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It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower Paperback – Illustrated, June 8, 2010

by Michela Wrong (Author)

419 ratings

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"A fast-paced political thriller.... Wrong's gripping, thoughtful book stands as both a tribute to Githongo's courage and a cautionary tale." —New York Times Book Review

“On one level, It’s Our Turn to Eat reads like a John Le Carré novel.... On a deeper and much richer level, the book is an analysis of how and why Kenya descended into political violence.” — Washington Post

Called "urgent and important” by Harper's magazine, It’s Our Turn to Eat is a nonfiction political thriller of modern Kenya—an eye-opening account of tribal rivalries, pervasive graft, and the rising anger of a prospect-less youth that exemplifies an African dilemma.

Editorial Reviews

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“Wrong’s book is packed with detail and solid sourcing and tells its story clearly.” --Jeffrey Gettleman — New York Review of Books

“Important and illuminating…Reads like a John Le Carré novel…On a deeper and much richer level, it’s an analysis of how and why Kenya descended into political violence.” — Caroline Elkins, Washington Post

“A fast-paced political thriller―with echoes of Graham Greene and John le Carré.... A gripping, thoughtful book.” — New York Times Book Review

“...urgent and important...” — Harper's Magazine

“A gripping saga…a down-to-earth yet sophisticated expose…a devastating account of how corruption and tribalism reinforce each other.” — The Economist

A solid investigative exposé — Kirkus Reviews

“Written with the pace of a thriller and a depth of analysis of a nation and a man, this is a compelling look at a nation struggling to overcome its past.” — Booklist

“A gripping profile of an anti-corruption crusader.... Githongo...is a magnetic protagonist for Wrong’s expose of the machinery of corruption.” — Publishers Weekly

“A tumultuous journey through the official networks of sleaze that drained billions of dollars from Kenya’s coffers... The extent of the fraud, and the level of destruction it wreaked, is shocking…” — Newsweek International

From the Back Cover

In January 2003, Kenya was hailed as a model of democracy after the peaceful election of its new president, Mwai Kibaki. By appointing respected longtime reformer John Githongo as anticorruption czar, the new Kikuyu government signaled its determination to end the corrupt practices that had tainted the previous regime. Yet only two years later, Githongo himself was on the run, having secretly compiled evidence of official malfeasance throughout the new administration. Unable to remain silent, Githongo, at great personal risk, made the painful choice to go public. The result was a Kenyan Watergate.

Michela Wrong's account of how a pillar of the establishment turned whistle-blower—becoming simultaneously one of the most hated and admired men in Kenya—grips like a political thriller while probing the very roots of the continent's predicament.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harper Perennial; Reprint edition (June 8, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061346594
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061346590
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.31 x 0.83 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #146,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #23 in East Africa History
- #37 in African Politics
- #823 in Political Leader Biographies

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419 ratings

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Michela Wrong

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Half British, half Italian, Michela Wrong has spent nearly two decades writing about Africa. As a Reuters correspondent based in first Cote d'Ivoire and former Zaire, she covered the turbulent events of the mid 1990s, including the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko and Rwanda's post-genocide period. She then moved to Kenya, where she became Africa correspondent for the Financial Times. In 2000 she published her first non-fiction book, "In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz", the story of Mobutu. Her second non-fiction work, "I Didn't Do it for You", focused on the Red Sea nation of Eritrea. Her third, "It's Our Turn to Eat", tracked the story of Kenyan whistleblower John Githongo. "Borderlines", set in a fictional country in the Horn of Africa with a fiercely-disputed border, marked a move into fiction. "Do Not Disturb", which came out in 2021, is a scathing assessment of Rwanda under President Paul Kagame. She lives in London.

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Customers say

Customers find this book to be a gripping read that provides a detailed explanation of Kenyan politics. The writing style is engaging, with one customer noting it reads like an adventure novel. The story quality receives positive feedback, with one review describing it as an exemplary tale of a man of values. Customers have mixed feelings about the book's treatment of corruption.

