As I take a bow, let me share my prayers hopes and dreams for Kenya

By Kamotho Waiganjo

Arising from my appointment to serve in the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution, it is prudent that I take leave from this column for a while. Let me start by thanking the many readers who have over time reacted to the views expressed in the column, even where they violently disagreed with its content. You are true patriots, willing to spend precious moments to share your thoughts on key national concerns. You made writing this column worthwhile.

As I pen off, let me share my prayers hopes and dreams for Kenya for the future. I pray that the new Constitution will be implemented fully both in letter and spirit. This is the best memorial we can construct in honour of the many Kenyans who lost their lives, limb and livelihoods in the search for a new Kenya. My hope is that the political drama that is being played out in the anti-corruption war and in the ICC related issues would not impede the process of implementation.

I pray that the next General Election will produce a leadership, particularly at the county level, fully committed to the letter and spirit of Chapter Six of the new constitution. I dream of a Kenya where leaders who have a record of disservice to the country in the past would not hoodwink the Kenyan citizenry through ethnic mobilisation and/or voter purchase into returning to public office. In their place I pray for a new leadership not defined purely by its youthfulness but by integrity and a record of consistent commitment to the public good.

I dream that by the end of 2011, the IDP issue will be remembered solely as a historical accident, permanently archived. I dream that the Government will invest its mind and might in ensuring that no citizen ever again lives in polythene hovels whether in IDP camps or other informal settlements. I dream of a day when the right to food, water and shelter guaranteed by the Constitution would be a reality for all.

I pray that this year would be the last time we mourn the disheartening performance of the children of the poor in the public education system. The grieving over the sentence to eternal poverty that this system now imposes on those who cannot afford private schooling must end. I pray that this season would be the children of the poor’s year of jubilee.

I pray for an end to impunity. That Kenya would cease to enforce a justice for the poor and a justice for the powerful and privileged.

I pray for a middle class that is not content to just mourn about Kenya but is willing to dirty its hands in finding and effecting solutions to the problems that ail Kenya with the same vigour that it invests in its private undertakings.

I pray for continued renewal of the Church. A church equally committed to the salvation of souls and the fight for a just and righteous Kenya. I commit to play my part to make these dreams a reality. Will you?