STORYMOJA

Michela Wrong was born 1961 and is a British journalist and author who spent six years as a foreign correspondent covering events across the African continent for Reuters, the BBC and the Financial Times.

Her first two books, on Eritrea and the Democratic Republic of Congo, are a mix of reportage and history “that allowed her to deploy her lofty, elegant and sarcastic style to hilarious and striking effect. She spots self-regard or hypocrisy a mile away” said The Times.

Her latest book “It’s Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower” (2009) was recently shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, and tells the story of John Githongo. It was to her that he turned for shelter after fleeing to Britain and she decided to tell his story. It is a story that many in Kenya did not want told but has been devoured avidly across the world.

Wrong writes: “What makes It’s Our Turn to Eat interesting are not the stale details of Anglo Leasing, but its exploration of the poisonous interplay between ethnicity, corruption and power, blight of so many African societies. The perception that a ruling tribe wins exclusive right to gorge on state assets – consigning less fortunate tribes to obscurity and neglect – fuelled an anger that nearly destroyed Kenya following the December 2007 polls.

Regarding the book, Kenyans have latched on to it and debated it. You feel you have played a part in a historic process of working out what’s going on in Kenya, where we want to be and who we are. In a lesser way the book is having that effect over Africa. I’ve received messages from Sudan, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ghana and elsewhere in which individuals have said, “This is exactly what’s happening in my country too.” Because these same patterns are familiar the story has resonated far beyond Kenya”.

Michela currently lives in London.