POWER
Power. This is a topic I shall never tire in discussing as long as the government exists.
Don’t get me wrong, I believe that a good effective government is one of the best means
of administration for any country, developing and developed alike.
This is because a government, in concept, is supposed to engender civility, unity
and progress in the hearts it administrates. Leaders are supposed to help personify what a
government stands for- justice, unity and equality. But sadly, this is not the case in
Kenya.
Our leaders are a far-cry from what they are supposed to be, essentially the
antithesis of what they stand for. Some are intent on driving wedges between
communities and creating rifts within the nation, others blatantly disregarding the rule of
law, with almost all of them hell-bent on carving out vast riches from the public pocket;
thus elevating themselves to heights few among their constituents are familiar with.
Our police force is no better. The media has graced the nation with the heart-
rending tales of unspeakable horrors of police brutality. Of the often unorthodox and
inefficient methods used to curb gangs and sects. How are we, the people, supposed to
maintain order and keep the law, when the very persons entrusted with these duties do not
follow them?
They do not seem to recognize and value the sanctity of life when they go
carrying out executions based on unfounded allegations. Can’t they adopt more humane
methods of investigation?
No Kenyan citizen is alien to idiotic leadership, with politicians driving some to
their very edges of insanity.
I may not have been directly affected by the 2007 post-poll violence that saw our
country at the brink of civil war; violence that threatened to rip apart the nation at is
seams, and the terror that gripped the hearts of the people because of the egotistic power
plays and idiocy of our leaders.
But I am citizen of our great nations and one of the people; so what may have not
bruised my body, hammered my conscience and severely dented my faith in my country’s
future.
So much blood was shed, so much was lost and so much was unnecessarily put at
risk. But all that wanton bloodshed and devastation will be for naught if we, as people
united and whole, decide not to help rebuild our future.
The recent referendum was a turning point in Kenya’s history, a pivot on which
our futures lay upon. We decided not to reopen old wounds and reignite old feuds and
conflicts. We successfully tipped the balance in our favour and because of this; new
vistas are springing up before our eyes. Our future looks infinitely brighter.
Someone once said that, “It is in the darkness that lurks all the great fears that
afflict all mankind. Uncertainty of the future, discord of the heart. Disunity.” And it
seems that we have stepped out of the darkness , refused to permit ourselves to relapse
into anarchy, disunity and distrust of our past.
Though these feelings still exist, festering deep within the hearts of some, on
August 4th and August 27th, we chose to lay aside those differences. And for this, history
will not mock us for our idiocy; but laud us for our unity and desire for peace.
The road to a new Kenya will not be smooth, the journey will not be easy; but
then again, nothing worthwhile is easily gotten. We will have to cross many hurdles, fight
through many obstacles, but in the end we will bet what we truly deserve in this life. As
long as we stay united, we will persevere and we shall emerge victorious.
We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Period.
We are being given a chance to get ourselves better leaders if those currently I
power do not deserve to wear then mantle of power. We are being given a chance to elect
into power persons who understand that the pillars upon which effective leadership are
founded at are: Discipline, character, accountability, consultancy, fairness, respect, and
ability to serve and resolve to do whatever it takes to help your people.
Those who are handed over the helm of leadership should, as I do, believe with
solid, indestructible certainty that peace lies in the strength of law and justice, not
revenge.
We should realize that in our hands lies the power to elect into office our savious
and our dictators.
I may be young, and I may be naïve and inexperienced, but I have a voice, and my
message is thought-provoking. We, as a people, are a bet lily, slowly coming back to life
again. We may have stumbled and fell in the past, but we shall rise again.
The best place to rebuild yourself is upon the ashes of your former self. The ash
shall forever serve as a constant reminder of the mistakes that led to where you are now.
And most importantly, they motivate us to build a better future for ourselves and for the
ones we love.
We, as a nation, though divided into so many ethnicities, are one. Totally Kenyan,
unified in more ways than blood and culture. We are one. And like a phoenix, we shall
rise again from the ashes, grander and more powerful than ever before!
Joseph Njenga.