WHY I WANT PROJECT KENYA TO TRIUMPH

 

Kenyan scholar Dr David Ndii penned an opinion piece in the Daily Nation 26^th March with the eye catching title ‘Kenya is a cruel marriage, it is time to talk divorce.’ Many Kenyans share in the frustrations borne out of pernicious socio-economic inequalities both horizontal and vertical. However few would welcome the proposal of annulling this great republic even as a last resort.

While sharing in the opinion that tribalism and corruption are likely to thwart our claim to nationalism, breaking up the nation into micro-states as proposed by Dr Ndii may result in an unimaginable apocalypse whose pain could prove unbearable.

Once the proposed nation states are established through whichever treaties, millions of Kenyans will be at risk of forcible transfer back to their ancestral homes. This will include Kenyans living in Nairobi , Nakuru, Mombasa and other major towns and in some cases rural areas. It is highly likely that in the madness of ‘watu warudi makwao’ innocent citizens will be persecuted and even killed in waves of ethnic cleansing. Law and order may collapse for unspecified periods as the security forces are forced to redeploy and reorganise along ethnic lines. A fight within the disciplined forces could even ensue spilling to the citizenry.

While we concede that deep, horizontal comradeship has not fully taken root in Kenya, we must acknowledge the interaction that was commonplace among different Kenyan communities before , during and after colonialism. This interaction pre-eminently seen in marriages , education, spiritual fellowships and business has made Kenyan communities heavily interdependent on one another more than maybe appreciated at first sight. Splitting the country into forty plus states would break up families, disrupt education and set the mini-states backwards in commerce, philosophy and spirituality.

I share in the opinion that we have squandered a few chances to unite. The greatest responsibility for these failures must be carried by those who have had the chance to lead the nation namely our former presidents and their henchmen. The advent of multi-party democracy was particularly unique given that most of the second liberation heroes had suffered under the one party oppressive state. However greed for power and selfishness among the opposition leaders of the early 1990s and to a small extent ideological differences became the Achilles heel of FORD – the progressive movement of the day. Seeds of tribal discord were sown and KANU ruled for another ten years into the new millennium.

The seeds of ethnic chauvinism from the 1990s have germinated and grown into carnivorous ‘triffids’ feeding on nationalism. Needless to say , ethnicity is seen as a legitimate gateway to national leadership and all major political leaders in Kenya today boast tribal strongholds(unashamedly). This is fraud and a continuation of the first sin by the founding fathers. Greed for power by a handful of elites has turned our elections into ethnic supremacy contests instead of being seen as a competition between ideas and development programs.

Democracy should ideally provide us with reasonable insurance against bad leadership. However ethnicity, corruption and weak institutions have compounded the Kenyan national headache. Kenyan scholars must continue advancing a debate that seeks to customize democracy to fit our diversity. I have found arguments around a rotating presidency particularly compelling.

If project Kenya succumbs to a break up, I am not sure if the resulting states will enjoy good governance and security. The devolution experiment has already given us glimpses on how micro-states would face management hurdles including corruption and clanism. The civil war in south Sudan should also provide caution that while communities will unite to fight a perceived common enemy, the same communities tend to implode once the uniting objective is removed or met.

There may be no magic bullet that will immediately fix the problem of tribalism. However Kenyans must know that leadership through the aristocracy of tribal messiahs is a sure path to destruction. We must start by rejecting ethnic chiefs and their coalitions.Kenya needs more ideologues going into leadership and inaugurating the spirit of Nyerereism in Kenya.We want to see elected and appointed leaders using public schools and hospitals. The over 11,000 security officers who watch over these privileged leaders should be freed to deal with threats such as terrorism, cattle rustling and violent crimes in our homes and streets.

Its not enough to simply declare that the Kenyan prognosis is grave then sit on the fence. If project Kenya fails, it will be our pain and shame before the world. We must fight to protect the Kenyan civilization.

Tanzania has more than one hundred tribes but nobody in that country cares very much about ethnic identity. The mistakes of Kenyatta, moi , kibaki and Kenyatta cannot be fixed by destroying our Kenyan identity but strengthening it and employing new thinking to solve our chronic problems.

I AM SORRY BUT YOUR TRIBE IS NOT SUPERIOR

Some time back , the kenyan civilization went into a frenzy when Kiambu governor hon. William Kabogo made remarks that seemed to question the intelligence of his political opponents on the basis of circumcision.

A majority of Kenyans disapproved of Hon Kabogo’s remarks as advancing hate speech and its clearest outcome, ethnic animosity.