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Insight Readability Writing style Story quality Corruption

21 customers mention "Insight"21 positive0 negative

Customers find the book insightful, particularly praising it as the best explanation of Kenyan politics, with one customer noting it provides a detailed account of the consequences of ethnic politics.

"...It provided the clearest and most honest explanation I have ever encountered of how profound the role of tribalism has been in Kenya, both before..." Read more

"...Rather, it is the relatively simple story of Githongo, who thought he could make a difference by becoming a new government's anti-corruption czar...." Read more

"...Africa is so resourceful but unfortunately for one reason or another , we have allowed ourselves to be played time and time again by fraudsters we..." Read more

"With plenty of details but never casting a boring line of text, Wrong describes all the diseases that affect Kenya." Read more

21 customers mention "Readability"21 positive0 negative

Customers find the book engaging and gripping to read, with one customer noting it reads like an adventure novel.

"...This is an extraordinary book and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to really understand why Kenya is so poor today, despite its natural..." Read more

"Simply Superb !..." Read more

"...Although it is factual it reads like an adventure novel...." Read more

"This book was a joy! I enjoyed the history lesson (the colonial period was particularly sad because of the evil in man's hearts)...." Read more

7 customers mention "Writing style"6 positive1 negative

Customers appreciate the writing style of the book, describing it as well-crafted and engaging, with one customer noting it reads like a thriller movie.

"With plenty of details but never casting a boring line of text, Wrong describes all the diseases that affect Kenya." Read more

"...I have not personally fact checked but very well written." Read more

"This is engaging and well-written; a true story of Kenyan politics that reads like a thriller...." Read more

"A good book that I couldn't put down. It's like a thriller movie. I should have read it earlier...." Read more

4 customers mention "Story quality"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the story captivating, with one describing it as an exemplary tale of a man of values.

"...aid and citizens who are incredibly proud, hard-working, educated, enterprising and hospitable...." Read more

"...The third strand is the exemplary story of a man of values, John Githongo, put at the helm of an anti-corruption authority by country leaders who..." Read more

"...for on of my Political Science classes, I was amazed by how captivating the story was...." Read more

"Extraordinary story of Kenya's battle to fight systemic corruption." Read more

7 customers mention "Corruption"3 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed feelings about the book's coverage of corruption, with some appreciating its deep dive into the corrupt political system, while others express concerns about the topic.

"...This book takes us deep into the Corrupt Body Politic, grabbing, exposing the connective tissue, the sinewy strands that trace through a whole..." Read more

"...One is the extent to which high-level corruption is embedded in the (formally) democratic structures of Kenya...." Read more

"Extraordinary story of Kenya's battle to fight systemic corruption." Read more

"...Corruption, cronyism, impunity, violence, disorder, poverty... and now terrorism...." Read more

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dekats1
The best explanation of Kenyan politics & corruption I have found
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2010
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I had the privilege of living and working in Nairobi between late 2004 and the end of 2005. It was only a few months after my arrival that John Githonga suddenly left Kenya and went into exile because of death threats from those government officials whose grotesque corruption he was about to expose. Until I read "It's Our Turn to Eat" one year ago, I had limited understanding of how deeply ingrained and tribal-oriented the corruption has been. It provided the clearest and most honest explanation I have ever encountered of how profound the role of tribalism has been in Kenya, both before and since the country's independence from British rule. I only wish that I'd had the benefit of reading it before I began my attempt to help bring reform to the Kenyan law enforcement system so that I might have better understood why such efforts were naive and destined to be thwarted by those benefitting most from the status quo.

