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# WSF: The poor were locked out
- URL: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/19195/
- Published: 2007-02-01T22:02:13.000Z
- Updated: 2019-02-14T22:35:50.000Z
- Author: openDemocracy Supporters
- Tags: #en, #Migrated, #Import 2026-04-09 18:23

My old friend Peter Kimani in Nairobi has just [added a comment](../../../globalization-institutions%5Fgovernment/wsf%5Ffaces%5F4297.jsp) to Anthony Barnett's article on the World Social Forum. The local perspective is harsh. He says the entry fees were too high for the poor; the meeting failed "pitifully" to raise awarness about Kenyan issues; and calls it "a veritable market for Capitalists".

I don't think anyone's every said that about the World Social Forum before...  

*The sounds of music echo downtown Nairobi, as agile dancers in bright red shukas (loin clothes) make gentle gyrations to the reverberations of the drums.* 
  
*The dancers are not here to announce the onset of a great arts festival but to lure customers to the Kenyan affiliate of Barclays Bank with unsecured loans of up to Sh1 million (9,000 pounds).*