Why as Kenyans make fun of a true Kenyan hero of our time, Kumekucha is NOT laughing
Boniface Mwangi on twitter this morning;Boniface Mwangi; @bonifacemwangi : I'm no longer willing to die for my country, l will live for it because my kids need a father. 1 hour ago
@bonifacemwangi : "I can do a better job outside the grave" in a response to his exile - Ngugi wa Thiongo 1 hour ago @bonifacemwangi : Two of the most outspoken politicians in Kenya's history Tom Mboya & J.M Kariuki were killed by the state. Kenyans moved on. 1 hour ago
As you read this I am still struggling to write one of the most important articles I have ever written. And I am not struggling because I do not have the information or too little to say. Indeed I have too much to say but have no clue where to start.
What article is this you are trying to write? I hear you ask.
It is an article about 30 year old activist Boniface Mwangi who announced a few hours ago that he has "retired" from political activism.
This is the man who was mentioned in the controversial USAid letter as one of the people "being financed by the Americans to cause trouble" and was one of the leaders of the Feb 13th Uhuru Park demonstration.
Mwangi is also the same man whose life was changed so dramatically by the still unresolved 2008 Post election violence. It caused him to leave his job as a photojournalist in an effort to recover from the sheer trauma of taking the photographs.
This news is really discouraging to me because Mwangi was one of the few people on the forefront of Kenyan politics who carried enough clout to DE-tribalize our politics. We have sunk so low in Kenya today that you cannot talk about corruption (e.g. the railway project) without people asking you what tribe you are. If you are a Kikuyu you will be called confused which is better than being called a sour election loser if you are any other tribe but the Kalenjin. The compartments are SO NEAT!!
In case I never get round to writing this article let me at least share with you the false starts I have had so far. All too angry and too emotional I guess.
1st attempt
It is famously said that gallant Tom Mboya was once told off by his illiterate dad who was a sisal picker in Kilimambogo (where Tom was born in a grass thatched house). His dad was angry at his efforts to fight the colonialists;
"Do you think you can compete with the white man who make aircrafts that fly in the air and win...?"
Actually Tom ended up winning that particular battle and emphatically at that. But if Mboya's father was able to see the future this should have been his warning;
"Do you think you can compete with the African (and NOT mzungu) government of Kenya with all its' power and state machinery?
This was the battle that brilliant Mboya was not able to win and many other "reckless" Kenyans as well.
And so I feel Bonface Mwangi, he is not a coward but a smart and practical Kenyan... And the history of our banana republic fully backs him.
...ends
My second attempt was even more disastrous...
Kenya is filled with many highly educated souls. Albeit many of them naive, gullible PhDs. Some of them have no qualms about slapping women violently in on public television and others are so tribal that they deserve a lecture from my 5 year old son... where do they get these PhDs anyway? some factory somewhere???
Boniface Mwangi on twitter this morning;Boniface Mwangi; @bonifacemwangi : I'm no longer willing to die for my country, l will live for it because my kids need a father. 1 hour ago
@bonifacemwangi : "I can do a better job outside the grave" in a response to his exile - Ngugi wa Thiongo 1 hour ago @bonifacemwangi : Two of the most outspoken politicians in Kenya's history Tom Mboya & J.M Kariuki were killed by the state. Kenyans moved on. 1 hour ago
As you read this I am still struggling to write one of the most important articles I have ever written. And I am not struggling because I do not have the information or too little to say. Indeed I have too much to say but have no clue where to start.
What article is this you are trying to write? I hear you ask.
It is an article about 30 year old activist Boniface Mwangi who announced a few hours ago that he has "retired" from political activism.
This is the man who was mentioned in the controversial USAid letter as one of the people "being financed by the Americans to cause trouble" and was one of the leaders of the Feb 13th Uhuru Park demonstration.
Mwangi is also the same man whose life was changed so dramatically by the still unresolved 2008 Post election violence. It caused him to leave his job as a photojournalist in an effort to recover from the sheer trauma of taking the photographs.
This news is really discouraging to me because Mwangi was one of the few people on the forefront of Kenyan politics who carried enough clout to DE-tribalize our politics. We have sunk so low in Kenya today that you cannot talk about corruption (e.g. the railway project) without people asking you what tribe you are. If you are a Kikuyu you will be called confused which is better than being called a sour election loser if you are any other tribe but the Kalenjin. The compartments are SO NEAT!!
In case I never get round to writing this article let me at least share with you the false starts I have had so far. All too angry and too emotional I guess.
1st attempt
It is famously said that gallant Tom Mboya was once told off by his illiterate dad who was a sisal picker in Kilimambogo (where Tom was born in a grass thatched house). His dad was angry at his efforts to fight the colonialists;
"Do you think you can compete with the white man who make aircrafts that fly in the air and win...?"
Actually Tom ended up winning that particular battle and emphatically at that. But if Mboya's father was able to see the future this should have been his warning;
"Do you think you can compete with the African (and NOT mzungu) government of Kenya with all its' power and state machinery?
This was the battle that brilliant Mboya was not able to win and many other "reckless" Kenyans as well.
And so I feel Bonface Mwangi, he is not a coward but a smart and practical Kenyan... And the history of our banana republic fully backs him.
...ends
My second attempt was even more disastrous...
Kenya is filled with many highly educated souls. Albeit many of them naive, gullible PhDs. Some of them have no qualms about slapping women violently in on public television and others are so tribal that they deserve a lecture from my 5 year old son... where do they get these PhDs anyway? some factory somewhere???
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