|
CLARIFICATION ON THE UKUNDA COAST SOCIAL FORUM |
|
|
|
PRESS STATEMENT
March 8, 2005
CLARIFICATION ON THE UKUNDA COAST SOCIAL FORUM RALLY 3 MARCH 2005
The organizing Committee of the Coast Social Forum’s (CSF) Ukunda ASK Show Ground Public rally wishes to correct the impression created by the local media that the much publicized rally was aimed at disrupting the WTO mini-ministerial meeting that was going on at Leisure Lodge, Diani. This Committee wants to clarify to Kenyans to understand that the Coast Social Forum had no intention whatsoever of going to Leisure Lodge to disrupt the WTO meeting. The Committee is hereby also clarifying that the procession that was violently disrupted by the police was not heading to Leisure lodge to disrupt the WTO meeting. The CSF had planned the rally, 4km away, with the aim of educating peasant farmers, small-scale traders and local manufacturing (derogatorily referred to as Jua Kali by multinationals) about the negative impacts of WTO Agreements on Third World Countries’ economies. Ukunda ASK Show Ground is 4km away from Leisure Lodge where the WTO meeting was taking place, and 5km from the Marikaz Mosque where the procession to the rally begun. The police disrupted the procession 500 meters from the mosque and not anywhere near the WTO meeting. It is not procedural to discuss this matter, which is now before the Courts of law in Kwale, but the media sometimes influences the Courts, since the magistrates and judges are never on the ground to be first-hand witnesses. Therefore a misrepresentation of facts leads to misinformation and the damage is often irreparable. The World Social Forum (WSF), which the CSF is also a member, does not have a policy of disrupting the meetings of the World Economic Forum or WTO. Traditionally the WSF organizes parallel meetings that profile the voices of peasant farmers with the aim of also educating the public and the media. The WSF is normally on the side of the Third World Countries and it surprises many that the government sees the Civil Society as an enemy rather than an ally in this process that believes in the participation of farmers, local manufacturers and other stakeholders. The same case was the intentions of the CSF Ukunda rally that the police disrupted. But on the same vein the Organizing Committee wishes to thank the Press for the good work that made the whole process a success. The Press helped CSF to achieve its objectives of civic education, generating the debate locally and highlighting some of the issues that are impacting negatively on the economy of Kenya. The WSF including Kenyan civil society will follow the WTO meeting in Hong Kong in December 2005 just as it had done in Cancun, Mexico in 2003. SIGNED for and on behalf of
Patrick OchiengThe COAST SOCIAL FORUM |
