What American dream?
Of course I would love to talk about the American dream, but having lived out there I find nothing realistic about it. Indeed, it is dead. If dreams were made of pain, then what folks go through to achieve the dream in America is just what a man does not need. In Europe the pain is even more acute given the secretly racist nature of folks in that continent to the north of us.
Which brings me to what I hope we can and must choose to work on for the sake of our children and posterity. I'm talking here about the Kenyan dream. By invoking the term dream, I'm not talking about a utopia or an essentially perfect little island here in East Africa. No. What I'm actually about to envision for your consideration is a nation united by a set of principles and governed by a core of goals that all her citizens will work to achieve...since the goals will be understood as the mark of success.
Before I lay out the goals, let me warn here that seasoned democracies in the West have struggled over the years to create nations that were truly living the dream, yet as any Diasporian will tell you, that dream can remain a dream for a long long time. Take America, for example, can anybody tell me that struggling with bigotry and xenophobia is something a great nation like that one would want to be confronting this deep into the history of the world? Wasn't it the dream of the Founding Fathers and even Dr. King that one day the children of America would all be judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin?
Makes me wonder.
But so much for that.
Here is the Kenyan Dream:
1. That all Kenyans who want to work will find jobs that pay enough for them to take care of their children and provide a warm nest for their spouses in the form of a reasonable home.
2. That Kenyans will learn to see fellow Kenyans as members of one big family, where the pain of one brother or sister hurts us all.
3. That this nation will be governed democratically by men and women who place the Lord first in everything they do.
Fellow Kenyans, on this beautiful Monday morning in Nairobi, I'm back to my office humbled by a ride I took deep into a zone where my Kalenjin brothers live. I felt deeply inspired by the love extended to me and my team out there. Those are the moments that make it hard for me to lose hope in the future of this nation. It may be long in coming, but we have a bright future. In spite of the many problems we face, we can and must work to overcome them one at a time.
It is a blessing to have a dream.
Let it be the Kenyan dream!
Wonderful. Just one question, Sam, what did you go to do there?
ReplyDeleteNice but simplistic, Okello. I would want to see a more complex dream formulation.
ReplyDeleteSo, what steps do you propose we take?
ReplyDeleteBefore reading the post, I knew some tribe would end up as always being incorporated in the article however irrelevant within the context- and true to form, you didn't disappoint!
ReplyDelete"I'm back to my office humbled by a ride I took deep into a zone where my KALENJIN brothers live.."
My Kenyan dream is to see an article written without invoking this or that tribe UNLESS IT'S ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY!
A great question as a heading but a VERY disappointing post.
ReplyDeleteAfadhali Phil with his ODM crap!
The kenyan dream is vision 2030
ReplyDeletePeople like Mpesa just cant help taking cheap swipes at okello. The man is way beyond your league, maybe that is why you never know when he is hot or cold or just out for a little fun.
ReplyDeleteGet a life, mwanapesa
mpesa,
ReplyDeletetribe is a heritage, we cannoy run away from it; it only becomes a burden when used in the manner our politicians do it.
tribe is beautiful and our diversity shuold be celebrated, not shunned.
the real mwarangethe always has solutions, which one is this?
ReplyDeleteI believe in the Kenyan dream, from the simplistic view to the indepth analysis of how they can be degenerated to become tangible. I think the first pace to begin is to own the dream, believe in it, and begin to chart a way forward using it, even from a persnal perspective. For you, here, tribe has somethin to do with it, looking at the Kalenjins who hosted you, will definatlely remind you of events that shaped our minds towards tribal lines, it is a fact, and is necessary in this piece, part of the kenyan dream is to appreciate our ethnicity, to be proud of it, but to see beyond that and appreciate the other 41 tribes.
ReplyDeleteSurely, Mpesa can stop being short sighted on this one?
okello is diverting attention after posting here some nonsense about the death of OUKO. This guy Okelo is a real idiot - pumbabu - mavi ya kuku wewe.
ReplyDeleteSame question too, why the Kalenjin and not others? From my point of view, as much as we like trumpeting about the dream of one nation with its rich diversity, we still end up demonising other tribes, depending on which part of the fence we sit!
ReplyDeleteJust food for thought.
The theatrics of one Sam Okello;
ReplyDelete1.This sod dreamer in the recent past told us Equity was a Kikuyu bank stealing wealth from other tribes and giving it to Kikuyu. We have not forgotten.
2. After making a tide profit and poisoning Kenyans with 'Hard Facts' on How Moi Killed Ouko, this joker wakes up one day and tells us that all the information in his two 'best seller' books is not only fictitious but lies. And before you ask what, the moron promises to let us in the near future to some 'New Evidence' that will incriminate the real Ouko killer. Of course you will have to buy another book to access the 'truth'. Did he give Moi, his family and other fellows he wrongly incriminated an apology? your guess is as good as mine. The self righteous boy saw no need.
3. It is the same Sam Okello who spread hate campaign against Kikuyu's aka Madoadoa (Ruto) or Kabila adui (Raila)after the referendum and cheered most when Kikuyu's were getting slaughtered.
Now, the moron thinks that covering his wolfy self with a well tailored sheeps skin will win him accolades.
Maybe from Mwarangethe, Taabu and other ODMorons but not KK veterans like me. The truth will continue to expose liars amongst us. And Okello is one of them.
Kumekucha Prefect
lol..^^^^^^ this is so true, Okello drop the charade, its so old!!!
ReplyDeleteI like the way okello makes them mad,just read that idiot called KK prefect!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous wrote that:
ReplyDeleteMaybe from Mwarangethe, Taabu and other ODMorons but not KK veterans like me. The truth will continue to expose liars amongst us. And Okello is one of them.
Our response:
I don't wanna school ya:
Things you - you might never know about! So, said Bob Marley.
you preached wine a while back ... you now preaching water ... next you will be preaching beer ... and the preaching goes on ...
ReplyDeletebut we ain't touched, at the core we still the same ... therefore nothing changes ... but we will continue listening.
yaani tuendelee kuji-enjoy.
dream on.kenya belongs to some people only.its a fake place.
ReplyDeletedream one:
ReplyDeleteeasily done; if the US can nationalize AIG etc..kenya can bring back parastatals on a large scale that create jobs; increase food production by relying on irrigation; foreign investment can be increased by providing security, respectful police, dual citizenship, respect for private property;high taxes for the rich; return of stolen land and exported stolen wealth -almost impossible to carry this one out)
dream 2:
baffles me how this can be reached; why are there so many mercedes benz in Nairobi when so many do not have enough food, jobs or shelter???? a family of the very rich and very poor cannot survive.....
dream 3
democracy must mean peace and not multiparty election fraud and violence...moi built churches..Kenyans destroyed those churches....
Syra,
ReplyDeletelet me know when he does the beer, will you?
I believe in the NARC dream..big cars cheap loan untaxed salos, chase cars, body guards,......commitees allowances,retreat trips.....houses in gated hoods and other real estated out of towns, chopper rides
ReplyDeleteOkello, so you are dreaming of providing a warm nest to your woman? Why would you want to sleep in a warm nest? CHEAP
ReplyDeleteNow, if Europe did not work for you, am told you were deported from UK. If UK didint work for you, then stop about dreaming in Kenya. There is not enough time for dreams in kenya.
Finally, we need our money back from the poor books u wrote to us about the night Bobby died.