President Uhuru Kenyatta has been on record categorically saying that after the political interruptions of the past year, the citizenry should now don aprons, roll up sleeves and get to work to secure the next generation’s future.
But when most of the country seems to have shunned the differences that threatened to gallop us into an abyss fuelled by hatred, some factions still seem hell-bent on derailing the momentum.
Incredibly, one of the recent shocks still in many people’s lips comes from the president’s ‘backyard’ a song dubbed 'Ikamba' hastily composed to paint another community, the Kamba, as an enemy. Hastily composed in what seems to now be a trend, the song was inspired by the incident in Kitui, where a lorry ferrying charcoal was burnt down.
It was alleged that the lorry belongs to a Kikuyu, and thus the song is in their defence, which in the process, demeans the Kamba community using tribal and stereotypical diatribes. Arguably, Kitui Governor Charity Ngilu has even been before the National Cohesion and Integration Commission on alleged charges of inciting youths in her county in a bid to stop the illegal charcoal trade in the area.
Such national bodies should be the ideal arbiters in such cases, and it is unacceptable that locals should take the law into their own hands, as the song arguably does, or the youth who blocked the road in Limuru, bringing business to a standstill for hours on end as they reacted to the same saga.
Last year, the country was in turmoil. It was bleeding. Friends and colleagues and even spouses had taken political sides. One of my colleagues actually unfriended her friend on Facebook. Why? Because he was spewing ethnic vibe on his wall, and tagging all his followers.
But after November 28, following the Jubilee government’s inauguration for the second term, the country seemed to wake up from a stupor, even though still wobbling. But this is a resilient country.
In January, Nairobi was listed top three best cities to visit in the world. Yes, number three after France’s Paris and Iran’s Isfahan. Imagine that, top three, in a study done by the renowned Rough Guides travel publisher of the UK. And this was in 2017, when the country experienced one of its worse disruptions in history.
It does not stop there. Nairobi recently appeared in the Forbes Global 500 list of top world destinations. Top Fortune companies, the IBM, General Electric, Google, are setting offices here. Homes are being set up with high-speed internet… roads choking with cars as a ‘liquid’ middle class stamps its means.
And yet, a few elements are hell-bent to spread hatred, anger and negativity. And mostly, if you look keenly, nay, it is there for everyone to see, these things are done for profit.
For instance, the said song was designed to attract YouTube likes, which means payment. But the damage is severe. Such damage can only be averted in future by Kenyans who must demand for justice when such ills are met on law-abiding citizens.
We should demand government facilitation for a conducive, lawful and flawless environment to do business, learn, work, connect and pursue happiness; and for a media that desists from just highlighting the negativity, to a health sector and justice system not fuelled by capitalism.
Indeed, everyone one of us has a role to play, as Mahatma Gandhi classically said, be the change you want to see.