While such condemnation of unbecoming politicians is healthy, Kenyans in their everyday lives have mastered the skill of promoting their tribal image while cleverly framing inferior stereotypes to denigrate members of ‘other’ communities.

Nearly 90% of all Kenyan humor appears to revolve around ethnicity and the attendant stereotypes. The problem with stereotypes, thinks Chimamanda Ngozi, is not that they are untrue, but that they are incomplete.

It is for this reason that certain voices within the Kenyan society have been raised against excessive usage of ethnic humor. While delivering a speech on national cohesion in 2012, the Kenyan chief justice Dr Willy Mutunga cautions against negative ethnic profiling that is sometimes aided by parody. He calls for the purging from national discourse of pejorative commentaries present in comedy.

It is not that those who call for an end to the era of ethnic jokes are not appreciative of the role of art in our society. It is simply a sacrifice that must be made in the interest of national cohesion. Many years back the celebrated Nigerian writer made a case against ethnicity when he aptly stated that ‘Whereas irrational love can engender foolish acts of indiscretion, irrational hate can endanger the whole community.’

The phenomenon of ethnic branding seems to have taken root in our society. It rides on vernacular phrases weaved to promote a sense of superiority of one culture over the rest. It denounces the equality of all Kenyan cultures as envisaged in our constitution and relegates a majority Kenyans to the periphery of subjugation albeit psychologically.

While the politician is often subjected to harsh criticism when caught propagating irrational hate, Kenyans on a daily basis promote tribalism by pledging the superiority of their ethnic enclaves. In no other groups is this travesty more repugnant than in the educated of our society. While a once in while phrase in vernacular might be welcome, the consistent use of one’s mother tongue in public spaces such as social media is a dangerous sign of ethnic branding and bigotry.

In November 1945 an international military tribunal was opened at Nuremberg in Germany to prosecute war crimes committed by former nazi leaders. The lead judge justice Jackson in his opening remarks exposed the philosophy of pathological ethnic pride that was employed to propel Hitlers party to power. Judge Jackson says of the nazi criminals, ‘They excited the German ambition to be a “master race”, which of course implies serfdom for others. They led their people on a mad gamble for domination.’

The end result of this philosophy was cruelty, state terrorism, violence, death and the suffering of millions of peaceful citizens both within and outside Germany.

In the interest of a peaceful and prosperous society we must quickly embrace unconditional equality of all Kenyan communities by exercising nationalism all the time instead frequenting our ethnic cocoons for inspiration. We must acknowledge that nationalism and tribalism are mutually exclusive.

NB: Article first published on the facebook wall of Chitayi Murabula.

WHY THE NYAKUNDI ARTICLE ON THE 2011 DOCTORS STRIKE IS IDLE HOGWASH

A recent post published on the cnyakundi blog titled ‘2011 doctors strike, How 3 individuals sold out their colleagues to uhuru for a few coins’ is gutter, utter hogwash. The article tramples on history with impunity, liquidating the dignity of the Kenyan doctor while randomly urinating on former KMPDU leaders’ reputation. Nyakundi deliberately sidesteps facts to attain a pre-meditated motive of slander.

The propagandist article opens with an icing on what soon turns out to be a completely rotten cake. The writer cleverly seeks credibility by giving a detailed narration of the historical events of the 1994 doctors strike in about four paragraphs totaling to approximately 500 words. It is quite an interesting read which should in any other circumstance capture the attention of the reader by sugar coating the poison to be served thereafter.

It is only when the taste of the sugar coating becomes familiar that one soon discovers that the lengthy historical introduction is plagiarized work from 2011. That’s when the reader realizes that he is reading the work of a certified fraud.

It is factual to state that half of Nyakundi’s article on the doctors strike of 2011 that was published on 11^th March 2016 is plagiarized word for word from the blog , ‘Walter’s world’ penned by mr Walter Menya on December 8^th 2011. The story was then written under the heading ‘Are Kenyan doctors in it for the long haul like their colleagues in 1994?’

A quick comparison of the two articles uncovers plagiarism-the worst form of intellectual dishonesty and a betrayal of intellectual bankruptcy on the part of Cyprian Nyakundi. At no point in his own fake ‘expose’ does Cyprian Nyakundi acknowledge that he has stolen half of the article and predictably the only factual part. The discretion to sue remains with Mr. Menya.

The rest of the article conveniently gives the truth a wide berth. It fails to state that the quest for a doctors union that started in 1994 was triumphantly accomplished in 2011 when young doctors overcame every imaginable barrier to get KMPDU registered. It is out of this commitment that on the day the new officials were elected as substantive officials, they announced industrial action.

