Life and death teach us to build what truly matters beyond a fleeting world

President William Ruto signs Raila Odinga's condolence book at Parliament building. [PCS]

We often speak of a tight schedule. Well, that is, until Raila Odinga dies. Then suddenly, the schedule loosens — loosens so much that leaders from around the continent, with barely any notice, assemble in Nairobi and Bondo, as if this event had been pencilled into their diaries all along. The diary may seem tight, but something “tighter” will always come up. When it does, a whole new diary emerges.

Burying Raila Odinga was definitely not part of the broad-based plan. They had brighter ideas that did not include this dark reality. In a world that prides itself on busyness, every once in a while, nature steps in to remind us: beyond the wristwatch and the wall clock, there is another clock — one whose diary we are part of, yet cannot see. And once in a while, that hidden diary calls your name.