The "Constant Gardener" is a novel by John le Carré published in 2001 and later made into a film in 2005. It is set in Kenya.
The story follows Justin Quayle, a British diplomat in Nairobi, whose wife Tessa is murdered. As he tries to find out why she was killed he uncovers something much bigger. A pharmaceutical company is secretly testing a tuberculosis drug called Dypraxa on poor Kenyans in Kibera and in northern Kenya. The drug has dangerous side effects. People are dying. But instead of stopping the trial the company is hiding the deaths, removing names from records and continuing the experiment. The British government knows and protects the company because the business relationship matters more than the lives of poor Africans.
The Kenyan officials who could speak up are either paid off or silent. The people of Kibera never consented to anything. They were simply poor, available and therefore useful.
Now look at Kenya today.
The American government has entered into an agreement with the Kenyan government to set up an Ebola isolation facility on Kenyan soil for American citizens exposed to the virus. Kenyans were not consulted. They found out and went to court. The American government responded by saying it was optimistic that objections could be resolved. Not that it would respect the court. Not that it would reconsider. That it would resolve the resistance.
The structure is exactly the same as the novel. A powerful Western government identifies a need. It finds a willing administration in Kenya. An agreement is made above the heads of ordinary Kenyans. When the people object they are told the matter is being handled. The government that is supposed to protect them is the same government that made the deal.
In the novel the people of Kibera had no idea they were being used. In Kenya today the people know. They have gone to court. They have said no loudly and clearly. The only question now is whether their government will listen to them or whether it will do what the government in the novel did. Protect the more powerful partner and hope the resistance eventually goes quiet.
Le Carré wrote the book as a warning. Kenya appears to be living it as a plan.
Dismas wa Tabu. Dreaming in installments. Billed in full.