The author remains pretentious; putting up a show to feign solidarity with the doctors while failing to acknowledge the gains made through the fledgling union then. He, for instance says, ‘After 9 days of industrial action that had cornered the grand coalition government and held it by its balls , a flurry of night meetings and “special delegates” meetings were hurriedly convened……’ I wish to inform the author that a workers strike is not a ball holding contest. Inasmuch as he is excited about that aspect, the leadership of the KMPDU executive council was pre-occupied with getting a salary increment for doctors and starting the nation on a path of better healthcare. KMPDU achieved its objectives.

Mr. Nyakundi may not be aware (or may not be interested in knowing) that negotiations had started way before the strike. The first meeting between the ministry of medical services was held between the then minister Prof. Anyang Nyongo and ourselves on 21^st November 2011. When the strike ended we had been negotiating for over three weeks with more than five offers tabled and rejected by our union at various instances. The offer that my national executive accepted awarded doctors a 100% increase in pay. This has been lauded as probably the highest workers gain from a single strike in the history of trade unionism in Kenya. If in your opinion the strike should have gone on, am sorry the national executive of KMPDU thought otherwise and made a decision to accept a 100% salary hike and reopen our public hospitals. There are no regrets. Doctors who were part of the 1994 strike have constantly given approval of our achievement in the 2011 doctors’ strike both then and now.

Also coming out of the 2011 strike is a document called ‘The Musyimi task force report.’ To date this remains the most comprehensive document on reorganization of healthcare delivery in Kenya. Mr Nyakundi I challenge you to read the Musyimi report, synthesize it and share it with your governor back home for local implementation. That will be of greater use to the mwananchi than your hawking of lies in the name of blogging.

As for the bribery allegations made in the same article, they sound like the incantations of a charlatan who having failed to give his audience substance gives them glorified rubbish. What is supposed to be the central theme of the article becomes a one liner concealed as ‘a theory that gained currency amongst the medical fraternity was that bribes exchanged hands.’ That’s underwhelming to say the least. The statement reeks of dishonesty and paints your blogging work as propaganda and yourself as a character assassin. Beyond that point a lawyer comes in handy and a court of law becomes a necessity.

The article sinks further into personality attacks even to the point of name calling. An article that without basis refers to an individual as a clown belongs to the dustbin. In this regard, and to prove you wrong, I invite you to a ‘who’s the clown now’ challenge where we can debate this matter.

The constitution gives all of us the freedom to belong to any movement and party. Workers’ unions influencing political activities is an old phenomenon and it is not even unique to Kenya. In South Africa the tripartite agreement signed between the ANC, SACP and COSATU in the 1980s remains in force today. Tom Mboya believed that trade unions should produce leaders and they did. Out of the Kenyan labour movement came the likes of Bildad Kaggia and Fred Kubai. During the 2013 general elections the late George Muchai was elected member of the national assembly while serving as the secretary general of COTU.

At this point in the history of Kenya, our workers must exercise the freedom to belong to a worker friendly party which will improve their wages hence their standard of living.

Bwana Nyakundi , kindly note that I have defended you many times when you are in custody. I am still willing to defend you on condition that the next time you sit down to pen your next propaganda article, do thorough research, don’t plagiarize the work of others and avoid making wild allegations against fellow citizens.

DR CHITAYI MURABULA.

FORMER SECRETARY GENERAL , KMPDU.

MEMBER , THIRDWAY ALLIANCE KENYA.

Twitter @Dr_chitayi

THE EXPECTED STATEMENT ON BURUNDI THAT THE EAC FAILED TO DELIVER

We , the East African Community heads of states,

DEEPLY CONCERNED by a recent upsurge of violence in the republic of Burundi,

FULLY AWARE of the democratic aspirations of the East African people of Burundi,

CONSCIENTIOUS of the role of the EAC as the face of African leadership in the Burundi crisis,

SUPPORTIVE of the revived spirit of finding African solutions to African problems as a means of discouraging imperialist tendencies,

REITERATING our commitment to the principle of freedom, democracy & self determination as necessary components of human rights and human dignity,

REAFFIRMING our unequivocal condemnation of use of live ammunition against unarmed protesters,

RECALLING the spirit of the Arusha accord and the Burundi constitution,

KEEN to avert war and needless human suffering in the republic of Burundi and any of our EAC members states,

RESPECTFUL of the effort exerted by the foremost African patriarchs ; the late president Nelson Mandela and the late president mwalimu Julius Nyerere in the Burundi peace process,

ACTING under the aegis of the EAC yet within the scope of human solidarity and pan-africanism,

RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS,
1. That H.E PIERRE NKURUNZINZA will step down as president of the republic of Burundi at the end of his current presidential term and will be granted unconditional amnesty against recent or past wrongdoings.

