Lessons from the Drama

Drama after drama we have been treated to, here in Kenya, yet it’s barely 2 months in to 2015. From these happenings, I can accurately predict that Kenyans will be a tired lot by mid this year; what saddens me is that there seems to be no hint of better things to come, at least if the incidents of these two months are anything to go by.

…from the sudden demise of baba’s son whose mystery is yet to be unraveled, to the ‘Mr. Private Developer Singh’ whose land grabbing behavior led to innocent school children being sprayed with loads of teargas, to a dishonorable member of parliament who decided to treat us to a series of Reality TV drama as he spit unmentionable insults to some men in uniform, and to the loss of politicians in a single week…some through road accidents while others were executed by some very well-trained snipers (at least this is what I think because, otherwise, how do you expect me to explain that some four men were each shot dead with a single bullet?) Believe me when I say this is a real difficult year for us not unless the Angels come down to the earth … 

Having witnessed all these incidences, I have picked a few lessons which I would like to share with you…

First, it’s only you and I fight who and call each other names simply because we speak different languages. Before Fidel passed on, may his soul R.I.P, the country’s boss had a fully packed diary. His diary was probably packed with schedules of events; therefore, visiting baba was most likely least in his agenda. When the son of Jakom passed on, you were probably not amused that the country’s chief had shelved his commitments for two days and gone to be with his perceived ‘enemy’… at least according to you and me. We have eyes but we do not see, we have ears but we do not hear! The loud message passed through this incident was that there really are no enemies in politics… may be ‘frenemies’. 

Let not any one fool you; they wine and dine together once they are away from the public eye and outside the political arena, their children school together and inter-marry because they do not limit themselves to their tribes. Actually, it is only you and me who belong to certain tribes and carry around the tags of our tribes with us in our hearts, heads, and on our foreheads; otherwise, the political chiefs of our country only associate themselves with the various tribes as a means to influence the vote, a selfish act which makes them sole beneficiaries. I tell you this for sure, if we do not dismantle our tribal cocoons and peacefully co-exist, we shall perish as fools…

They grabbed the school playground and innocent children faced the wrath of hungry policemen, who have become so accustomed to throwing canisters of teargas to city hawkers, that they did not even stop for a second to think that their victim, this time around, was not the hawkers but primary school children. My brothers on social media were fast as lightening to condemn this act and pretend to be holier than though. Several of my friends changed their social media names to “Private developer Singh” while others posted all types of funny pictures to ridicule the land grabbers. 

Then I thought to myself… how sad that we have become only a reactive nation rather than a proactive one to address these burning issues. As long as we are not proactive and fear confronting such issues, criticism hush tags will continue being the order of the day and this will not stop the vicious cycle of corruption incidents. I am glad that although you grabbed the land, we fought to have it back, and now they are about to conclude fencing it. 

I salute the men in uniform at the weigh-bridge for standing firm on their principles, although, sadly, they became part of a Reality TV drama that we were treated to by one of our honorable members. My bad, this was quite a show… I vividly recall the last time we were treated to such drama was during an infamous incident at village market; the big fish in this case was relieved of her duties and the naïve guard was rewarded by the courts for having gone through such a humiliation. 

The beauty of Chapter 6 of our Constitution is reminiscent during such nasty incidents of big fish vs. small fish. The maturity with our courts is evident as they seem to clearly understand that no one is above the law, really, and that justice must be allowed to follow her course. If only we could have a few more officers and guards like these… a few more proactive journalists would also be required to do the exposes without fear or favor. 

For the love of my country, I can’t fail to notice that there’s a lot of bloodshed yet no one is being made to account for it. How would you explain the many cases of cattle rustling, which often leave scores dead, yet they seem to get worse as days go by? Every day, I cringe at the thought that the beauty of my country may be fading…Alhamdulillah! The coastal region is gradually regaining its glory…. 

Amkeni Ndugu  Zangu, Natujenge Taifa Letu…

An Article by Sarah Makena,

Co-founder Ukabila Zi Society