The latest development by the judiciary under chief justice Willy Mutunga to jet in the court's file on proceedings of freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi case deserves applaud. The revelations in the records have been an eye opener and assisted to impart an important leaf of history to the current generation.
59 years ago, a man bubbling with conviction and believe that his motherland deserves freedom faced the guillotine in the hallways of Kamiti. He chose to pay the ultimate price for freedom ideals. At the centre of freedom agitation and fighting was the land question and the desire for self-governance. Not even the love for his young lovely wife Mukami, his lovely and caring aging mother and a young family could hold him back.
53 years after independence, Kimathi's widow now in her sunset years, failed by body strength and eyesight is still longing to have her husband's remains to accord him a decent burial befitting a freedom hero.
This is a national shame. When the British colonizers rewarded the home guards who inflicted a bullet wound on Kimathi's body which led to his disposition and subsequent capture, the Kenyan state is yet to reward the hero by according him a befitting send off. Until today in the independent country, Kimathi still lies in prison believably handcuffed. He is yet to taste freedom.
There has been an attempt to fete Kamathi by establishing his statute at Kimathi Street in the city and naming a university after him among others. The search for his remains and state burial as well as fulfilling his aspirations and dreams will be the crowning moments for this legend.
In the brief ceremony at the Supreme Court grounds to present the file to his family, there was lack of a proper representation from the national government. Perhaps such an event ought to have been graced by the government’s topmost leadership.
Chief justice Willy Mutunga's gesture to personally oversee the event is a serious testimony to his willingness and desire to see to it that Kimathi's remains are found. However what is not very certain is if the other arms of government share in this dream. The last thing we can do is continue betraying our freedom fighter heroes.
We have continued to honour and glorify yester years’ home guards and the people who betrayed the freedom fighters. Neglect and abandonment is all that genuine freedom fighters have received from their post independent governments. Most of them wallow in poverty and live as squatters in the very land they gallantly fought for.
On the contrary, after independence the colonial masters’ stooges maneuvered their way into the new administration system and replaced the white masters. They continued to accumulate illegal wealth, accorded their off springs the best education and dominated the civil service.
The few true nationalists who cherished the independence struggle ideals such as Pinto Gama and J.M Kariuki were felled by bullets in independent Kenya. Others like Bildad Kaggia died paupers for refusing to betray independence ideals.
It is time as a nation, we fast-track the search for Kimathi's remains and build a historical mausoleum for him and other heroes. Equally important our country leadership should never forget the reason why people went to the bush to fight for independence. Graft was never one of the reasons that defined the urge for freedom and must be abhorred like plague.
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