2. That the Burundi general elections previously scheduled for June 2015 be post-poned for a period not exceeding 3 months to allow a complete return to normalcy.
3. That all political prisoners detained as a result of the recent protests in Burundi be granted unconditional release from jail.
4. That the East African community working with the African Union and the UN is prepared to mobilise a peace-keeping force in Burundi if the lives of citizens are threatened.
5. That we stand united against any party within or without Burundi that works to stoke ethnic tensions and divisions as a means to accessing power.
6. That we are committed to providing technical and financial support to ensure a transparent election in Burundi and a peaceful transition thereafter.
7. That through this conflict in Burundi , we wish to demonstrate that our priority as EAC leaders is to protect the welfare of our people as a central pillar of the envisaged EAC political federation.

LABOUR DAY 2015: THE CLASS STRUGGLE IN CAPITALIST KENYA

Labour day presents workers an opportunity to reflect and rededicate themselves to the struggle for better wages and humane conditions that must include working hours that allow them time to rest and recuperate.

It is therefore clearly a day for workers to be bold about the timeless values of human equality, human dignity and human solidarity in a world that depends on the denial of all the three in order to maximize profits.

On May 1^st 1995, the beloved founding president of Tanzania and African patriarch mwalimu Julius Nyerere boldly articulated the social imperative of worker solidarity when he stated , ‘Umoja na mshikamano ndio silaha ya kupamabana na dhuluma ya unyonyaji’ (Solidarity is the best weapon to fight the scourge of exploitation).

Mwalimu Nyerere probably the greatest champion of social justice that the world has ever known had earlier as president long discarded the temptation of building a system  in which a few rich men pull the ropes around the necks of millions of economic slaves when he stated, ‘Some countries believed they could develop by having a middle class and they measured progress by the number of people in the middle class. We must be a nation of equals’

Today most people have given in to the idea of capitalism; a system whereby the means of production are controlled by individuals motivated by profits superficially but greed and selfishness at the basic level. Therefore phrases like ‘greed is good’ have come to characterize the workings of multinational corporations a good number of them with foundations in a willfully forgotten past of violence, exploitation , deceit and slavery

In a world that reveres wealth at first sight , the likes of Nyerere would come across as a little utopian if not outright mad. However he would not be alone , he would be joined by billions of workers and peasants across the world. These billions being the true producers of wealth but who are condemned to a state no better than a machine. They cannot afford the products they make or services they provide.

Worker solidarity is therefore important because in a capitalist paradise the worker should be paid nothing for his labour. This is partly the reason why governments fix a minimum wage in a feeble attempt to protect the poorest of the poor from the forces of greed.

In a critique of socialism entitled ‘why socialism failed’, Mark J. Perry, professor of economics and finance in the school of management at the university of Michigan states, ‘By failing to emphasize incentives, socialism is a theory inconsistent with human nature and is therefore doomed to fail. ‘

It is rather obvious that human nature as stated in this article does not have anything to do with the biblical niceties of being a brothers keeper. This has everything to do with the Darwinian principle of the survival for the fittest. The script is simple, accumulate colossal amounts of wealth and let it flow through the generations that fall under your lineage. This then guarantees the best chance of survival of ones genes.

However the world has seen increasing opponents to this type of primitive accumulation of material wealth. The opponents have not always come from the lumpenproletariat but often times from both the bourgeoisie and the aristocracy. President Tedd Roosevelt while addressing  a youthful audience was clear about his position on wealth. He said .’ It is a bad thing for a nation to raise and to admire a false standard of success; and their can be no falser standard than that set by the deification of material well-being in and for itself’

Today many Kenyans from the different socio-economic classes can readily identify with the statement of Roosevelt and concede that the deification of wealth by the Kenyan masses and its theatrical display by some of its holders has come to symbolize the greatest evil of our time.

Today Kenya faces a moral imperative to take deliberate steps that will grant affirmative action to millions languishing in poverty. This must include giving children from poor backgrounds access to education and creating affirmative action that grants the necessary preferential access to employment to descendents of the exploited workers and peasants. Its on this basis that the recent decision by president Uhuru Kenyatta to dish out the lions share of government parastatal jobs to the old Kenyan aristocracy was criticised by both friend and foe.

