Its Our Turn to Eat

(Paperback)

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A gripping account of both an individual caught on the horns of an excruciating moral dilemma and a continent at a turning point.
When Michela Wrongs Kenyan friend John Githongo appeared one cold February morning on the doorstep of her London flat, carrying a small mountain of luggage, it was clear something had gone very wrong in a country regarded until then as one of Africas few budding success stories.

Two years earlier, in the wave of euphoria that followed the election defeat of long-serving President Daniel arap Moi, John had been appointed Kenyas new anti-corruption czar. In choosing this giant of a man, respected as a longstanding anti-corruption crusader, the new government was signalling that it was set on ending the practices that had made Kenya an international by-word for sleaze.

Now John was on the run, having realised that the new administration, far from breaking with the past, was using near-identical techniques to pilfer public funds. Johns tale, which has all the elements of a political thriller, is the story of how a brave man came to make a lonely decision with huge ramifications. But his story transcends the personal, touching as it does on the cultural, historical and social themes that lie at the heart of the continents continuing crisis.

Tracking this story of an African whistleblower, Michela Wrong seeks answers to the questions that have puzzled outsiders for decades. What is it about African society that makes corruption so hard to eradicate, so sweeping in its scope, so destructive in its impact Why have so many African presidents found it so easy to reduce all political discussion to the self-serving calculation of which tribe gets to eat And at what stage will Africans start placing the wider interests of their nation ahead of the narrow interests of their tribe

Reviews

A down-to-earth yet sophisticated expose of how an entire country can be munched in the clammy claws of corruption. The Economist, BOOKS OF THE YEAR

A lively and detailed account of the looting of Kenya by its politiciansA shocking tale told with verve and suspense. The Times

An exceptionally talented writerMore than a story about a whistle-blower, and more than about Kenya. It could have been written anywhere where corruption is endemic. Guardian

The story offers a fascinating insight into Kenya and is a thrilling whodunit, worthy of John Le Carre. the london paper

Michella Wrong has written a compelling book. Well researched, poignant. Graham Boyton, Daily Telegraph

A gripping new biography-cum-thriller. Evening Standard

Author Bio

Michela Wrong is a distinguished international journalist, and has worked as a foreign correspondent covering events across the African continent for Reuters, the BBC and the Financial Times. Based on her experiences in Africa, In the Footsteps of Mr Kurtz, her first book, won the PEN James Sterne Prize for non-fiction. Her book I Didnt Do It for You (2006) builds upon her shocking experiences, and focuses on the African nation of Eritrea. In 2015, she published Borderlines, her first novel. Michela Wrong is based in London.