During my time in Kenya, there were frequently reports in the then newly-free press of what were astoundingly brazen and arrogant acts of corruption by one government minister or another. When their crimes were exposed, each responded in a manner that said, in essence, "so what?" or, if the acts were exposed by the U.S. or U.K., accused the messenger of acting as a hypocritical colonial power with racist attitudes towards "the Kenyan people. We in the United States certainly have corruption among our government officials, particularly in Congress. But one difference between our corrupt and those in Kenya is the arrogance and sense of entitlement among Kenyan officials that results in their not caring at all about the public reaction to such acts. It was obvious that the way to move from poverty to untold riches in Kenya was to be elected to Parliament or, even better, get appointed by the president to a ministerial post. Ms. Wrong's book puts it all into historical context and provided the kind of insider knowledge that only someone of John Githonga's stature, integrity and lifelong experience could truly piece together.

This is an extraordinary book and I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to really understand why Kenya is so poor today, despite its natural riches, hundreds of millions in foreign aid and citizens who are incredibly proud, hard-working, educated, enterprising and hospitable. Time will tell whether its newly-enacted Constitution will make meaningful changes in the extent to which elected officials can continue to plunder the country's riches and leave the masses so incredibly poor.

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M. E. Llorens
President Kibaki's loose-fitting Rolex
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2010
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I came to this book after listening to an interview with John Githongo on NPR's "Planet Money" podcast in which he casually mentioned (amid chuckles) that part of his remit as Kenyan corruption watchdog was to investigate so-called "Nigerian" scams and found out that the majority of their victims were Latin Americans. I thought: I have to read this book! And I was not disappointed. It is not riveting "All the President's Men" stuff, with moonlit meetings in Nairobi parking garages. Rather, it is the relatively simple story of Githongo, who thought he could make a difference by becoming a new government's anti-corruption czar. When he actually tries to do his job, he realizes that the rot he is trying to cut out begins at the very top, among the Cabinet. And then the point comes when the price demanded by the ringleaders is not simply silence but a simple choice between outright complicity and unpleasant consequences. With the twist that Githongo went completely off the reservation by taping his senior colleagues discussing every tawdry detail of their procurement scams.

In general, one cannot find major faults in Wrong's narrative, but one aspect of the book raises some doubts: her focus on the international aid donors as silent accomplices of African plutocrats. Of course, their failure to denounce scandals and practices like Anglo-Leasing is outrageous. I was reminded of the book when reading that the incoming Conservative government in Great Britain had ring-fenced only two budgets from spending cuts: the health service and foreign aid --meaning that the obdurate bureaucrats who continue to shovel millions into the pockets of scoundrels will continue to do so undisturbed for at least five more years. However, Wrong does not discuss how much leverage these organizations actually have, since, according to her own figures, aid only accounts for 5% of modern Kenya's state budget (p. 184). I imagine she would respond that: 1) even small leverage should be deployed to secure better governance; and 2) the "ideal reader" for this part of the book is the taxpayers of Western nations who believe their funds are being used to feed hungry children. Both points are well taken. Nonetheless, the overall tone of pessimism about the "aid community" is slightly off the mark. From my point of view, even though Githongo ultimately failed to dislodge the Cabinet ministers who participated in the scam permanently, my takeaway was not despair: his gesture and the firestorm it provoked will in the long run probably be more decisive than anything Western diplomats and aid agencies can do by cajoling or threatening. His story is a small (albeit failed) baby step toward better governance in Africa, but at least a step of some kind.