In the interest of longterm peace and stability, developing nations must avoid the reckless mistake of leaving behind what A lex La Guma in the short story, ‘out of darkness’ refers to as ‘the wreckage’.

While we often hear about the increasing gap between the elite and the masses what is often deliberately swept under the rug of hypocrisy  is the growing suspicion of the worker and peasant towards the master of our capitalist system.

A time is coming when the masses must look their rich masters in the eye and declare that ‘If you do not make an arrangement to share your wealth , we shall make one to share our poverty’

Have a conscious day.

ONE ANSWER AT A TIME : THE QUESTION OF RELIGION.

In the wake of the Garissa university attack, Kenyans are feeling helpless, irritable and many are unable to sleep or enjoy a meal. We are undeniably  facing a state of anxiety and depression on a large scale.

The whole nation feels wounded and angry. Yet even in this state we can hardly comprehend the state of anguish of the families that lost their dear ones. We say our condolences even as we acknowledge that you are inconsolable.

This attack has left us with many questions.

The reality however is that no single group or person has all the correct answers to the questions arising out of terrorism especially when it is presented to us dressed in the colours of a religion. However we need to begin proposing solutions and even originating initiatives that will deny the al shabaab human and financial resources.

One such initiative is a genuine dialogue on our religious texts and doctrines. What is the role of religious leadership in giving guidance to aspects of religion whose strict and literal interpretation may cause harm to individuals and society?

#LITERAL-INTERPRETATION

The founding figure of the Christian faith is Jesus Christ who is also mentioned in the muslim book of faith as prophet issa whose revelation is referred to as Injil. It is written in the gospels that he fasted for forty days without water or food. Now from a purely medical point of view I would strongly advice anybody against going for that long without a meal. Only the extreme Christian (barring the possibility of a mental condition) would set himself a goal of fasting for forty days without food or drink.

Religious leaders in Kenya need to educate their followers that in most cases we belong to our religions on account of birth. If your parents are muslims, 98% chance is that you end up a muslim. If they are catholic another 98% probability that you will be catholic.

#YOURFAITH-VS-MYFAITH

It is therefore important to appreciate that whatever religions we belong to may be a result of both circumstance of birth and  ignorance of other religions. As a young Christian boy I was always curious about religion. I started off believing that the small church in my village was the only way to a life after death and that anybody who did not join in to practice my faith was doomed including some friends with whom I often played soccer the whole day.

The minds of the young are malleable but once certain spiritual doctrines are learnt, they may last a lifetime even if the individual becomes a professor later on.

I was lucky to have interacted with islam very early in my life hence it was not very long until I began thinking beyond my small church. I was generally perturbed by a prayerful culture that had its differences from Christianity but pleasantly surprised by the similarities between the christian patriarchs/ prophets and their muslim equivalents. Jesus was Issa, John- Yahya, Abraham – Ibrahim, Joseph – Yusuf, Mary – Mariam, moses-musa , Solomon – Sulaiman etc.

This early interaction with a different religion inculcated in me a sense of acceptance and tolerance. I could not understand why we had different practices but had to content with the reality that the religious universe had many solar systems and the possibility of life outside my earth undeniable.

A few years later I came across a certain secular song that seemed to provide some answers to my spiritual questions. The powerful analogy presented therein even though it might not gain entry into mainstream theology,  can serve as a good introduction to a world of diverse religions.I am happy to share with you the first stanza of the song, ‘God is One’ by Alpha Blondy.

“Some call him Allah,

Some call him Adonai

Some call him Jehovah

Jesus, Hiave, Buddha, Krishna

But he is one, yes He’s one

Like a tree with many branches

Many in one.”

#DIALOGUE-AMONG-RELIGIONS

At this difficult time,  KENYA must begin a conversation geared towards creating harmony between the religions. Right from the village level to the national.  A genuine debate involving Christian and muslim top scholars who understand both the Bible and the Quran must be given space in mainstream media to debate and answer tough questions. These debates are happening elsewhere in the world.

In November 2010, a crowd of 2700 packed an auditorium to listen to a debate between  Tony Blair ( a former PM and catholic) and Christopher Hitchens(author, journalist and antitheist). The topic of discussion then which could mean controversy if imported to Kenya today was ‘ Is Religion a force for good or evil?’

If there are any sections of the religious texts (Christian or islam) that seem to glorify death or violence or hatred, the scholars must find the correct theological interpretation that will guarantee a peaceful co-existence.

