Main description:

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.

Contents:

List of Illustrations

Preface

The Art of Storytelling / Stories of Science: An introduction

Daudi

Colonial Administration

Soliat Primary School

Growing up During Independence

Hospitalization

Student Life and Education Reforms

Kericho Tea Hotel

On Becoming a Scientist

Siberia

HLA tissue-typing and kidney transplants in Kenya

Science and Technology Amendment Act

Daniel arap Moi

National Politics

The Kenya Medical Research Institute

Japan

Division of Vector Borne Diseases

Wellcome Trust

Walter Reed Project / US Army Research Unit

The US Embassy and the CDC

The KEMRON Trial

Saba Saba and the KEMRON Results

Kinshasa and Racial Politics

A Son's Death

Collaborative agreements and fiscal irregularities

The Accusations

Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission

The Arrest

Corporate executive

Faith

Epilogue by Davy Kiprotich Koech