“On your Mark!”
These words almost go unnoticed as
both the athletes and the fans on their seats go crazy, thousands of miles away
other fans are going crazy as they watch from their television sets, each with
baited breath, ready to cheer their heroes as they hoist their flags high!
Every Kenyan at that time forgets that
these men and women representing them belong to a particular tribe or ethnic
community, all they can see are the colours on their clothing representing a glorious
Nation, each ready and willing to do any and everything to support these
heroes. This is a familiar scenery and it not only occurs in Kenya but on every
country that has sports and other heroic representatives out to do their
country proud.
Interesting how any country can
inspire a sense of patriotism and adoration from its citizens, it is always
more than fantastic to see that every member of that country comes together to
unite and stand together in support of their nation and kinsmen, any dividing
factor is quickly forgotten and all is reconciled at that moment. All are in
one accord, in common bond united to build this our nation together. The glory of Kenya, the fruit of their labour
fills every heart with thanksgiving!! (National Anthem)
Yet all this is forgotten as soon as
the games are over and a different game is being played, Politics, A dirty
filthy game.
A crowd cheers, hooligans are in frenzy,
each screaming their lungs out as a well-dressed man smiles lividly. He doesn’t
seem to notice the rags on his supporters’ body nor would he even if they did. As
far as he is concerned they are just a means to an end. He doesn’t even give
little regard to the words he has just told them, as long as they cheer and
scream their lungs out for him… and cast their ballots for him. As he walks out
he imagines himself on that seat of power, thinks of all the money he’d make,
thinks of all the monies he’d have access to, legally or illegally (it doesn’t
matter, he’ll be part of the government), this will be a good life. He can
hardly wait. Not a single thought for his country or his countrymen, the very
people who will give him this power.
You think that is a bad picture, any
Kenyan would hope that the reality on the ground stops there, unfortunately it
doesn’t! Here is another one for you…
In closed quarters, an influential man
walks in briskly, elegantly dressed and reeking of money, illegally obtained
money. He finds another bunch of rich men, all of age, with protruding potbellies
and beneath the designer suits and ties, bids of a feather. They speak in their
mother tongue, as a way of ensuring total trust. The men are pressurizing the
newcomer to usurp the political power “they” helped him obtain to coerce a new
settlement of a different ethnic community to leave their land… so that they (the
bigwigs) can exploit it without competition.
Having no other
alternative, they discuss how they are going to insight the tribe’s young men
to fight against their opponents, their slyness is without fail and they have a
solution, only one other problem…
once they get the young men
to fight, how do they ensure victory??
A bright idea, “lets contribute some
money to fund them…”
“Yeah, it could be a sort of
investment, think of all that land and property, lying desolate…”
“Ripe for the taking!” interrupts his colleague, with a crooked grin. Others echo with laughter punctuated with greed
and individualism, none regarding the welfare of the young men who will be used
nor the lives of countless innocent which will be struck down, collateral
damage in their mind.
Yes, this is a common picture in our
lives, people killing and dying for no good reason, other than greed for wealth
and affluence or hatred for those who were not born of their tribe, a mistake
they had no control over.
This is a message to all Kenyans,
young and old, poor and affluent, elites and illiterates. It’s time we got out
of this grave that our esteemed politicians have dug for us and look beyond the
race, tribe, creed, or religious alignments and see that these are humans, and
by extension Kenyans. As we head towards the election period and as we cast our
votes, let us not forget the love we have for one another and indeed the warmth
we share as we sing the national anthem. Let us not trade these for negative
ethnicity or blind sycophancy to politicians who don’t even give a damn about
us.
Politicians, let us give up greediness
and individualism and embrace social responsibility and become development
minded, trust me you’ll have it better as a leader or as you strive to make
money rather than if the country cannot even support itself economically.
Where is the point of buying a Porsche
and you cannot even drive it in your home country because of the poor condition
of the roads???