We have prominent national Islamic organisations and their Christian counterparts.They need to hold dialogue and send out joint newsletters (on a weekly basis) to all the believers under their respective umbrellas.

The elders must emphasise to their believers that Kenya is a secular state with religious freedom. You are free to worship whoever you want, whenever and wherever. Only that in the process of that worship do not insult your neighbor, harm her or yourself.

#PEACE-THROUGH-KNOWLEDGE

The Kenyan government seems to have a lot on its plate. However the ministry of education should seriously consider scraping off the teaching of specific religious studies in schools and replacing it with a new subject – World Religions and Ethics (WRE).This will mean that in as much as a child learns about the parents religion at home, their minds are opened up to the existence of other belief systems that deserve to be tolerated.

Adult Kenyans who are past school age have no excuse for remaining within the confines of their religions with regard to general knowledge. It would be  pleasant  to see persons of different religions exchange their religious books. If indeed one is grounded in their own faith they should have no fear of acquainting themselves with the faith of their neighbor.

Lastly I wish to quote from an ancient writing which I believe has as much significance today as it had thousands of years then,

‘”Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm. Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.

P/S – Dedicated to the fallen comrades of the #GarissaAttack.

H.E THE FIRST LADY HANGS ON THE CROSS.

Today all African eyes are tuned to a west African court where a former first lady, Simone Gbagbo has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for her role in the 2010/2011 Ivory coast post-election violence.

It is well remembered that following the Ivory coast general election of October and November 2010, the nation was plunged into a political crisis when the Independent Electoral commission declared the opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara winner. The incumbent president, Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power.

At least 3,000 innocent lives were lost as the two candidates took separate oaths of office.

Today the continent keenly watches as a former first lady who wielded great power and enjoyed infinite privileges face her ultimate coup de grace; changing stations from the presidential palace only 5 years ago into incarceration.

Merely as an individual, Simone Gbagbo’s fate is of little consequence to Ivory coast and Africa. However the wrongs which her sentence seeks to correct cannot be left to suffer a similar fate because the curse of election-related  violence continues to plague our continent.

In Kenya we celebrated democracy in 2002 . Our election was hailed across the world as a victory for democracy and a harbinger of the African renaissance. Five years later in 2007, we suffered one of the worst cases of election related violence that stirred the world from Vatican to Washington to Johannesberg to Accra into action.

Was Kenya too complacent after 2002 that we believed greed for power had ceased eternally?

One and a half years before our election, President Thabo Mbeki while delivering the 4^th Nelson Mandela annual lecture had been near prophetic in his warning. He said , “We should never allow ourselves the dangerous luxury of complacency, believing that we are immune to the conflicts that we see and have seen in so many parts of the world”

Africans just like all humans, yearn for peace alongside democracy and economic progress. We need to be sure that by 2050, Nairobi will not be lying in ruins with our children living as refugees in foreign lands. However standing menacingly between Africa and her bright future is a 50 year old pathological lust for power characteristic of African leaders and not uncommonly members of their families.

The sentence of Simone Gbagbo is therefore a small step in the right direction.

WHEN THE PROGRESSIVES STEPPED OUT OF SAFETY.

Saturday the 21^st February 2015 was a proud day for Kenya when her sons and daughters assembled at Chester house to talk about the well-being of her soul.

Those who came were ordinary Kenyans of all ages drawn from all segments of society and regions.  They were gathered out of the growing realization that the welfare of Kenya should concern all Kenyans.

It is out of this patriotic sense of duty immanent in a majority of Kenyans that the social media has grown as an avenue for sharing information.  It is also a platform for constructive criticism in the hope that the birds would carry these millions of opinions posted daily from  the facebook posts and tweets to the men and women entrusted with the leadership of the nation at the various levels.

Many Kenyans would agree that many of the progressive  ideas generated on social media often end up wasted. They fall casualties to time, boredom and amnesia. It therefore means that the discussion must be taken out of social media onto the streets, churches, mosques, schools, hospitals, universities, slums, villages, banking halls and offices.

Those who stepped out of safety  to attend the assembly of progressive voices this Saturday did so knowing that Kenya has millions of silent progressives.  Millions who believe that tribe has no role in the future of Kenya.  Millions who wish that values could replace wealth as a measure of leadership. Millions who want to see the trillions of tax shillings that trouble our ears and brains every budget day translate into services.

The majority of these millions of Kenyans have no interest in joining elective politics but a strong interest in seeing the correct leadership in place. Many hope for a day when election  day will be a challenge not because there is no ideal choice on the ballot but because all the choices are ideal. The latter is obviously a better challenge.

