Reporting Transitional Justice in Kenya: Challenges and Opportunities

‘Transitional justice’ (TJ) is arguably not a very common phrase in Kenyan media circles despite the fact that journalists have been reporting on it for decades now. And when you talk about it today it arouses references on the International Criminal Court (ICC) only leaving out a huge chunk of processes that are in practice mechanisms on transitional justice. 

Looked at from that angle then reporting on transitional justice in the wake of what has come to be referred to in this country as the ICC Process presents journalists in Kenya (read Kenyan journalists) with a myriad of challenges cum opportunities. 

The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), sees it as “all efforts to help societies deal with the legacy of mass human abuse.” As ICTJ acknowledges, this is a broad spectrum of efforts which may include; “national prosecutions of alleged perpetrators but also international and hybrid tribunals, truth commissions, reparations for victims, and institutional reforms.” And as Howard Varney, a senior consultant with ICTJ would have us reflect, TJ is about “confronting the past so as to build a stable, peaceful, and democratic future.”

At the international level TJ has a long history from the days of post World War II with the establishment of such tribunals as Nurenberg and Tokyo that dealt with the crimes of the war. At the continental level one traces it with the establishment of such ad hoc tribunals as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) associated with the cases of the Rwanda 1994 genocide and the decade long civil war in Sierra Leone which ended in January 2002, respectively.

The above processes, as well as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) have come to be documented as the journey travelled by the world in getting the International Criminal Court which many would refer to easily when asked about TJ today. This is a broad history and one would just guess right that as TJ developed, it’s reporting also developed. After all, journalism in the form of media and documentation, is as old as humanity itself. 

But we also have a number of processes that societies have undertaken especially in Africa that have been critical in TJ. The ICTJ mentions in a handbook on TJ reporting where much of the above information is quoted, peace agreements are critical TJ mechanisms as has been witnessed in the recent years world over. 


A quick look in our region presents the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of the Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) in 2005 as a good example. This 2005 peace agreement also brought to an end, in a big way decades of civil war between what is now South Sudan and the larger Sudan.
 

So then what are the challenges and opportunities for a Kenyan journalist reporting on transitional justice today?  

First is its broad history that the journalist is required to understand if not to master, and this requires a lot of reading, referencing, and referrals which a faint heart won’t have patience for. This is in addition to the fact that TJ mechanisms are expanding with every rising sun. 

Tom Maliti, one of the journalists who has covered TJ for quite a while in Kenya says reporting on the ICC process alone is demanding on the breath one has to read to grasp the developments of just the Kenyan situation cases, leaving out the other situations currently  before the ICC. “Each document, for instance, of the amended charges for each case is 42 pages,” reflects Maliti. Now imagine reading, other documents with thousands of pages either at the ICC or at the ad hoc courts handling TJ cases.

Still on the ICC, there is what can arguably pass as the challenge of dealing with the shadow effect of the character of the former prosecutor of the ICC, Louis Moreno-Ocampo. May be this is the result of the Kenyan media portrayal of Ocampo and the ICC. Ocampo came to be known among Kenyan masses as a no-none-sense man, yes, but also almost a kind of merciless individual. With him was the face of the ICC. Now, although he has left the office and Fatou Bensouda is in charge of the prosecution division of the ICC, Ocampo’s name has refused to leave the stage. The media (and especially mainstream) still talks of Ocampo 4, and every time you debate about the ICC there is a very quick reference to him even when it is unnecessary. Many a radio talk show hosts can testify this. That they have had to remind their audiences that Ocampo is no longer with the ICC. The effect of this has been the derailing of the growth of ICC reporting in the country and misinformation on the court processes and procedures. 

Thomas Obel Hansen of United States International University (USIU) says there are dangers that come along when TJ is reported uncritically. He says elites capture and manipulate the debate and that can divert the overall mission of TJ. 

On uncritical and misinforming reports on the ICC Tom Maliti argues journalists in the country have not been sharp in getting their facts right especially on the referral. “The idea that the ICC cases can be moved to somewhere else […] it is not automatic that the cases can be moved.”

In the Rome Statute, the law that establishes the jurisdiction of the ICC, the above issue is handled in Article 17 under the subtitle ‘Issues of Admissibility’ and points to this procedure that Maliti is talking about. That there has to be seen a demonstration of the willingness and ability to investigate and prosecute a certain individual case before the ICC for it to be ‘pulled’ out. Perhaps Kenyan journalists have not critically questioned this ‘demonstration and ability’ by the government but have only reported proceedings of the resent African Union meeting in Ethiopia and other diplomatic attempts that sought to revert the process.

