Kenyan takes hunger lobby to White House

Lobbying fever struck the world on the eve of the G8 meeting in Gleneagles, Scotland, last July. To push leaders of the eight richest nations to write off Africa's debts and increase aid, the campaigners held high-profile concerts in major Western capitals. 

Bernard Manyibe, a Kenyan student in the United States, was not in the cast of the much-publicised drama. But he believes his lone crusade to get the most powerful nation in the world to take notice of Africa's problems matched the global mass effort, both in spirit and effect.

Manyibe, who is studying for his PhD at the School of Policy and Leadership Studies, Bowling Green State University, Ohio, US, went on a fast between July 2 and 5, with the hope of creating awareness in America about the biting, widespread poverty in Africa.

Then on July 7, as the leaders of the rich nations assembled in Gleneagles, Manyibe took the campaign right to American President George W. Bush's doorstep at the White House in Washington, DC.

He arrived and presented White House officials with a petition calling for increased aid to Africa.

July 7, 2005 will, thus, be ingrained in Manyibe's mind for a long time to come, and for a good reason. But the countdown to his date at the US seat of power is similarly unforgettable.

Just before 1 pm on July 2, Manyibe took his meal of chapati and tea, and walked to the grounds in front of the Bowen-Thompson Students Union, asking passers-by to sign a petition he would take to the White House.

He camped daily on the grounds, popularly known as Free Speech Square, from 8 am to 5 pm.

On July 4, he set off on his journey to Washington, DC to present his petition to President Bush. It had been signed by 27 of his colleagues. Accompanied by Mr Obed Ombongi, a friend at the university, Manyibe drove to Washington, DC, some 1,000 km away, arriving there on July 5.

"At the White House, we were received by security officers manning the gates. They received my petition ahead of the Tuesday 6 G8 meeting," he explains. 

The pair also kept vigil in front of the White House, displaying placards and beating drums, asking the American President to support the "Make Poverty History Campaign''.

The White House officials went through the five-page petition and advised that they make it shorter. Manyibe and his friend sat in his car, took his laptop, and in a few minutes, produced a condensed version. 

The impressed White House officials noted: "We think the President supports the Make Poverty History initiative, but differ with other G8 leaders on the methodology."

The officials took the petition and advised the pair to e-mail a copy to President Bush at the G8 Summit in Gleneagles.

The vigil attracted visitors to the White House, including a couple of journalists. 

But why did he take this unusual step in a country thousands of miles away from home?

He says: "As a person who grew up in Kenya, I knew extreme poverty first hand. I thought time had come to lobby the wealthy to chip in and bring to an end the many but avoidable deaths caused by hunger and treatable diseases."

Manyibe grew up in a family of 10. His father was a primary school teacher while his mother was a housewife. "This made us survive on my father's salary of only Sh2,500 a month, hardly enough to shelter and clothe my siblings and I," he told Lifestyle.

He continued: "I had to survive so as to go to school, and so did my kid brothers. Through scholarships, I managed to go to school."

He adds: "Most of my friends, some brighter than I, were not so lucky. Poverty trampled upon them."

Manyibe disagrees strongly with those who hold the view that Africans are poor because they don't work hard enough. 

"Poverty is not a result of laziness but structures which poor people cannot change – burden of aid, unbalanced trade and impact of colonialism.

"However, if those with the power and wealth cared to make things better, the levels of poverty in Africa and elsewhere in the world would drastically reduce," he says.

Manyibe observes that there is grand inequality, where 20 per cent of the world's rich gobble up to 86 per cent of the world's wealth while the poorest 20 per cent have to do with a measly two per cent.

He cites what his greatest icon, Indian nationalist Mahatma Gandhi, once said: "The earth has enough resources for every man's need, but not enough for one man's greed."

Manyibe was born 34 years ago in Masimba division, Kisii. He is married to Violet, a second year medical technology student at Bowling Green. The couple have two sons, five-year-old David, who goes to kindergarten, and Joshua, who turns three in November. Joshua also attends a local school in Ohio. 

Although Manyibe's activities are mostly voluntary and take a lot of his time, his family is very supportive, he says.

He joined the University of Nairobi in 1989 and graduated in 1993, with a BA in Sociology and Geography. Between 1997 and 2002, he worked as a district adult education officer in Mandera and later Busia.

In 2002, he got admission to study Masters in Public Administration at Bowling Green.

While studying for his degree, he took part in the Ohio Economic Development Forum, where they advised on how to market the state. At around the same time, he teamed up with his brother, Edward, then also at Bowling Green but now a doctorate student at the University of Arizona, to start Kenya 5 km Benefit Run as a project of the Youth Vision International. He and some former colleagues at the University of Nairobi had registered the lobby in 1997. The run is now a major annual event on campus and is featured on the university's official website.

Manyibe recently added another feather to his cap. As a founder of the Youth Vision International, he was appointed one of the young scholars who contributed greatly to the formulation of the World Bank youth strategy paper.

This year, the organisation received an award from Africa's Brain Gain – a lobby which seeks to lure professionals back to their home countries. The award was in recognition of its efforts in creating awareness about Africa and raising funds for projects in the continent.

Manyibe is satisfied that his petition to the world's most powerful leader added voice to those of millions of others who petitioned the G8 to increase aid, reduce the debt burden and improve trade and investment opportunities for the African continent through the "Make Poverty History'' campaign. The petition was part of the campaign in the US to ask President Bush to back the initiative of British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the driving force behind the African debt relief effort.

Any success? 

"In a small way, we managed to pressure the G8 to put Africa on top of their agenda," he says.

The rich nations increased aid to Africa from $25 billion to $50 billion, and pledged to open up Western markets. But Manyibe believes the struggle isn't over yet. He would like to see African governments create an environment where these pledges can be honoured. This, he says, they should do by fighting corruption and putting in place better governance systems. He says that aid alone is not a panacea to stopping grinding poverty on the continent. He urges the rich nations to help Africa by promoting fair rules on international trade.

"Most countries, given the chance, would prefer to trade themselves out of poverty rather than live on handouts," he says.

He says he was elated by the agreement by the G8 nations to increase development assistance and offer debt relief to Africa. "The summit in Scotland, no doubt, paved the way for progress at the Doha Round of the World Trade Organisation negotiations and this will give Africans greater access to rich country markets."

Manyibe, who intends to become an international ambassador for African affairs, says he is not done yet. Not when many Africans continue living in poor shelters by the roadside or squatting with relatives, with little or nothing to eat. 

"I will contribute in my small unique way in asking the G8 to meet their pledges," he says.

Manyibe intends to write to the leaders of the G8 not only to thank them for their gesture, but also ask them to honour their promises. 

He says: "I will seek to meet them and discuss with them this matter."

And does he think African leaders are committed to starting initiatives that can alleviate poverty in the continent?

"I have strong reservations about most of them. There is no guarantee that Western aid will be used properly by Third World leaders. All too often, foreign aid has enriched the political elite while failing to benefit ordinary people."