The call for Kenyans to GO BEYOND TWITTER has a spirit that is bigger than its letters.  It is the spirit that is vividly and dramatically captured in the Se tswana concept of ‘botho’ expressed as ‘motho ke motho ka batho’ (I am because you are). It is the spirit that drives one to develop a deep sense of another persons humanity.

It is the  spirit behind the Swahili concept of uungwana whose anti-thesis is ushenzi.  It inspires us to unconsciously exercise the golden rule – doing to others what you would wish done to you.

This is the new foundation for Kenya that the forum GO BEYOND TWITTER was brave enough to lay the first stone this past Saturday.

Laying  this foundation stone is only the first step in the reconstruction of the Kenyan soul. It could be another 100 years and several generations until such a Kenya that we dream about is created. It could also happen in our own generation. It depends on you and me. The balance between our interest and indifference will make all the difference.

#GoBeyondTwitter

Tomorrow the 21st February 2015, an assembly of kenyans drawn from all walks of life will converge at Chester house.

The kenyans will include young professionals, trade unionists, civil society, private sector , university students and opinion leaders from all sectors of society. Simply it will be an open conference of patriotic minds.

It is an assembly of Kenyans who believe that through their effort backed by like minded citizens, we can propel the nation towards that bright horizon where tribe is not the central pillar of the Nation.

The assembly of progressive voices will dare to question our national priorities and national values. It will question the growing cult of wealth as the sole determinant of our humanity and it’s accumulation the second most important determinant of leadership after tribe.

The assembly shall boldly explore the possibility that our generation can mould the nation in the image of our dreams – dreams that are so often expressed on social media but which in the absence of a platform must be deferred hence falling victim to the possibilities contemplated by Langston Hughes in the poem ‘a dream deferred’.

This is a forum for every kenyan who has come close to giving up and grudgingly has had to conform to the status quo because doing otherwise sometimes looks as daunting as the 5th labour that confronted Hercules when he had to clean the stables of king Augean that had not been cleaned for 30 years.

It is a summit of kenyans who believe that in the absence of citizen effort to pull kenya away from the brink is to risk a second coming of strife as witnessed in 2008.

It is a forum for those who are ready to start a difficult conversation. A conversation that will put to trial the conscience of a nation and serve as the defence of our generation before the tribunal of history.

You can be part of this exciting endeavour because you are invited.

If you want to be counted as one who is in the arena as opposed to a mere critic, Chester house is the place to be on 21st February 2015 at 2.00pm. #GoBeyondTwitter

LETS FACE IT, MUGABE IS NO HERO.

In the Sunday Nation newspaper of 8/02/2015 (yesterday), renown columnist Mutiga Murithi penned a controversial article on the legacy of president Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

On reading the title of his article,  ‘Mugabe is a hero to many…’ I had every reason to think that Mutiga was simply playing satire but I was rudely proved wrong soon enough.

As I read further, It became apparent that the writer was either on a mission to save Mugabe’s shattered legacy or was simply playing the devil’s advocate to stimulate debate for the sake of debate. I pray he intended the latter because the repercussions of the former are too grave to fathom.

When discussing Mugabe, we find ourselves facing the temptation to give him a small benefit of doubt based on two circumstances. The first dividend derives from his role in Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle for which he was imprisoned for 11 years.

Robert Mugabe fought a long liberation struggle against an oppressive white minority regime led by imperialist Ian Smith. For this struggle he earned a place at the high table of African greats such as Nelson Mandela, Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyatta, Patrice Lumumba and many other founding fathers.

The question at hand is whether Mugabe should still maintain his position at this high table or whether his glaring failures in leading  Zimbabwe disqualify him from sitting on the august  council of Africa’s venerable patriarchs.

The second reason for cutting Mugabe some slack is his consistency in churning out venomous anti-western rhetoric. When you watch the videos of Mugabe at the UN general assembly one is often tempted to applaud him for the guts ‘to stand up to the west’. Truth be told when Mugabe criticizes the composition of the UN security council , you can hardly fault him for it.

Is Mugabe’s criticism based on a genuine love for Africa and Zimbabwe? should Africa hail Robert Mugabe as a great pan-africanist who had the courage to repossess stolen land from white Zimbabweans? Should we band around Mugabe in  telling off the western media and its machinery for carrying on with sustained propaganda to bring down a great African? Are all the woes facing Zimbabwe a result of western sanctions? Is Mugabe the natural heir to the throne of Nelson Mandela?