The other challenge is about the competition between political processes and TJ processes. It is the question of: who has been informing the masses largely about TJ in the country, and we know better it is the politician. While on a legal basis TJ processes are largely judicial, their interpretation is being done by the political class who have their agenda, hence misinforming the public and manipulating the processes, especially the ICC one. 

Or maybe TJ processes are political after all as Maliti also argues and therefore should be treated politically. He argues the crimes under TJ cannot be committed unless one has political power, “so the ICC process is a political one”. Could Kenyan journalists be at such a crossroad of not being able to make a clear distinction of political processes and judicial ones?

Challenges aside the Kenyan media will have a vital role to play if TJ is to be finally achieved in Kenya like every media in a state going through transition has had, a role in which lies their opportunities. 

Picking on the experiences of Sierra Leone, Ibrahim Tommy, a former journalist currently working for the Center for Accountability and the Rule of Law in Sierra Leone (CARL-SL)  advices that journalists should always remember the overall aim of TJ in confronting that ugly past. That’s why he says to “bring closure to a brutal or violent past, cherry picking the issues won’t help. A holistic coverage would better serve the interest of the victims and promote a peaceful society.”  

The opportunities for the Kenyan media are thus embedded in the history of the TJ in the country. Actually if the work of the Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission is anything to go by, we have been in transition since independence. It will be noted that the TJRC is to help us come to terms with all the historical injustices we have gone through as a people since we hoisted our flag. In essence then there are so many opportunities on reporting on TJ by reporting on the process of the TJRC alone. Journalists did their best to report on its past activities, now as it prepares to report back its findings it’s high time we got ready to lead the people of Kenya in coming to terms with the findings and eventually in the final process of reconciliation. If indeed we have festering wounds in our history the media will have a key role in reporting these findings objectively to heal the said wounds.

Besides this we have peace negotiations, if you like, conflict mitigation processes that have been launched in several places in the country between communities. Seen critically such measures have the grass root effect of the Rwandan ‘Gacaca Courts’ which have been hailed for assisting Rwanda to move away from the ghost of the Genocidal past. But that only depends on whether these agreements are well executed. The media can report on this in a way that critically analyses the effect of bottom up approaches to lasting democratic solutions in the transition from these past injustices. One key question would be: have the peace negotiations and agreements put into consideration past causes of conflict and thereby put in objective measures to address them?

The ICTJ handbook on reporting TJ puts emphasis on building of memorials as part of the process of reparations to victims of human abuses. Now talking of memorials one is quick to remember the memorial of the Sachangw’an fuel fire in 2009 at the very spot the accident occurred. But this is not in the bracket of T.J. So may be journalists can start reporting towards the establishment of memorials in key spots where serious human rights abuses were reported. Like? Like the Wagalla Massacre spot and hot spots of post election violence such as the Kiambaa church and the Naivasha house where a whole family is said to have been burnt. The media can also keep on reporting more on such historical memorials of the likes of Tom Mboya who are surely victims of human rights abuses.

Kwamchetsi Makokha, a veteran journalist in the country says even for those who want to report on the ICC process there are opportunities. The new story lies in “deconstructing the Hague court concept. Localize the court process,” he advices. “Communicate hope rather than despair even to the accused […] if in truth they did nothing the cases will be thrown out. Stop focusing on the negatives at the ICC. ” 

Makokha falls short of saying the media should ask serious questions of the involvement of every community on P.E.V. “Is the trial at the ICC a complete picture or are there other people who were involved? What about the 5,000 cases? How robust are conversations on the ICC at the grass roots or are the communities silent? If so how do we negotiate the community silences?”

On the other hand journalists can just recount the painful history of transition again and again for the Kenyan masses so they are informed of where they are coming from. This includes but is not limited to tracing the story of the second liberation in Kenya and trying to see if there could be a real narrative that has never been told to date. It’s also about reporting on institutional reform: constitutional, judicial, police and the whole renaissance of the Kenyan state as expected in the new devolved units of government.

All in all there is a call for journalists to focus more on the victims of human rights abuses than the perpetrators of the atrocities. The opportunity is in changing the narrative and letting the victims speak for themselves.

