Partiotism

“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???