Is Kenya heading towards a genocide in 2017?

When you call for rain, have mud in mind too, but for Kenya we better prepare for flood. I mean Noah’s flood. But with little certainty for an Ark. My people are fully divided into political camps. Tongues spitting fire on both sides.  Names perfectly matching opinions because tribalism is a recipe for the political dish in this country. But remember, that which we are calling for might finally come and when it comes we’ll wish we didn’t.

Well I’m not trying to be the Mr ‘I –know-it-all’ so before you get pissed and stop reading my piece, kindly give me a second more of your time to tell you this: Somalia was a country before 1991 and so was Syria before March 2011 but now bullets and grenades are part of their daily weather forecasts. You think we are exceptions? It’s a very short walk to genocide. Rwanda dared it and it came. Our differences can’t be deeper than those led to the construction of the Berlin wall (to separate East Germany from West), so I bet we can rethink of how to solve them without blowing the war trumpets.

I know I’m making very little sense to you because Kenya is a virgin country. Yes, a virgin of war. A country I grew up in thinking that military is a ‘free-salary’ profession. But now we daring war and it might just come.

Back to the Rwandan genocide! It never started on the battle fields. The Hutu-Tutsi hate ideas were born and bred in the minds of the people long before those fateful 100 days that saw millions of the Tutsi heads chopped.  If truly clouds are the signs of rain, then I bet we’ve seen more than enough clouds to doubt the rain. Check social media. Group Kenya, on Facebook is filthy. Drums of war are being played openly. Tribal hate is at its peak. ‘Dehumaning’ hate. A kind of hate that sees a Kikuyu view a bullet aimed at a Luo as a salary increase (and vice versa). Signs that we are no longer human. For the doubting Thomases, have a look at this:

Wait, did I ever tell you that you are a fool? Yes! You are a fool. I mean we’re fools. We all thought the British were bad but what are we now? Worse.  

I repeat, it’s a very short walk to genocide. The war we’re calling for will finally come. The Syrians, Somalis, Rwandese, Libyans, Egyptians and Tunisians understand that statement better than you do because they once tried what you are trying today and saw the result.

Ben Ngatia just died. Do you think it’s painful? I think it’s most painful because he was allegedly killed by the police. Kenyan Police, paid through our taxes. Do you think his family is happy? A little minute given to them will be used on revenge. Well if you don’t know Ben Ngatia then Mr. Google can help you, for I’m limited by both time and space for such explanations.

By the way, what happened to the police reforms? Why was the banned poisonous teargas used on protesters? Why was excessive force and brutality used on an already helpless Ngatia lying on the ground?  And why was that live bullet allegedly fired at Raila? Another attempted assassination? Well I don’t want to go into that. For those saying “Police did a recommendable job”, just remember Kenya is a less of a citizen courtesy of your ‘police did a recommendable job’. If that one Kenyan could have been your brother, father or son, I’m sure the tune of the song could have changed. But luckily he wasn’t so you think they could have killed 10 more.

Our ‘dragon’ politicians spit venom declaring war against the ‘other tribe’ and all we do is celebrate them because they come from our side of the political divide? I’m tempted to mention their exact statements on this but I just remembered that I don’t own an armored vehicle.

War is never a cup of tea fellow Kenyans. To feel the weight of my words, read about the HIGHWAY OF DEATH. See what befell the Iraqi soldiers. Just like them, we are having unquestioned loyalty to the authorities. I’m not telling you to stop the loyalty because I know you already have a 1000 reasons to your defence but remember, when you’ll be in a refugee camp in Guinea, your politician’s son will be at the University of Liverpool.

Mark you, we already have a willing party for the war. The enemy next door.  The Al Shabaab. Just a day of national unrest and they’ll be camped in Eastleigh. And then, we’ll witness El Adde brought home.

Wait, have you ever thought of you being in Ethiopian refugee camp, while your little brother was taken by the Canadian Humanitarians (because the refugee camps in Africa were full) and your sister ‘s whereabouts is not clear because she didn’t manage it out of that building you saw bombed? All this time, your ‘dragon’ will be with his entire family in Queensland, Australia watching La Liga and worrying if Messi will win the Ballon d'Or this season because Cristiano Ronaldo has just scored another goal before half-time.

Hello Mr. ‘2017 ni yetu’, let’s take a break from counting the unhatched chicks and be human for a second. Let’s cool the hate temperature. No difference is unresolvable. If they brought down the Berlin wall in 1989 courtesy of resolved differences, then we too can bring down our tribal walls. When war starts, it’s no going back, look at Somalia. They wish they did what I’m saying before 1991. 2017 without your firstborn son in Mangu School and your wife pregnant of your lastborn is like a 65” UHD TV to the blind. However much the TV might be bigger and clearer, it remains useless.

And by the way, did I tell you that neither CORD nor Jubilee will exist in a refugee camp in Chad? And that that guy you smashed his head on the wall in Naivasha shall have not ‘bonused’ your life? Not to forget, you will never hear of that Auntie Jane, who paid your school fees, because when war broke out EasyCoach stopped working and you couldn’t trek back to Bomet. But even if you could, do you think the UN Peacekeepers will trust you? If they fail to blow your head off for a mistaken rebel, then they’ll definitely throw you into a UN Lorry bound for Gabon refugee camp.

Less you forget, the head-scarfed guy from Kismayo will also be yearning for your blood because your army invaded their country and killed one of their own.

An opinion from a coward Kenyan who fears death: the devil we’re talking of will one day appear and when he does, there will be no more Kenya, no CORD, no Jubilee and no IEBC, just casualties and refugees.