Oulu… dreams from a dead man

By Milly GThere are men who, in the recent past, have made me proud of our own Kenyan Morans. The first is the ever-impressive Rugby Sevens team that walloped no less than the defending champions Fiji at the World Cup. The second is the late Oulu GPO, who I have come to know in death. Oulu was one of the two Oscar Foundation officials shot dead on State House road.They say that dead men tell no tales, but a look at GPO’s Facebook wall and his blog will leave you wondering if perhaps they got the wrong person this time. "There is no single day I have not shed tears for you dear brother, your loss is too great to bear!" this note from a friend summarises the sentiments of the hundreds who have sworn to carry on with GPO’s cause. I knew of Oulu, the firebrand student leader back in the day when fellow students organised a fundraising to help him enlist in a computer college after he was suspended from campus. Oulu was fearless and bold, if a little tactless. Herein lay his strength and his Achilles heel, which his assailant must have aimed at. Tactless because he makes it no secret that he is ‘compiling a report on extra judicial killings and enforced disappearances of the youth in the hands of the police’. He then declares "I intend to present it to UN Special Rap".While other young people on Facebook flirted and yapped away, Oulu’s last update on Facebook read in part: "Oulu is annoyed and disappointed by Kibaki... We want our country back on track n we care less about your family". That was at 1.40pm on March 4, the day he was murdered.Yet another siren on his page is this update: "Oulu is in Huruma and Kayole, deep down in the slum trying to meet victims of police and state brutality. Someday, I pray that the poor will have their justice." That was at 3:18pm on February 19. Mtumishi, as he called himself, will be remembered for his inspirational words. "Oulu is present to the fact that great people must and will fall. But their ultimate measure is in their ability and willingness to wake up. Surely I will wake up," he wrote. Bad boyOulu believed he would rise from grass to grace. His were humble beginnings that he has no qualms sharing about. On oulugpo.blogspot.com, he wrote: "My humble background and first hand experience with inequalities in our society and in this world has played a pivotal role in shaping my values, believes (sic) and desire for a better life for all. I am what I am today because of God and because of the people who chose to believe in me when many declined to give me an ear"."My interest is to live for a purpose. To bring smiles in the face of this world and to live beyond self. I value my family, great friends and all those who live and think beyond themselves," Oulu summed up his purpose. It figures that one of his favourite movies is John Q, Denzel’s class act of a poor father who will do anything, including taking hostages at a hospital and paralysing it, to save his dying son’s life."I now know that I was actually created to invent, create and lead. No matter how long it takes and challenges I encounter; I know my day will come," he would tell himself later. Kick them out"Oulu is working on the Liberator Movement Concept. Time is now in which we must demand and create the Kenya we want. I am ready to take this govt head on," those were his ruminations on January 24.Oulu was known for rousing the youth into action. He was in numerous civil society organisations. "So let us have the faith and confront the truth; Kenyan political leadership is hell on earth. And it should be our duty to kick these thugs out of power," he wrote to the applause of his online friends. "A young person is someone who knows what they want and how to get it," he often said. At the turn of the year, he wrote: "Oulu is relaxed. Home alone, meditating and planning to make 2009 a year of political revolution and redemption in Kenya. Change is what we badly need." Indeed he got change, but not the kind he sought.And about himself, GPO said: "I am born to live a life full of life". Vixit, he has lived, is an epitaph fit for GPO. Through the struggles of his short life, and without the luxury of a big political seat, he has inspired us. Oulu was, if nothing else, a man of conviction.

Oulu… dreams from a dead man

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