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| Kenya is me & you! |
At the
beginning of the year, CNN or The Time Magazine, I do not recall which one really
christened this year 2012 as “The Year of Elections”. This is because 59
national elections worldwide are to be held, that is like a 3rd of
the world electing new or maintaining the status quo of their ruling class. A substantial number of
them have taken place already with the Western African state of Senegal in
turmoil over the result.
As a Kenyan,
the political arena in my beloved country borders on both the ridiculous and
maybe revolutionary. This year should be an election year but then again, it
may well not be. According to our new constitution, August should be when we go
to the polls yet many people still seem to favour elections in
December. Funny enough, the courts ruled that we may have to wait until March
next year!
Inasmuch as
we are faced with uncertainty on when we get to elect our nation’s leaders, one
thing that ought to remain clear is that we detest from the ignorant and
Neanderthal attitudes and actions that saw us butcher one another and fragment according
to ethnic lines. Much has been said and documented but it would be a shame if
as a nation we fail to learn from the past.
Growing up in
Nairobi, our cosmopolitan capital city made me see friends as they were, not
from what tribe they belonged, and we never even teased each other along the
same attribute. Hoping that a country of 40 million people exhibit such traits
may be wishful thinking but it does begin with me and you. Because that is what
Kenya is.
As I wind up
on this first part I leave you with a quote from Theodore Roosevelt, “Here is
your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources,
cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and
your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your
country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”
Have a lovely
weekend you wonderful people, I remain, Njabia the 3rd.
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