Reimagining Science and Statecraft in Postcolonial Kenya Stories from an African Scientist Routledge Contemporary Africa Series

This book examines the development of medical sciences in postcolonial Kenya, through the adventures and stories of the controversial Kalenjin scientist Davy Kiprotich Koech. As a collaborative life story project, it privileges African voices and retellings, re-centring the voice of African scientists from the peripheries of storytelling about science, global health research collaborations, national politics, international geopolitical alliances, and medical research.

Focusing largely on the development of the Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) and its collaborations with the US Centers for Disease Control, the Walter Reed Project, Japan?s International Cooperation Agency, the Wellcome Trust, and other international partners, Denielle Elliott and Davy Koech challenge euro-dominant representations of African science and global health in both the contemporary and historical and offer an unconventional account which aims to destabilize colonial and neo-colonial narratives about African science, scientists, and statecraft. The stories force readers to contend with a series of questions including: How do imperial effects shape contemporary medical research and national sovereignty? In which ways do the colonial ghosts of early medical research infuse the struggles of postcolonial scientists to build national scientific projects? How were postcolonial nation-building projects tied up with the dreams and visions of African scientists? And lastly, how might we reimagine African medicine and biosciences?

The monograph will be of interest to students, educators, and scholars working in African Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Postcolonial Studies, Global Health, Cultural Anthropology, and Medical Anthropology.

List of Illustrations

Preface

The Art of Storytelling / Stories of Science: An introduction

1. Daudi





2. Colonial Administration





3. Soliat Primary School





4. Growing up During Independence





5. Hospitalization





6. Student Life and Education Reforms





7. Kericho Tea Hotel





8. On Becoming a Scientist





9. Siberia





10. HLA tissue-typing and kidney transplants in Kenya





11. Science and Technology Amendment Act





12. Daniel arap Moi





13. National Politics





14. The Kenya Medical Research Institute





15. Japan





16. Division of Vector Borne Diseases





17. Wellcome Trust





18. Walter Reed Project / US Army Research Unit





19. The US Embassy and the CDC





20. The KEMRON Trial



21. Saba Saba and the KEMRON Results





22. Kinshasa and Racial Politics





23. A Son’s Death





24. Collaborative agreements and fiscal irregularities





25. The Accusations





26. Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission





27. The Arrest





28. Corporate executive





29. Faith

Epilogue by Davy Kiprotich Koech

Denielle Elliott is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Social Science and Anthropology at York University in Toronto, Canada with cross-appointments in the graduate programs of International Development Studies, and Science, Technology and Studies. She is a founder and co-curator of the Centre for Imaginative Ethnography, and writes on questions relating to social suffering, colonialism, morality, and the politics of medicine.