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Aaron Karingo
"IT'S OUR TURN TO EAT " IS THE LEADERSHIP MENTALITY THAT SUMS UP THE REASONS BEHIND THE PAUPERISM OF AFRICA.
Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2017
Verified Purchase
Simply Superb ! I'm a Kenyan and i can personally attest to the devastating effects of grand pilferage of public resources as clearly brought out in this masterpiece.The author clearly took her time researching on cold facts that are easily verifiable and locally relatable. What is utterly shocking is how coldly calculated,planned and organised these heists are.This book deserves to be studied by any serious Kenyan or anyone interested in knowing why Africa is " a scar on the conscience of the world ", in the words of former Britain Prime Minister Tony Blair. Corruption and negative ethnicity have and will continue to hold the Kenya and the entire continent hostage unless we the electorate rise up and elect leaders of prosperity and not leaders of poverty. Africa is so resourceful but unfortunately for one reason or another , we have allowed ourselves to be played time and time again by fraudsters we call our leaders who have continued pauperizing us since independence and continue to without a care in the world and when election time comes, they play a con game and make use of divide and rule stratagems and tactics based on useless ethnicity and tribalism to blind and deceive the electorate on the real truth that in Kenya it is really is not a matter of " 42 or so warring tribes" but a seemingly underground perpetual power struggle by a minuscule clique of unscrupulous and ruthless power brokers battling it out to grab as much public resources as possible when in the highest office of the land.The only real tribes are the poor and rich period ! I thank God for the internet otherwise this book would not have seen the light of day especially in my country Kenya. Kudos Michela !

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Moxo
Great Title
Reviewed in France on April 4, 2017
Verified Purchase

Excellent book, extremely well-written, insightful and honest. I highly recommend not only those who want to learn more about national and international corruption, but also of course those interested more specifically in kenya and its politcs.

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もと中年ケニア
ゴチになります
Reviewed in Japan on December 2, 2009
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　本の副題は The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-blower とある。要するに「ケニヤの告発者」のことを書いた本だ。本の題を直訳すれば「今度は俺たちの番だ、ゴチになります」と言う意味だ。
　ケニヤの大統領は独立以来４５年になるが３人しかいない。最初が有名なジョモ・ケニヤッタでケニヤ最大の部族、キクユ族の出身だ。英連邦時代の首相を含めて１５年間トップの座にいた。二代目がダニエル・アラプ・モイでカレンジン族の出身だ。何と２４年も大統領を務めた。そして３代目が現在のムワイ・キバキである。ケニヤッタと同じキクユ族の出である。現在７年目だ。
主人公のジョン・ギソンゴは英国生まれのキクユ族。ナイロビのカトリックの名門校セント・メアリーの出身でいわばエリート層に属する。２００２年のキバキ大統領の選出にともない大統領直属の汚職摘発専門官に任命される。しかし２年もしないうちに自らの生命の危機をも感じるようになりロンドンに戻り、辞職する。その時、彼は汚職に関する多くの録音テープを持ち出し友人でこの本の著者でもある新聞記者ミッシェラ・ロングに託し、彼女がこの本を書くことになる。
　ケニヤッタはキクユ族を中心とした汚職、モイはカレンジン族中心の汚職をした。　　これが「It’s Our Turn ' 今度は自分達の番だ」の意味である。そしてキバキの番が来たわけだが、彼は主人公を使って汚職追放をするやに見えた。主人公は意気に燃えた。しかしキバキの頭にあったのは単にモイ時代の終焉ではなかったろうか。自分達の番が来たらキクユ族が「ゴチになる」のは当然のことであった。キバキは主人公がキクユ族の汚職には寛容であるハズだと思っていたふしがある
二つの面からアフリカの汚職を見てみよう。ケニヤでは同じ部族のものや家系のものが社会的に成功した者を頼ってくれば、その人の面倒を見るのは成功者の社会的責務であるらしい。公金を横領しないことより身内の面倒を見ることのほうが大切な価値観なのようだ。政府の色々な職場で少しづつ公金をくすねて個人的に福祉事業をしている人達もいるようだ。そしてそれが部族社会の期待される姿であるらしい。
　一方、ドナーである日本や欧米先進国から見れば、援助によって社会は進歩している。キバキ政権下でケニヤの教育制度は大きく進歩した。勿論、キクユ族中心で他の部族の街では進歩の度合いが遅いようだが。多少私腹を肥やす政治家がいても援助をすれば必ずや効果がある。面倒な国内問題には目をつぶり援助をすべきであると多くの援助国は考えているようだ。但し、実際問題として冷戦体制の終焉後、アフリカに援助する意味合いが減少した国もあるようである。最近はもっぱら資源目当ての中国の援助が目立つ。中国の援助は資源が目的で人道上の配慮等に大きな問題があると言われている。結局はどの国も、思惑あっての援助なのだが。
私がアフリカで仕事をする間に学んだ、好きな言葉は “It’s Africa.” 「アフリカだもの」と言えば何が起こっても、皆が納得するし、自分も納得せざるを得ない。「アフリカだもの、汚職はあるさ。」と開き直るしかないのか？

