Political insobriety in Kenya

The world is full of paradox. One man’s meat is another man’s poison. Life is full of perplexing situation. Within a twinkle of an eye you can come from being a blue-eyed boy of the establishment to become an anathema in the same establishment. This is all in the name of politics. Politics we are told is a dirty game, yet it permeates every sphere of our lives.  Politics, according to Wikipedia comes from the Greek word, (pronounced as politikos), meaning "of, for, or relating to citizens". It is the “process of making uniform decisions applying to all members of a group. It also involves the use of power by one person to affect the behavior of another person. More narrowly, it refers to achieving and exercising positions of governance— organized control over a human community, particularly a state.  Furthermore, politics is the study or practice of the distribution of power and resources within a given community (a usually hierarchically organized population) as well as the interrelationship(s) between communities”.

Uniform here means swimming in the same direction. It is identical, unvarying and constant thought, actions, decisions and movement. In some places it is collective responsibility as agreed in a group or team. This kind of decision-making process is again controlled by the use of power owned by one person to influence and affect the behavior of other people. This brings me to the question: who has the sole untamed power to speak on behalf of the majority?

In one of the dailies appearing on June 28th 2016, a Nominated Senator, received a lot of barbs for speaking out his mind. It did not help him that as a Senator, he was also a leader who is involved in decisions that are going to affect the lives of many people. The Senator is a well leaned person and experienced in life and so I assume that he is well endowed with a special commodity called wisdom. Leaders of his political party descended on him with “kicks” and “blows” venting their anger, spitting poisonous venom and baying for his blood for speaking his mind out. “Who sent him to speak on our behalf?” posed one MCA.

The poor old Senator now has become a “wanted man”. I believe that before he expressed his opinion and read the statement to the press concerning what many people have strategically postponed saying, the Senator must have sought his heart thoroughly and also done his research carefully by gathering data and analyzing it with a telescopic lenses. You don’t just wake up and make such an earthquake type of a statement without doing your homework and have bullet-proof vest. Truth did he speak, and truth is an alien in many people’s ears.

My questions are: For how long shall we be slaves of other people’s mindset, power and governance? Why did we go to school if we cannot be allowed to speak out our mind and give our opinion to the society without fearing the powers that be? Does it mean that we will continue living in fear as our intellectual ability is terrorized by people in power even when we speak the truth? Interestingly, this is not happening in government alone.

It is a culture that has been adopted fascinatingly and passionately by other sectors including the Churches and related organizations, Parastatals, Non-Governmental Organizations and to some extent Corporate World. The religious organizations are supposed to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth yet here is where captivity of the mind is even worse than any other institution.

 This is done in the name of allegiance, faith and God. Yes, I am not in a position to speak on behalf of my family (I am the last born in a family of nine children), my community (because I am not their leader), my organization (since I am not in authority) or my country (since I am just a ‘mwananchi’ not ‘mwenye nchi’). But I have a right to speak my mind on my own behalf, not on behalf of anybody, as long as I am guided by objectivity, rationale, patriotism and love, without being either malicious or inciting.

I want to categorically say that the said Senator was quite objective in his remarks and time will vindicate him. Remember the Senator was echoing what one of the Governors said three weeks ago. Many people would like to say the same, but it is only that time is not ripe for them because as the Man of God in his wisdom in the Good Book advices, “There is time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heaven….” (Ecclesiastes 3: 1-8). Soon and very soon, the reality will dawn on some leaders that nothing comes in a silver platter.

Our national anthem commands us that we may dwell in unity, peace and liberty. Yes, we need to be liberated from the slavery of not being able to talk when we can reasonably be able just because some people don’t want us to speak the truth. They are keen on hearing no evil, seeing no evil and speaking no evil because they feel they are the epitome of authority and that they have panted knowledge that others are not allowed having.