Could the real Mashujaa step forward and save our country

Kenyans celebrate Mashujaa despite indications that the day many Kenyans looked to in past years has lost its appeal.  On this day, Kenyans congregate in stadiums and open spaces across the country to celebrate independence heroes; the people who sacrificed a lot, including giving up their lives to exonerate our motherland from oppressive colonial masters.

The scope of Mashujaa Day has since been expanded to include those who fought for the so-called Second Liberation, a new Constitution and sportsmen and women who have widened Kenya's international recognition.

Even as we celebrate today, we recognise the Kenya Defence Forces who have for the last six years been holed up in war-torn Somalia putting their lives on the line in a bid to neutralise terror threats from Al-Shabaab. By any measure, they have done a good job. The attacks from the terror group have reduced significantly and we feel secure.

But most importantly, this newspaper celebrates the many Kenyans-the true heroes- toiling day and night to make Kenya great. It is doubtful that we have lived the promise our forefathers hoped for us. A gloomy economic outlook dampens the sense of independence. Unemployment remains high with close to 50 per cent of all employable youth getting by without meaningful jobs.

The high cost of living, a depreciating shilling, a crushing public debt and mostly, a general failure in leadership is holding back this promise. The revised economic growth projections (4.7 per cent), a consequence of the ongoing political stalemate over the conduct of the repeat presidential elections is a rude awakening.

Indeed, this Mashujaa Day offers us hope and peril. The cloud of uncertainty hanging over the country in regard to the repeat presidential elections is dimming the pride and exaltation associated with a day set aside to celebrate our gallant sons and daughters.

In truth, so much is weighing heavily on Kenya. Ours is the picture of a broken country. And all of it has to do with our seemingly dysfunctional democracy and a brand of exclusivist politics where the winner takes it all.

On both sides of the political divide, there are no pacifists, only trouble-makers seemingly competing to damage our country. It is a form of politics that promotes style over substance. We call out the political class for failing Kenyans. Equally during such times, we call on selfless Kenyans to step forward and make sacrifices for their motherland.

Besides our world-beating athletes and the numerous professionals proudly flying the Kenyan flag around the globe, the dearth of homeland heroes and heroines is wanting. Have we become so partisan that we will not raise a finger when we can clearly see that the country is tottering? There is a breakdown in social order. We have seen the political class constantly undermine institutions that underpin our democracy. From the Judiciary, to the IEBC to the Fourth Estate. They have spared no one. The politicians have gotten away with so much. Someone needs to stop them.

We must ask; where are the moral voices at this hour of need? The Church appears mute where ideally, it should have stepped in to offer spiritual and moral guidance and a sense of calm and reassurance. Sadly, the clergy have not shied away from taking sides in political discourses.

For it is proving foolhardy to rest the entire destiny of Kenya in the hands of a self-righteous and self-conceited political cabal who left on their own, will destroy our country. For most of the time, a lot of them engage in self-preservation. What the country needs is a paradigm shift in dealing with emergent political and governance issues.

President Kenyatta must personally lead in nation healing. There are chasms that keep growing every day because the feeling is he listens only to those in his camp who subscribe to the exclusivist philosophy; those who believe dialogue is a sign of weakness, but they are wrong.

Kenya belongs to all of us. And therefore we should tolerate each other and learn to accommodate divergent views. Only hard work, resilience and unanimity of purpose will take us forward. In our own small ways, we can all make Kenya better. For we are the real Mashujaa.