I know its been six months,since that last letter.At least,from where i sit.I don't know what calendar you use over there,or if you use any at all.If a place is half as good as The Holy Book says it is,a calendar would be of no use to anyone.No one is awaiting their payday,having already received all their dues,no one is looking forward to that presidential pardon,because all are free and no one is waiting eagerly for that divorce hearing date,for all are married to Christ over there,the perfect one,the giver of all.So a calendar would be of no use to anyone.But down here,its what we look at every morning,because we keep hoping for a better day.There's always something we are looking forward to,and that's probably why we are never really satisfied with what we have.
When you were here,you kept making fun of 'political party hoppers',and specifically of that perennial defector from Juja,Stephen Ndichu,who back then had joined more parties in one year than all that had been formed since independence.He was never satisfied,wherever he went.Each time he lost,he would cry foul.He lived in so much denial that it almost cost him his sanity.In the end,he got so fed up,he quit politics for good and started his own church,a common trend with most political rejects,including one from my own area,who also doubled up as one of the system's most trusted assassins.I guess the name of the church must be "Church Of Christ Against Election Rigging Ministries",like Christ has anything to do with his own political failures.
Divided To The Core.
The bullets have not stopped flying around.Only the reasons for the same, have changed.Whereby we demonstrated over corrupt practices and injustice,today a section of the population will do the same because their tribal chief is out of favor with other communities of the country.On the opposing side, charged laymen will cheer their deluded,war-mongering legislator because when he sings war songs,in their drunken and ignorant stupor,they stupidly imagine he's defending their tribe.They are totally blind to the fact that even the little they have,will be all gone if the leader gets to have his way.That whom they should be shunning in totality,they cheer and celebrate,because their forefathers 'okeyed' it, in a snuff-sniffing meeting held by the edge of a forest,which they imagine is actually their tribal property because of its name.That's how low we have sunk,how divided we have become.The imaginary divide between people from 'The mountain region 'and 'The lake region',rather than thin,what with the enlightenment of the population,has instead, become more pronounced.The former feel more entitled to national resources,almost more superior.The latter feel they've been short-changed by the 'mountain-led' system,over the years and their time at the helm is long overdue
But that wouldn't surprise you, because you were here when the perpetrator and chief architect of the biggest financial scam since independence,turned from villain to foe, to role model,complete with his own church in the leafy suburbs of Westlands.(Yeah,you are right..he of Asian descent,who for decades has ran rings around the country's judicial process with glee).
The art of stone throwing has been defiled.Its either people have lost their ability to take proper aim,or they don't know who the real target is.Because these days,they destroy all property around them,save for any establishment they imagine belongs to one of their own.Activism has lost meaning.It has been replaced by out and out rioting,with destruction in mind.Activists of yesteryear,who openly rejected bribery and impunity in its entirety, have now taken political sides.Even that prolific writer,who wrote about the naked king,and the perils of a leader who chooses to surround himself with stalwarts and loyalists,as opposed to thinkers and critics,has since taken sides.I guess he can barely remember why he wrote about the mountain eagle's re-birth process,a painful real-life process that happens up in the mountains,that he used then,to encourage resilience in the political arena,specifically for the then budding pluralists proponents.You will have trouble believing that he's actually singing the song of the same system he criticized and now his name is coming up in one major embarrassing scandal,that even the devil would have been too ashamed to touch.Back then,he would have exposed the scandal,shamed the thugs.Today,he's not only in the scandal itself,he's also the culprit's biggest defender.How a man can intellectually degenerate so fast in less than a decade,i don't know.But it has happened right before our very eyes,and scholars(specifically writers) who based their studies on him,now have to grope in the literary dark,directionless.
Watching that Rwandan documentary,of how in ninety days, close to a million humans were butchered,i see an uncanny resemblance to the build-up,back then...the thinly-veiled broadcasts on vernacular radio stations,the tribal meetings that pass for campaign rallies,the deliberate polarization.Its all there for all to see,but we keep walking towards making grisly headlines all the way to mars, with our eyes widely shut.Even professionals have abandoned their intellectual prowess to stand by their 'people'. And now my theory,which you literally mowed,then shot down,is actually beginning to make sense.That the reason we are a million miles behind Singapore and Malaysia is because we hold dear a useless addition-tribe.We have tribe,they don't.And where they do,they've thinned the differences,not glorified them.The only difference a man will see between himself and the next guy is maybe height,which they will make fun of,then get down to business.Here,we still carry identity cards that distinguish you from your brother from the other tribe.And just like that,your difference has been approved and sealed by the system,that has struggled to relinquish the colonial-era kind of divisive tactics.And with the leaders directly benefiting from this kind of community awakening,the hate is bound to go on.And that is the sad reality that you didn't have to witness,you being in place where there exists no differences.