Well the answers  lie in what you find in a careful dissection of the style of Mugabe’s leadership since the independence of Zimbabwe.

The first and most important part of Mugabe’s troubled legacy is that he has presided over Zimbabwe for the past 35 donkey years. This implies that he has been living  in statehouse for longer than most of us have lived on earth. This  further means that a young man of my age living in Zimbabwe has only known one president, the founding father.

During the period of Mugabe’s presidency;  Kenya has had 3 different presidents, the US  has had five presidents while Britain has had 5 prime ministers and south Africa has had 5 different presidents, four of them post-independence.

Well someone will ask, what is the big deal? He is voted by the people of Zimbabwe. What business do we have interfering with the internal affairs of a sovereign nation?

The response is easy. Even a casual glance at the history of Zimbabwe reveals that Mugabe has run one of the most undemocratic, repressive regimes known to mankind.

Soon after Independence, Mugabe went on a mission to ruthlessly crush his opponents using the most barbaric means imaginable.

The Mugabe regime employed state apparatus and mercenaries to instill terror in the opposition stronghold of matebeleland through a campaign that was christened ‘GUKURAHUNDI’ (the sweeping away of rubbish). Farms were destroyed and a food embargo slapped on the opposition regions that led to deaths of tens of thousands from systematic starvation. This inhumane policy from the 80s was repeated in the 2000s when the government stopped food  from reaching MDC supporters. The then catholic archbishop of Bulawayo hit out at the Mugabe regime accusing it of sacrificing peoples lives for the sake of political power.

This authoritarian style in the 1980s silenced  ZAPU and its leader Joshua Nkomo .A repeat of similar tactics in the 2000s disabled the Movement for Democratic Change – MDC and its leader Morgan TSVANGIRAI. This has paved the way for a one party state (official or de facto) in which Mugabe is Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe is Mugabe – the King, the judge and the law.

The political philosophy of Mugabe in Zimbabwe has been very  clear; Anybody who does not support ZANU-PF is not just a political enemy but an animal that does not deserve to live. After the 1985 election, Mugabe said of those who had not voted for his party, ‘We will kill those snakes among us, we will smash them completely’.

Intolerance and violence in Zimbabwe follows the same script and often reaches a zenith during elections. It is doubtful whether Zimbabweans have ever had a single democratic election since their independence election back in 1979.

Although Mugabe was thought of as a socialist, his rule has exposed a fascist with a natural contempt for the poor whose poverty has been exacerbated by his rule. Following the 2005 parliamentary elections, the government of Mugabe launched another operation dubbed ‘MURAMBATSVINA’ in which armed police and youth militia were mobilized to evict the inhabitants of Harares slums and raze their homes. This operation also targeted hawkers and flower vendors in Harares CBD. A United Nations investigation established that more than 700,000 mostly poor Zimbabweans lost their homes and 32,000 mostly small businesses were destroyed. The crime of these poor souls being that they had voted for the opposition in the 2005 election.

You cannot talk of a democratic election in an environment in which opposition supporters are rounded up, whipped and even killed. How can any political party campaign against a president who has changed the law to make it impossible to criticize? How can it be a free election when the president changes an election from a celebration of democracy into a war with real casualties? . How are the people supposed to cast votes freely when the army commanders declare that they will not recognize any other victory apart from  a win by the sitting president?

Ahead of the 2008 general election in Zimbabwe, the main opposition party could not even hold a political rally and any attempt to do so was met with state sanctioned police brutality. Robert Mugabe’s main opponent was physically assaulted in a shameful show of impunity. Mugabe himself admitted that he had instructed the police to beat tsvangirai a lot. There was so much violence in this election that the opposition leader withdrew his candidature from the second round even after he had led in the first round. Many observers support the claim by the MDC that Morgan Tsvangirai won the first round of the Zimbabwe presidential election in 2008 but the electoral commission fixed the result at 47.5% for Morgan and 43% for Mugabe to force a re-run.

Our respect for Robert Mugabe should be limited to his age and his role in the struggle for independence in Zimbabwe. However , it is too late in the day to save his legacy.

The true spirit of pan-africanism must be accurate on the values espoused by the majority of africans. It must acknowledge that there is no substitute for a democratic Africa. Our continent has so many great leaders that we should not appear as though we are desperate for role models.

The final script of the Mugabe legacy will undoubtedly be written by the people of Zimbabwe. However it is clear to us that Robert Mugabe failed to create a democratic, economically prosperous nation out of Zimbabwe.