Terrorism: we can whine all we want but until we learn to play our
part, I see no end to our whining except perfection of the whining skills. I am
a lady and like most do, I sometimes carry the ‘see you on Monday’ handbag; it
was, probably, given this name because it literally fits all the personal
effects and clothes to last a lady of my caliber for a whole weekend! In fact,
some comedians say that we ladies carry bottles of soda in these bags, besides
our effects. The bags are self-contained; at this age where kidnapping among
other evils is rampant, who knows, they can even be used to carry kidnapped
babies not to mention an improvised grenade! But guess what? I have walked into
malls, hotels, churches and many other places with a smile on my face. I would
forgive the security guards if they said that ‘I do not look like a criminal’…or
do you think I look like one? As a result, they all let me pass through their
gates without the slightest worry of what I may be carrying. One day I joked
with a guard, “Don’t you think I could be carrying a grenade?”I got a silly
chuckle and ‘huwezi kuwa alshabaab’.
Well, it seems that a majority of us have not yet woken up to the
realization that our country is wrestling with a faceless foe. The days when Alshabaab
was identified with religion, shape of the head, and texture of the hair…are
long gone. Kid me not that Alshabaab are from a specific religion or race. They
are our own brothers and sisters, only that they are void of value for human
life. They are our siblings who have lost hope in their own lives and the
result is destroying the lives of other innocent ones. To them, killing you and
me, sometimes even sacrificing themselves as suicide bombers could not be
easier. They are frustrated young men and women who have succumbed to the
difficulties of life and allowed themselves to be brainwashed by the radicals.
I hereby put across my plea to us, sons and daughters of our motherland
Kenya; it seems to me that we have become experts in this ‘euphoria’…when today
dawns we claim to be one. In fact, there
comes an Alshabaab attack and we all gather in solidarity to donate blood to
the victims. Another day dawns and shock on me when the nation’s security
docket announces that we should adopt the Nyumba Kumi Initiative; due to our
forgetfulness, we rubbish it! Woe unto us for the day we realize that our good
brother is actually a criminal, that the boyfriend I had for 5 years is a WANTED, that the neighbor who recently moved into the apartment next door is a ‘Sacramento
Spirit’ or ‘Countryman’ manufacturer! I could go on and on…for the list of
evils that are swallowing the lives of our countrymen is endless. They have reported
severally that billions of shillings have been stolen by ghosts, other times we’ve
heard that ghost workers were paid; the ghost rhetoric continues and may be,
just maybe, someone expects us to think that it is these ghosts that boom and
shoot at our people.
I say unto you, our motherland’s intelligence and security
institutions remain just that if we do not join in the war and offer every
support that we can. It is neither a one-man nor a single institution’s fight. The
responsibility of raising an alarm, if we notice something sinister, is bestowed
on us, we who don the skin of patriotism. We who proudly declare that our Land
is Kenya have a pricey duty to guard our nation…notice bribe is small. The
powerful slogans are but for a season and the blame game only helps to build
higher walls, yet the criminal is already inside. Isn’t it ironical that even
our religious leaders would ask for gun licenses? Does a four-wheeled car give the
solution to bad roads?
My cry:
“Amkeni ndugu zetu , Tufanye
sote bidii ,
Nasi tujitoe kwa nguvu ,Nchi yetu ya Kenya ,
Tunayoipenda,Tuwe tayari kuilinda.
Let’s live up to the phrases of our national anthem!
An Article by Sarah Makena
Co-founder of Ukabila Zi Society
Champion of 'My Sister's Keeper Project'
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