various data needs such as:

1. The basis of updating population data bases up to the lowest level of occupation unit.
2. Basis of preparing population projections.
3. Benchmark data for studying the direction and trend of population changes.
4. Access to health and education.
5. Access to water and sanitation
6. Access to Housing and Roads.


Addressing Stakeholders, Supervisors, Coordinators and Journalists during the launch of Nubian Census in Kibra at Makina Mosque library, Nubian Council of Elders secretary Mr. Diab called for cooperation among all Nubian leaders and organizations and said more than ever, it is important that the community stood up as one entity to ensure that the indisputable right of Nubians are protected and safeguarded

source http://www.beledianubi.com/?page=correspondence&type=news&id=2

Letter To My Fellow Nubians

Letter To My Fellow Nubians
Posted on: 2009-Jan-13 : 10:33

Understanding this reality requires a reminder of how Nubian's’ arrived in Kenya. As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here the history of ethnic injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the Nubian community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of military services, which Nubian's were forcefully conscripted into the colonial British Government as Kings African Rifles Army (KAR) in the early 1900s.
Nubians have further been marginalized and have experienced gross violation of their political, economic and social rights by both Colonial Government and Present Government. According to Sir Harry Johnson Commission of 1900-1901, which was known as Johnson’s commissions, recommends and propose among other things 1] maintaining Nubians’ presence in the region, 2] scatter the community in small number and 3] never allow the group to settle. This problem, which was created a century ago, has remained unresolved to date.
The Nubians, despite serving in different British services have been subjected to a process of ‘unclear status’ and created land ownership crisis. Johnson’s recommendation was taken seriously and tailored in creating a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continues to haunt the Nubian community today – or it might even continue to haunt future generation; if we the present generation does at least solved these problem.
The challenges Nubian face are real, serious and many; we have achieved very little progress towards community development due to our divergence and conflict among ourselves. It is the time for us to wake-up and embrace the burdens of our past without becoming victims of our past. The time to work; as one community over meaningless division – meaning continuing to insist on a full measure of justice in every aspect of our life in this world - that working together to move beyond some of our old national wounds, and that in fact we have no choice but to continue on the path of a more perfect union.
Solving these challenges facing us it will depend on our HOPE to change towards UNITY of purpose over CONFLICT and DISCORD. Nubians must go back to the drawing board and solved the puzzle created by Sir Harry Johnson; and the secret is to work with his recommendations of 1900-1901 – we need to revise his recommendation and place it into work. We should used diplomacy when handling challenges facing and concerning us. Therefore Nubians must work on formulae-able “Blue-Print” for community development, which will bring the change to Nubians lives.

Unity
Our unity is the most fundamental aspects of sending message to our respective Government and to entire Universe about our identity, wherever we are. The enemies of Nubians are Nubians themselves – Most of the so-called Nubians elite society, spiritual leaders, professionals and political leaders are just marionettes rather than community leaders, they serve their interest first, and that of community later – moreover they are egocentric and reluctant on addressing the problem community are facing. Most Nubians’ always feels neglected on the decision-making concerning the community affairs and development. This results to lack of basic services towards community development, which undermines our own ways of development and lifestyles. All Nubians have a mandate in fostering Peace, Love and Unity among themselves; this should start right-away from our backyards, Mosques, Madrasah and in all our public and private gathering. We should embrace phrases like “Ana nubi”, or “Ina nubi” and avoid calling others by names, using abusive languages in public places, finger-pointing our mistake on others, for instance using phrases like “Ita kum nubi”, “Nubi keshim”, or “Ita nubi ta wen” – only cowards thinks in that line of hatred, remember we are all Nubians, “if we rise; we rise as a community – and fall as a community”. Original Nubians were borne to live, work and love one another as brothers and sisters, but the present Nubians have lost that faith and trust among themselves.