Nakuru's Political Landscape: My Opinion

Nakuru is surely one of the most crucial counties in Kenya out of its rich endowment of natural resources, a golden climate and a cosmopolitan population. In fact many people argue correctly about it that it is ‘Kenya in a nut shell.’ For these and many other latent reasons one will expect its residents to be very ‘choosy and critical’ in getting its premier governor to intelligently get going the devolved system of government next year. 

Now while its former history of ethnic clashes makes cohesion and integration almost the key agenda on the manifesto of any of its gubernatorial aspirants, Nakuru, like any other county will need a governor with a mind for business. Such a person is one who will steer ahead the region currently feted as the fastest growing in Africa, to hopefully, the fastest growing in the world – actually this potential is not just visible but stares on every door step sarcastically almost asking “why am I not being harnessed?”

And by now you may have heard the men, no woman so far, interested in taking up this challenge. They are led by the incumbent Nakuru Town legislator and Assistant Minister in The Ministry of Roads, Lee Kinyanjui and immediate former Administration Police Commandant Kinuthia Mbugua who are the front runners so far and who I wish to talk about in this article much deeper. 

This boy from Njoro might be having an idea of Nakuru politial landscape

But we also have John Mututho, incumbent Naivasha legislator and the voice behind the alcohol laws in the tenth parliament, a task that has seen him attract friends and foes in equal measures on regulation of alcohol consumption in the country.  We also have Dr. Francis Kiranga, an Economics scholar and a businessman in Nairobi who is said to be a perennial loser in Molo politics since the 70’s. Then we have Rev. Lawrence Bomet, famous for ‘pastoring’ Nakuru at the Nakuru Chapel, a onetime chaplain of the protestant flock of Egerton University and an immediate former commissioner with the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC). 

Well, looking at this five-man political basket one sees that on the mere principal of popularity, on a national scale, Dr. Kiranga stands to lose in that perennial style he is allegedly known for. For Rev. Bomet the privileges he got while working with NCIC can boost his chances, plus put on a test he is the most eloquent of all the five. However none of these will work for him and it might be prudent for him if he agrees with any of the front runners to be a running mate. 

So what about Mututho? You see a governor is going to be the county president, so even the campaigns for the post are in way ‘presidential.’ They require a lot of resources and needed to seriously start early. Mututho has not been very articulate and strategic as has Kinuthia and Kinyanjui in this campaign. May be he has just assumed that the alcohol laws will endear him to many a people and give him an advantage. Anyway, his desire for the county stewardship is yet to form from the crystallization process it is going through, as it is that of Rev. Bomet and Dr. Kiranga.

That finally leaves us with Kinyanjui and Kinuthia.

Lee Kinyanjui is a pretty young man – just turning 40 – who can be available for a chat when he feels like. I say ‘when he feels like’ as some people who were close to him have disclosed how he allegedly ran away from them once he became a VIP in 2008. In fact there are quite a huge chunk of Nakurians would rather look for his alternative on this fact alone. But he presents a sober mind and he promises to do business with the masses. Only he will have to prove he is ‘a man of the people’ better than he has done. 

Kinyanjui started his campaigns much early, almost immediately the new constitution was promulgated and the new devolved government posts were announced. By now we are sure he has ‘seen Nakuru’s council of elders’ – a group of elderly men (no women) who allegedly control the politics of Nakuru on decisions they arrive at during goat eating sessions anywhere in town but in some ‘members clubs only hotels’. Of course he who wants the favours of the group buys the ‘goat’. 

Note that Kinyanjui is in parliament courtesy of KANU. But one knows how KANU has behaved in the past politically, so even when we report how he almost lacked direction some time back he will be excused. Anyway let us just say he once showed the interest of ditching KANU which we saw and asked him but which he kept on denying until he finally came out of the woods. 

Let us also say when he did that, i.e. coming out of the woods, he almost identified with Mudavadi’s United Democratic Forum (UDF). My argument is based on a UDF campaign Mudavadi led soon after its birth at Afraha Stadium where Kinyanjui was featured almost in some kind of re-loaded style. There he announced, like he has done many times when cornered on his political stand, as only interested in working with likeminded individuals. Never mind though he had even written on his facebook account about this rally in advance calling the people of Nakuru to attend it and be peaceful. Now never mind also that when the Prime Minister Raila Odinga organized a similar tour by his ODM team at the same venue Kinyanjui would not be in haste to announce it to his people. And he would feature no where almost telling you where his political interests lie. But finally he is in The National Alliance (TNA). Enough on him for now, let’s turn to Kinuthia.

