MR. President and Mr.Prime minister it is now time to unite Kenyans

I will not claim to be a perfect human being. I have my misdeeds.
As we celebrated Kenyatta day in Kenya today I had an opportunity to do some thinking. Being a public holiday I was faced with the opportunity cost of either reporting to the office and “build the nation” or idle in the house watching KBC channel 1, which is usually full of patriotic songs and Kenyan historical information .Predictably, as human being I was a little bit lazy in the morning, with the knowledge that it was after all a Kenyan public holiday and therefore ended-up spending a good chunk of time watching “Kenya as it was once was” in your leading broadcaster KBC Channel 1.

I got thinking the moment the song “woiiiiii…..woiiiiiiiii…..woii ….tunataka…… Kenyatta……. Awaachiliwe” , was played as a soundtrack to the 1978 documentary shot by the then Voice of Kenya (VOK) now Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC channel 1).They were interviewing the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta while the aforementioned song played in the background.This is what the late Mzee Jomo Kenyatta, told the interviewer when he was asked:

Interviewer: What do you think will make Kenya forge forward as an independent
African Nation?

Hayati Mzee Jomo Kenyatta: The future of Kenya depends on the pride (read
patriotism) and hard work by the Kenyan African citizen.

It is as simple as Kenyatta put it…….uzalendo na bidii. It is fascinating how political slogans have evolved ever since independence…in the days of FORD we had “Haki na Ukweli” and ten years later “Uhuru na Kazi” in 2002 followed by “Kazi iendelee” and “Mwanzo Mpya” in 2007.Bear in mind that “Uhuru na Kazi” was also used in early post independence Kenya by the late Kenyatta.As the current Kenyan Prime Minister….The Right Honourable Raila Odinga correctly put it the other day……the first presidential elections in Kenya were held in 1992….and with them came politically instigated tribal clashes.Mzee Kenyattas legacy lay not in economic development but due to his ability to keep Kenyans “United and Patriotic”. Kenyatta converted Kenya from a multiparty to a single party state, in which, arguably, made Kenyans United.Nowadays we have a riot of politicalparties.Todays political parties represent the country’s geographical regions…they are used by politicians to blackmail the state (read president) for selfish needs. To tell it as it is, Kenyan political parties represent Kenyan tribes. The notion of “It is our time to eat” has exhaustibly been discussed in other media and I will not waste my time talking about it. But I will talk about tribalism/nepotism which is the root of all these problems.The people around Mount Kenya should be reminded that the great mountain does not belong to them as a tribe,the people sorrounding the lake and the coast line should also be discouraged to think in this lines.People should be told that it is not the Government responsibility to improve their lives.The Government responsibility is to ensure a level playing ground for all Kenyans no matter what their cultural background is.You will be surprised to find a dozen PHD holders from North Eastern province.You will find many good specialist doctors from the MijiKenda community.It is about time we divorced tribe from politics.Ford Kenya should cease from being described as “a party with strong grassroots support among the Bukusu people of Western Kenya”.Narc Kenya should endeavor not to look like a “Gikuyu outfit”.

Finally, Mr. President and Mr.Primeminister don’t preach water and drink wine. We know that you have limited time but at least set a precedence in the fight against this monster known as tribalism.The vice president must also be accorded the respect that deputy vice presidents around the world enjoy.Afterall, he is the president in waiting as dictated by the current constitution that you seem reluctant to deal with.What we want is peace….unite us…..let us not degenerate to a situation (we have seen this before) where our athletes perform poorly in the world arena just because the person at the helm is not “their own”. Last but not least people who participated in the “Eldoret and Naivasha Genocides” of 2008 must face the consequences of their actions.blo

Eastlands

Oh God save me

Armageddon

The world is coming to an end