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Gitau Githinji
An overdue insight into a misunderstood country
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 1, 2009
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For anyone with an interest in Kenyan politics or recent African history, John Githongo's whistle-blowing story is not news in March 2009. The story first broke in January 2006 and caused something of a small storm in the pages of newspapers in the UK and a hurricane across Kenya's intelligentsia. It was, therefore, with bewildered curiosity that I approached reading "It's our turn to eat". I wondered why Ms Wrong thought Githongo's story - about being a corruption-excoriating journalist , to government anti-corruption czar, to frustrated fugitive in fear of his life - was not, by the standards of this insatiable journalist worth any more than a column in a sensibly selected liberal newspaper or political journal. But, no, Ms Wrong felt this story and its context to be so important that she chose to use it as her third vehicle in (what I see as becoming) her treatise : "Africa, a dysfunctional continent".

Having read her first two books with much enthusiasm, I was puzzled. Kenya is a much photographed and written-about country. It is instantly familiar to people throughout the world mostly for its sandy beaches, volcanic lakes teeming with birdlife, vast savannas and snow-capped mountains. I couldn't see what there was to write about in Kenya for a fearless journalist who was physically present braving bullets at the collapse of the Mobutu regime in the then Zaire and who managed to dig into the entrails of Eritrea's tortured history. Surely, I thought, there were more interesting, more challenging places to investigate than Kenya. After all, even taboo subjects like Mau Mau had been picked over and exhaustively examined by Westerners like Caroline Elkins and David Anderson. I was hopelessly wrong.

In "The Godfather", Don Vito Corleone instructs his burly lieutenant, Luca Brasi, to investigate a potential business partner with circumspection. "See what he has under his fingernails," says the Don. This is exactly what Ms Wrong has done with Kenya. In her research into the country, she refused to take anything or anybody at face value. In so doing she managed to unearth truths about the country which will make uncomfortable reading for most Kenyans and their many friends. She paints a picture of an unremarkable African country in thrall to a tribal community with ideas well above its station. A country stupidly refusing to accept that it is teetering ever more precariously on the edge of a vast abyss from which there can be no return.

John Githongo - a close friend of Ms Wrong who will, I am sure, have winced at her description of his sometimes uncaring dismissal of her time (the expression she uses for being ignored by John is being "Githongoed") - turns out to be the unlikely hero of Kenya's long ignored masses. Unlikely, for Githongo belongs to a significant minority of Kenyans: its Kikuyu middle class.

Despite being repeatedly Githongoed, Ms Wrong gets underneath the fingernails of this self-important mass of people and learns things about them and their country which have, until now, been conveniently ignored. What she is able to capture in "It's our turn to eat" is the thing which escaped President Kibaki and his clique of "wazee" (old men) when they chose to select Githongo - a man whose own credentials were beyond reproach - as their disguise; the clean face to show the world while they carried on "eating" behind the scenes.

In assuming that Githongo thought like they did, the wazee forgot a fundamental point. The education and lifestyle John Githongo's parents had afforded him set him well apart from them; he thought in ways they would never understand. His generation did not grow up in a village running about barefoot. They were weaned while watching Rupert the Bear on television, learned to read through Ladybird's Janet & John, swapped Enid Blyton novels in primary school with their friends and were more likely to look upon Biggles than Field Marshall Dedan Kimathi (a Mau Mau warrior) as a hero. Githongo's parents (and their contemporaries) might have done the best by their children but in so doing they had ensured that forever more their children were not like them.