Kinuthia Mbugua, is an aged provincial administrator who rose to become a police commandant. He speaks slowly, albeit faintly, and the political vigor one would expect in an aspirant does not present itself so well in him. One might guess right that he has been accustomed to giving directions, not shouting, but may be so firm that whatever he says is followed to detail and someone has to come back to report with a “Yes Sir, Yes Afande.” Down here he seems to be loved by the old who maybe just want one of their own in the helm of the county. But even the young are said to be falling in love with him partly because he may be presenting something new on the political arena which may be exciting to savor. 

As a new comer Kinuthia however will be faced with the challenge of political naivety, a challenge he is being said to counter by having a ‘serious’ grass root campaign team and one that started the work for him even when he was in government. He will need to explain clearly how he will transit from the ‘administrator’ he has been in government to a ‘democratic’ office where even a child will have the guts to tell to him “to hell with your policies Mr. Governor.” Plus he has reached retirement age and one can aptly argue that he should go home and rest since the office he is chasing will need a much more ‘young, fresh, and robust’ individual. He too is in TNA.

So these are the two men who promise a tough race with each other in the flamingo county. And since they are in the same party, which is actually the party to reckon with here the party primaries here will tell it all if early on who Nakuru’s county governor will be come 2013, March 4^th.

I know you want to argue about the politics of party manifestos. Look it has become difficult to convince the voter on the ground about it. Even by now you know that we are still aligning ourselves to tribes and party euphoria will determine in a big way who forms government next year. On this principle alone, Nakuru will give a Kikuyu governor and in that case from TNA and this we shall know by December. 

Besides this, Nakuru county exhibits the signs of not being able to meet the one third gender requirement as stipulated in the constitution come the elections. For your information the county has been divided into 55 wards and it will need at least 19 seats to be picked by each gender for this law to be achieved. Women in this respect are likely to be beaten as not very strong women candidates have shown interest in the county politics. 

One of the women who looked sober and strong for this is one Damaris Mbuthia, currently serving as the Deputy Mayor. But she has since decided to go for the Women M.P seat in the county, the single basket where the women politicians here are stuffed.  Yet still and unfortunately for her Damaris was recently involved in a murky scuffle in the politics of the Municipal Council of Nakuru whence the incumbent Mayor Muhammed Suraw was assaulted. Those advising Damaris should advice her early enough that this incident is enough to finish her politically should anyone go to court on her conduct and that of the rest of the team including Mayor Suraw in their handling of public office.

Others in this race are Grace Kibuku, a very outgoing woman in Nakuru town and who has arguably interacted with the who is who in Kenya’s political scenes. Grace is also a philanthropist and Rotarian who has a big heart for women and the girl child but generally for everyone with special needs. She also has a soft spot for health issues, and cancer specifically having lost her dad through it. She is also preaching peace having been personally affected by the post election violence in 2007/2008.

There is also one Purity Muritu, a graduate of Egerton University who wants to use her dairy technology skills to “improve agriculture and the welfare of the people of Nakuru in a big way.” Molo also has an aspirant for this post who is basing her candidature on her experience in maternal health.

Let us also say there is a Nakuru based journalist who has been saying she will try her luck in this. But I advice her to continue being a scribe, since although I don’t hate her and I would personally do my best to see her win, I don’t think she has the muscle to make a woman county rep, let alone a woman M.P. You see, she lacks that critical analysis of the political landscape in Kenya today, so I am not sure what she wants to do with her alleged candidature.

Besides the women running for the women seat there are other women who are promising to show men a run for their strength in the coming elections. I am talking of one Rev. Ziporah Kimani who is eyeing the Senatorial seat. Actually until I met the Sam Ole Nairoshi I felt Ziporah was the best candidate for this seat which is also being eyed by former Naivasha M.P Jane Kihara and Koigi wa Wamwere a veteran politician who needs no introduction in Kenya today. I see Ziporah and Nairoshi becoming the two horses in this only they should not under estimate Koigi whose knowledge on not just Kenya’s but world politics can deflate their egos with a snap…pap!

