Makena Njeri accused of stealing credit from queer human rights activist
Chris Muriithi (formerly Christine Makena Njeri), one of Kenya’s most famous queer persons, was earlier this week accused of taking credit for work done to support the rights of members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer + (LGBTQ+) and attributing it to her Bold Network Africa organization.
According to Marylize Biubwa UnCut, a queer human rights defender, who hopped on to TikTok with her accusations, she claimed Chris was using her work to promote her (they/them) organization and was not giving credit where it was due.
“For someone who all I’ve ever done is do the work that I do diligently and with the most honesty and transparency and accountability, I support everyone who does similar work to mine or even those who don’t do similar work to mine.
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I show up for people. I ensure to put proper acknowledgement and credit on people’s work if I work with them and all that stuff.
I feel so disheartened because this is not the first time it has happened. One of the reasons I’ve worked in this movement for so long and most of the time, even when I look around, I have barely anything to show for it because I do this work from my heart.
I do this work cause of the struggles I’ve gone through as a queer person and it really does break my heart cause I don’t get to be afforded the same respect I afford people, I don’t get to be afforded the same diligence that I offer everyone in the work that I do.
And it’s so heartbreaking and I’m so tired of always being strong, always ready to find amicable ways to deal with things- not when I’m told ‘I didn’t see that.’
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I’ve run many initiatives and I know one of the ways in which things are put out there is they have to go through you because you are in charge of things.
So being told ‘I was not aware’ and all that kind of stuff is just one of the many ways my work has been taken, people have benefitted from it and taken credit for it and I got nothing,” said Biubwa.
She went on to add that she would no longer be taken advantage of and not be recognized for her work because when she needed the same queer community so much, none of them showed up for her- especially when some of them actively ensured that she couldn’t access medical services.
“I’ve cried so much because this has made me question the work that I have done for over a decade and I don’t think I deserve all that. So, hell no, not any more. This will not happen again,” concluded Biubwa.
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In the comment sections, she revealed that she was no longer afraid of being silenced and called out Makena Njeri and categorically stated she was not lying.
The Bold Network Africa claims to tell real and inspiring stories of African queer people.
Chris is yet to respond to the allegations.
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