Ms Wrong picks this up expertly. She is cannily able to identify that people of Githongo's ilk are more relaxed having a conversation in English than Kikuyu, more likely to switch television channels to the BBC than listen to a heavily Kikuyu-accented minister like Chris Murungaru and more desirous of a holiday in New York than a sojourn in Muranga. The purple prose employed by former British High Commissioner, Sir Edward Clay, would not have been lost on the likes of John Githongo. He and his friends probably sniggered into their sleeves while the wazee cringed at Clay's cheeky employment of his version of A.A. Milne's "The King's Breakfast". This is the perfect whistle blowing generation. And it took a muzungu (white person) journalist to pick this up. Shame on Kenya!

This book has more in common with her first, "In the footsteps of Mr Kurtz", than it does with her second, "I didn't do it for you". Unlike the latter, a scholarly historical work, this book is about capturing a moment in time, attempting to place it in its historical context and imagining what the future may hold for a country.

Best of all, Ms Wrong, much like she did in "In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz", peppers her work with vignettes of personal experience: she was one of the journalists warily present at the chaotic victory celebrations in Nairobi in January 2003 and was there when Nairobi, Kisumu and Eldoret exploded in January 2008. In reading her book, one gets the feeling of watching a pot of explosive ingredients slowly bubble away. By the last chapter, the lid has blown off the pot and Kenya is engulfed in flames.

I would hate to describe Ms Wrong as a Jeremiah but if this book is not taken seriously, there is no telling what may happen to Kenya.

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shorbagg
Like the book , writer is so intersting
Reviewed in the United Arab Emirates on January 13, 2024
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it’s interesting book from the beginning the author is creative to attract you to read from the book title or the first chapter. then it’s illustrate the corruption as a scenario and repeated example in our world. John Githongo as Michela Wrong described him as a whistle blower work with Mwai Kibaki after ex President Daniel arap Moi defeated, then author put her touch to describe regular day to day responsible men activities in such countries it’s repeated copy paste if you are a reader. at this point the book start to be filling with some boring descriptions in my opinion. however I review books to remember

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Chrisb
Exemplarische Analyse und Dekonstruktion korrupter Strukturen
Reviewed in Germany on May 22, 2017
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Die Autorin – eine erfahrene Journalistin – analysiert aufgrund persönlicher Erfahrungen und umfassenden Recherchen korrupte Strukturen und Machenschaften in einem postkolonialen afrikanischen Land und den Bezug zur ehemaligen Kolonialmacht England. Äusserst lesenswert, leider nicht mit Happy End...

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Michela Wrong

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5.0 out of 5 stars The best explanation of Kenyan politics & corruption I have found

4.0 out of 5 stars President Kibaki's loose-fitting Rolex

5.0 out of 5 stars "IT'S OUR TURN TO EAT " IS THE LEADERSHIP MENTALITY THAT SUMS UP THE REASONS BEHIND THE PAUPERISM OF AFRICA.

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Title

4.0 out of 5 stars ゴチになります

5.0 out of 5 stars An overdue insight into a misunderstood country

3.0 out of 5 stars Like the book , writer is so intersting

5.0 out of 5 stars Exemplarische Analyse und Dekonstruktion korrupter Strukturen

The best explanation of Kenyan politics & corruption I have found

President Kibaki's loose-fitting Rolex

"IT'S OUR TURN TO EAT " IS THE LEADERSHIP MENTALITY THAT SUMS UP THE REASONS BEHIND THE PAUPERISM OF AFRICA.

Great Title

ゴチになります

An overdue insight into a misunderstood country

Like the book , writer is so intersting

Exemplarische Analyse und Dekonstruktion korrupter Strukturen