I finish by saying there will be need for serious vetting by the public for those seeking elective posts in this county. Should we miss we might miss the much needed speed in the take off on devolution for the next five years. Then I lament the women leadership gap in the making. 

I will keep you updated. Cheers!

It’s true I have a child

It’s true I have a child. But I am not writing to make any declaration here. I don’t need to, even if sometimes I get these long stares from pretty young girls when I tell them about it. Then I start imagining what they are imagining. “What… thought I would be your first?” Then I laugh inside myself. I laugh and laugh until I am becoming nuts. Then I realize I have either invited them for a cup of tea, or they have done the invite. So I compose myself and we chat and thereafter I go back to my child.

Let me not tell you about the child’s name at the moment. It is not important. It is not as important as his character traits. You see when he was born about two years ago I looked at him and thought “Eeh this character has a rather big head.” But I said I should not call him big headed. I only called him ‘Kichwa Kubwa - Big Head.’ He has since grown and now he promises to be a well cut lad. I mean just like his father. You laugh eeeh…I also laugh. It’s the inspiration of the lizard that fell from the tall iroko tree that inspires me. Chinua Achebe talks about that lizard in one of his books, acknowledging him for saying he will praise himself since there was no one to praise him when he fell.

So Kichwa Kubwa is no longer ‘big head.’ I call him Man Man these days. And he responds fast. I guess he enjoys being a man. But well is there any beauty of being a man really? Sometimes I call him ‘Beste – friend.’ For sure we chat a lot as men with him. And I sometimes whisper what Daudi Kabaka tuned “Ukizaliwa wewe ni kijana, ukose kazi taabu yote itakuapata – if you are born a man and you end up unemployed you will be in lots of trouble.”

Anyway let me stick to this topic. It’s true I have a child. And this child has a way of his own. I don’t know why but he loves touching my nipples. Yes I have nipples. Laugh…laugh…I am also laughing. Small as they may seem, but they are there. And he loves cuddling them for reasons best known to him. Or maybe he wants to go back to being a much younger child. Of course he has all the signs of being straight so stop imagining him that way.

These days he has been taught to say “touuu tatiii.” This for those who have never brought up children is a child’s way of saying in Kiswahili “ndio huyu dadii.” To mean “here is my father.” And when a child says so you are reminded of the tender care he needs from you. You see the way you pray to God…My Father…the child sees you that way. Let’s not laugh here.

Now last week, this fellow made me feel ‘waooh.’ I came home carrying some luggage that weighed about 5kg’s. So I thought let me test this fellow. I gave him at the door step and told him to take into the house.  Being the lizard that fell from the tall iroko tree, he could not say "I can’t carry this"…he just dragged it in, and sat on the couch panting and praising himself as no one was interested in his issues. Anyway the fact that he showed the desire to do manual work was promising. The children we are bringing up these days look like they will not even kick out a millipede from the house in the future. 

Have I told you all? No. And this is actually the most interesting, most interesting because I had to apply psychoanalysis to get to its bottom. You see, of late he has been putting on my shoes. Imagine a young brat putting on his father’s shoes. Then he moves around dragging his feet stupidly and falling down lazily. What can that mean? Let’s get serious now…what can that mean? It can mean only one thing if only you read it below.

That he wants to get into your shoes, yes, but besides that he wants to take up your roles. By putting on your shoes it means he wants to go where you go, he wants to dance to the tunes you dance; almost saying he wants to dance with the beauties you dance with. 

By putting on your shoes it means he wants to topple you down in that style that the Oedipus fellow did his father. Or what do you think? I feel like this guy is demonstrating this complex. Actually to make it worse I saw him put on my jacket last evening and went straight to his mother almost saying “too mimi tatiii…I mean in Kiswahili…Ndio mimi dadii…and in English…look I am daddy.” 

So guess what I did this morning. I felt so scared of him as I can’t compete for a woman. I rushed out of home and came here to complain. Now if you know the psychology of Oedipus complex you know why I urgently need your help.

Sob...sob...sob!

A Conversation in Modern Day Kenya

Two friends who have not met for quite a while bump into each other in town in a busy street. One of them is called Marcus, the other Garvey. This is the conversation they have, and as it is, it turns out to be a serious chat in modern day Kenya

Marcus: (Garvey has not seen him. He taps him on the shoulder and extends a clenched fist) Son of Woman…long time…

Garvey: (Gets excited on seeing him…) A man of the people… (He hits him with a clenched fist too and gives him a serious look) you look like you have been running on empty?