Civil Rot.
You did lead a robust civil society,that the world took note of.And through your writing,many more were awakened in far-flung areas of the world.(By the way,The Dalai Lama, leading the Tibetan struggle half a world away in Tibet,admitted to reading and getting some inspiration from some of your works-a monumental endorsement).But that's where the problem is,because now i have to break your heart.The civil society,is no longer the spotless lamb,that you left.Its has been infiltrated by moles and porcupines with fiery darts.It now depends on politicians to thrive and is bankrolled by the system.You,know that's like dining with a rattle-snake,hoping to make the darn thing a friend.It no longer has the moral authority to criticize and pin-point flaws,however glaring and announced they may be.Because one false move,and all their underground deals will be exposed.So they play ball,sing the song.The reasoning here is by so doing,nobody gets hurt,everybody's happy.
But a country spirals to a banana state that same way.Loyalty is only good up to the point where it doesn't blind you nor cloud your judgement.A civil society that dines in State House every week,will feel indebted for the 'meals',and fail to ,say,educate the public on the blatant flouting of the constitution on various state-sanctioned errands.And we don't speak out like you used to,give what you gave,or even have the same zeal and determination.Even when an entire platoon,due to glaring technical military blunders were ran over by terrorists in the lawless Somalia,the civil society only half-heartedly sought for more clarity on the exact number of live lost.To date,the same remains shrouded in secrecy,and understandably so,because the embarrassment in military circles on the region's top military power-house(Or is it) would be most unwelcome.Am afraid this time all i have for you is bad news.But then again,can the world produce cheerful news to one who's already in heaven?. I guess that's like expecting for a sensible speech off the mouth of The Gatundu South Legislator,in his current state of decay-an impossibility.
Wheels Of Justice.
We did compel the painstakingly slow process of justice to move a little faster on the drunk truck driver who smashed onto Mr.Bean,and sent you to heaven before me.Though the company that owns the truck did their best to oil the palms of the judge,fear of the media and the uproar his acquittal would have caused nationwide, carried the day.The son of woman got away with seven years,after which he'll be back on our roads,having hopefully learnt his lesson.Forgiveness is a virtue,i agree,and it wasn't easy doing so.But i've now learnt how to make the best and the most out of everything,even if it means doing so at the expense of this thing called common sense.
I hope to be the one to welcome the guy by the prison gates when he's freed,for my desire wasn't exactly the punishment,but to ensure admission of guilt and that justice is served.(No amount of punishing is ever going to bring you back,and none is equal to losing you). My point has always been,social status should have no bearing on serving justice,and no one should languish in the gallows because they couldn't facilitate movement of justice.If the legal system clogs up when the weak are lined up on the dock for failing to raise the few hundreds shillings fine for brewing 'chang'aa',then something is tragically wrong with how its being served.Contrary to many a believe,its supposed to free,not imprison,a society.Its supposed to enlighten,not muddle with people's thought process.Correct,not punish and teach new criminal frontiers.Those,as you liked to argue,are the fundamental flaws without which,a country is supposed to know 'it has arrived'.
I,this time,have much less to say,because i suspect with elections drawing closer and closer, i will have to write to you again soon,hopefully from the spot up your favorite hill.Snakes may still terrify me,but am not giving up your spot to them.I'll face them if and when they show up,for a snake can't tell when a man is so scared he's about to pee in his pants.(Even if i have to do it while hanging from a tree branch).
The wailing dog has since gone silent,and i find myself wondering why. Maybe it mourns you,maybe it too,had enough and went to dog's heaven.I don't know.But i'll let you know all about our favorite hill,your paths uphill and down hill(Why did you have to make two paths,to and from the same destination?),your 'desert spot' and your rocks.It still remains my treasured writing spot,where i get to really talk myself dry to my keyboard.
Your beliefs still influence us mightily and no one could have shown that better than your Mum,when she donated all 'proceeds' from your accident to charity,to the utter disbelief of the financial 'crocodiles and the hyenas'. You hated the 'i miss you' phrase and other hypocritical statements that are used by a materialistic world to 'smoke the cash out',so am not going to say it.Just rest knowing that we would be far more energized and focused with you around.And united against all the ills you fought so hard against.Watch over us,send us your help when stuck-we'll know its you.May the fire keep burning,in the life that i am in,and in the one that you are in,for someday,they will meet and transform to one.
Once again pal,R.I.P. SHALOM.
No comments:
Post a Comment