Embrace Our Culture and Heritage
We “Nubians” normally swank about our rich culture, yes we are? But try to ask for explanation, no one is ready to justify it. For how long should we keep deceiving ourselves about our rich art, culture and heritage - when we are not ready to learn and embrace our own art, culture and heritage?
We must maintain our identity as one people. Be proud of our art, culture and heritage. It is obvious that the present Nubians shy-away from their art, culture and heritage, copying foreign culture and behaviors. Unlike our forefathers who persevered, protects the culture and heritage safely for us. The question is, “what do we have for the future generation?” Some of Nubians’ arts, cultures and heritage are gradually been forgotten or completely disappeared.
The Nubian youth’s no-long engages and practice traditional weaving, plaiting, nose and ears piercing – most of Nubians handicrafts are been associated today with Ethiopians culture, perhaps soon or later; Nubian’s handicrafts like “Kuta, Tabaga and Birisi” will be in a wave of losing its originality rights from the Nubians – just like “Kikoi” to British and “Kiondo” to Chinese. A well built museum on Nubian art, culture and heritage that will help in portraying and promoting the real Nubian image, not only as way of persevering our culture and heritage – but as an educational and research centre that will open-up Nubian community to the rest of the world. The used of Nubian plays, songs, narratives and poems will help in shaping up our culture and identity. We should also take advantage of every government and private public holidays/gatherings, weddings, seminars in promoting our culture by wearing our traditional attires.

Working with Government
We must engage constructively with government at all levels. This means that Nubians community must learn to be proactive rather than reactive. For a century, we have been working outside government and the price is lack of development and basic services. Working within government of day will enable us to address our problems and tackles them directly. Our Ignorance, Rebellious and anger often prove counterproductive - Anger is not always productive; indeed, all too often it distracts attention from solving real problems; it keeps us from squarely facing our own complicity in our condition, and prevents the communities from forging the alliances that needs to bring about real change for community development.

Policy-Makers
We are living today in a world beset with widespread cases of corruption and misuse of high positions in almost every country. Who is an ideal Leader? According to Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (A.S), “An ideal leader of a society is the one who ever remains aware and conscious of the problems afflicting his people”. He meant a leader, who feels deeply concerned of their poverty, sickness and lack means for their upliftment, despite himself having sufficient provisions of food and other amenities for his own home, he refrains from remaining satiated in order to share with his people in their afflictions.
For a long time, Nubians’ Politician, Professionals, Spiritual leaders and Elite society “both from Home and Diaspora” have isolated themselves from community issues or perhaps, they might have been isolated from involving in community development projects - whichever come first, but the truth - they are adamant in the community development and social issues. The backbone of a community normally depends on Politician, Professionals, Spiritual leaders and Elite society, whose mandates are to oversees, runs and formulates policies to be followed – to our case; the leadership has been left to the hand of non-experts to lead.
The time has come for all Nubians Religious Leaders, Politicians, Professors, Lawyers, Investors, Entrepreneurs, Stakeholders and Elite Society in the community “both from Home and Diaspora” to come up with a BLUE-PRINT for community development – that will address challenges facing Nubians Communities in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and throughout the Universe. The Nubian policy-makers must work on a formulae-able recommendation and proposal on A FIVE YEARS VISION PLAN for community development. The focal-point of this Vision Plan must address: Unity, Education, Health, Agriculture, Youths and Women, Employment and Business, Housing and Infrastructure among others.

My dear fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and children, I wish to entreaty to all Nubian communities throughout the world, to embrace Nubian culture and heritage wherever they are.
Beledianubi focuses towards revitalizations and promotions of Nubian Culture, Art, Heritage and all aspects about Nubian lifestyle. We cannot achieve this alone, though we can play part in building community development strategies - therefore we are calling upon the entire Nubians communities and friends of Nubians throughout the universe to join hands and humbly make a difference, through your contribution and support to boost Beledianubi Organization in meeting its objectives and visions.
We ought to flash back on our past and be ready to save the future of the next generation – their future depends on us. “JITIHAD FI MILADNA”

SOURCE http://www.beledianubi.com/?page=correspondence&type=news&id=1