Home / AFRICA, KENYA / SHAME TO THE UN AND UNEP

SHAME TO THE UN AND UNEP

So the UN through it’s UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) agency in Nairobi has started a campaign called “Kick the CO2 habit” and wants Kenyans and Africans to help reduce carbon emissions by “Waking up with a traditional wind-up alarm clock rather than the beep of an electronic one………”OK hold on a minute.If you have never been to Nairobi and actually stuck around the city for a while, then you will not immediately notice the hypocrisy this campaign is throwing on the face of Kenyans.The UN office in Nairobi is known as UNEP. Ever since I was a child the only thing I knew about UNEP were the luxury sedans and the huge 4×4s we used to see billowing diesel fumes all over the city (well, not quite, but you get the point !). I went to primary school along the highway leading to the UNEP headquarters in Gigiri, Nairobi. This is the same UNEP that is now asking Kenyans to wind their clocks at night to save on carbon emissions. I will say this is a bunch of bologna.I picked this up from the Kenyan Pundit and Dipesh of Sukuma Kenya . Read especially the comments on Dipesh’s blog to get an idea what Kenyans really think about this organization. Don’t get me wrong. I’m sure there’s a lot we have gained by having UNEP headquartered in Nairobi. What UNEP and it’s employees need to know is that they need Kenyans as partners in whatever they do. These people act like they are in a wild game reserve, hence the need for all these heavy duty vehicles. This quiet, condescending attitude needs to stop and needs to change. We are in the 21st century and I bet there is nothing all these expatriates do that Kenyans cannot do.I have been told by an insider (former UNEP employee) that inside UNEP is like a web of micro-networks. From the top to the bottom it’s all about nepotism, favors, looking the other way when projects go over budget and hiring from within one’s closest circles. This explains the opulence that Kenyans have been observing for a while and have now begun to speak up on.One thing you have to note, the area around the vast UN compound is one of the highest class neighborhoods of Nairobi. As the saying goes, all high class neighborhoods around the world look alike no matter what country you are in; this is true in Nairobi as well. The point is, there is no need for these kinds of vehicles as most of them never even venture out of the city where they may actually get to see some real use. The roads around Gigiri and it’s environs are as good as it gets. I know. I have been there.

Here are some pictures of UN vehicles I got from Dipesh’s flickr site;

Comments