Briton moved but unbowed by terrorist attacks against Kenya

Days after he arrived in Nairobi, Al Shabaab hit Gikomba. But instead of taking the next flight home, Kevin Widdop headed to KNH to donate blood. He explains why terror attacks won’t cow him into leaving Kenya

Our phones buzzed with text messages from loved-ones back home. “Are you ok? Explosions in Nairobi! Are you leaving?” they asked. Having landed in Kenya just days earlier and having woken to the news that hundreds of British tourists had been evacuated from coastal tourist hotspots, the most sensible thing to do, we decided, was head back to our apartment and find out exactly what was going on.

We turned on the TV to see the President, His Excellency Uhuru Kenyatta giving a national address. “Terrorism is not an evil that was born in Kenya. Terrorism is a worldwide phenomenon,” President Kenyatta proclaimed. It is true. As a Londoner - a city hit many times by terror attacks, from IRA bombings in the 70s through to the early nineties to 7/7 and Al Qaeda’s multiple attacks -and international professional, working in rapidly-growing markets, from Lagos to the South Pacific, the Middle East to the Caribbean, I know only too well about global security challenges.

We had met President Kenyatta days earlier, when he had given us the thumbs up to the work we are doing in the country, promoting investment opportunities to an international audience for a Business Outlook Special Section in TIME Magazine. His eyes lit up as he breathed in the prospect of Kenya becoming “Africa’s gateway”.

technology hub

This followed a meeting with the Cabinet Secretary for ICT, Dr Fred Matiang’i, who had talked so eloquently and passionately about Kenya’s plans to become the technology hub of the region. Testament to this is that global tech giants like Cisco, Microsoft and Google have their East African headquarters in Nairobi; IBM has a research centre here, too. Instead of being a lightning rod for those with malicious intent, Nairobi is becoming a magnet for innovation and entrepreneurialism.

And as my colleague, Business Outlook Project Co-ordinator, Katya Van Liebergen, and I flicked to the devastating scenes in Gikomba market near downtown Nairobi on television, we heard the request for blood donations. Twelve people had been killed and 70 more injured, many of whom had lost blood. As I sat there, taking in the news, ensconced in a safe haven, my heart went out to them. Innocent people, bloodied and bruised: Why them? I looked at Katya and asked: “Fancy giving some blood to people who really need it?” She smiled.

So we gathered ourselves and headed down to Kenyatta National Hospital, amidst the din and whir of rushing ambulances. We watched on as the injured were carried on stretchers into the hospital. Helpless, shaking and pale, it was a difficult sight to watch.

 As the medical centre’s CEO, Lily Koros, relayed information about the casualties and the need for blood, the full gravity of what happened started to set it in. The decision to give blood was not taken lightly: I was involved in a near-death event just a few years ago and had lost blood, but battled back to full health. Katya, too, is not fond of needles, but she was courageous in offering her help. As we explained on national television last Friday, if some of the 50ml of blood we individually donated - as well as our kindly driver - helped even one person, it will have been well worth it.

In the days after Friday’s tragic events, we have been touched by local well-wishers who saw us on TV, keen to send us their best, stopping us in the street and telling us they are happy we are in town. We, too, are happy to be here.

news agenda

No one entity or media organisation has a monopoly on the perception of a country; that privilege belongs to the nation being talked about. In our roles as communications specialists, we understand the urgency required to seize the news agenda. Communication is the currency of the world and, just as Kenya needs to start rewriting headlines, so we require local co-operation from Government representatives and business leaders to send a powerful and international message of confidence that Kenya is resilient and will not be cowed.

Part of our job is to counter-balance the occasionally sensationalised news perspective of emerging markets by shining a light on the realities on-the-ground; yes, there are challenges. Nobody denies that. But there are also real business opportunities, from the growing ICT hub to industry to manufacturing, areas primed for investment; there is the world-famous Kenyan hospitality, which we have experienced already; and there is the country’s tourist industry, flowering with safaris, rich in wildlife and jaw-dropping savannahs and landscapes.

Terrorists can never dictate the way free societies live. A global threat exists today, from London to New York, from Chibok to China. As we continue our work in Kenya, profiling the country to a British and international audience, the Swahili word Harambee springs to mind: “pulling together”.

We stand shoulder-to-shoulder and hand-in-hand with those affected by the scourge of terrorism because, as Europeans, we have lived through it, too. We hope some day soon those tourists who left will return to Kenya and, like us, see first-hand how East Africa’s giant will smile again.

Kevin Widdop is Project Director, Business Outlook – Producing Special Sections in TIME Magazine