Marcus: (Looks at Garvey with a “I am not sure of what you are telling me stare”) What do you mean…that…eeeh…

Garvey: (Cutting him short) That you look like one who has spent three days on the cross?

Marcus: (Finding the statement funny…adds laughing) And one who found the  devil on the cross as well while there…I mean while spending the days as you allege…

(All the while they have been standing on a foot path…They move aside)

Garvey: (As they move aside) This is a busy street…

Marcus: Yes…like Miguel Street…you know it…it’s where they cry the beloved country…all the time…

Garvey: You are right…I once worked there…

Marcus: As a…

Garvey: As a mine boy… (Garvey seems to get an idea…he is in deep thoughts)…eeh…have you seen Aminata of late…

Marcus: No…but I hear she has blossomed with beauty…

Garvey: (With a serious look…as if to stamp some authority) The beautiful ones are not yet born...

Marcus…and if they were they wouldn’t be found just anywhere…they would be found at the anthills of the savannah that serve as the river and the source…not in this place where the wind sweeps with the smell of carcuse for hoounds…

Marcus: But I also hear she has become a deadly money maker…

(After this they move to a nearby café for a cup of coffee)

Garvey: (As he pulls a seat) It’s a cool place here. Now I can share with you dreams from my father…

Marcus: (As he sits down) And I will tell you how I have been Re-membering Africa…

Garvey: Mine are dreams in a time of war 

Marcus: And mine are about how I have been made a second class citizen… (stressing) how I have been striving for the wind…

Garvey: Well…let’s go back to Aminata…did you say that the last time you saw her she was coming to birth?

Marcus: No. I said…the last time we talked she had written me so long a letter…

Garvey: Was it like the epistles of St. Paul…or the confessions of St. Augustine?

Marcus: Mmmh…it was full of words…words that melt a mountain…she said if I gave her a chance to act as the concubine…

Garvey: You have just used ‘the’…it gives a definite stand…

Marcus: And that defines ‘the me’… (he clears his throat) so she said if I gave her what she wanted she would sing me a song for the sun in us…a beautiful song like the song of lawino…

Garvey: (Beckoning a waiter) It’s our turn to eat…

Marcus: (Reading the waiters t-shirt) peeling back the mask: a quest for justice in Kenya…just see that…

(The waiter comes and Marcus is looking at the menu…)

Garvey: (Pointing at the writings on his t-shirt) for how long are you going to do that…

Waiter: For as long as it’s not yet uhuru…

(They order and the waiter turns showing his back)

Marcus: (Reads again) raila odinga: an enigma in kenya’s politics… (shrugs)…this fellow is a voice unstilled…I feel like he speaks about me…

Garvey: (Pointing at him) you… (beckons to imply how?)

Marcus: Yes me…a second class citizen and many other people who have been in this journey…the long walk to freedom…

Garvey: Let us just say he has a way of decolonizing the mind to talk about a question of power…

Marcus: Yeah…he is opening spaces for that discussion the way the mau mau author in detention did…

Garvey: I accuse the press in all this though…they have been a real enemy of the people by fueling a season of blood in the whole discussion…

(They are brought two cups of coffee)

Marcus: (As he takes a sip) you were to tell me a story…

Garvey: I got many…which one… (makes as if to count) sunjata epic…epic of gor mahia…which one?

Marcus: Tell me the one of betrayal in the city…

Garvey: After you tell me where you live…

Marcus: (Places his cup on the table) I live in the house of doom…just across the bridge… (shows the sign of crossing over) I have to cross the river between to get there…

(They are through with taking tea...they wake up to go)

Garvey: (Pats Marcus on the shoulder) Keep waiting for my story…I will write it…

Marcus: Writing?

Garvey: Yes…one day I will write about this place…of my life in prison and my life with a criminal…so compact will it be in its description it will beat the expressions in heart of wilderness…

(They get out and embrace to say good bye)

Marcus: It has been nice meeting you…let me go home…before this street is engulfed in heart of darkness…

Garvey: Or we could meet tomorrow… (hands Marcus a business card) or any other day…now that you know how to get me…

Marcus: (Checks card and places it in his pocket) any time…as long as it is after 4.30…

(They shake hands)

Garvey: Good bye…keep facing Mt. Kenya…

(They part)