From: People For Peace
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BY CHRISPIN ONYANGO
NAIROBI-KENYA
SATURDAY, JUNE 9, 2012

The Madaraka Day came at a time that ordinary Kenyans are faced with many challenges from domestic to national level. Even though some few Kenyans congregated at different levels to celebrate that important day in the history of Kenya, it is to admit that very less has been done to make sense for this historical event.

At the moment, majority of Kenyans are still suffering especially the IDPs who are still suffering in the camps. It is very unfortunate President did not dare to mention anything about them during his speech on Madaraka Day.
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Many still have nothing to look forward to and as the days go by it gets worse even at the time leaders attending a two -day conference in Mombasa on Friday called for the promotion of peace by all including the media.

Giving the keynote speech at the meeting, President Mwai Kibaki saying that peace and stability are paramount to achieving the development of any country, he never mentioned anything to do with justice, for you cannot talk of peace where there is no justice.

Speaking at the same conference, Prime Minister Raila Odinga said politicians should avoid tribal politics as this only incites communities. He did not say what happened when hundreds of displaced people blocked his motorcade in Kisumu demanding audience. Instead he drove into placard-waving IDPs outside the Tom Mboya Labour College as he left a conference on male circumcision in Kisumu last year.

Unknown to the PM, the IDPs had been waiting for him outside the college from 2pm.

They claimed they had been sidelined in the Government’s ‘Operation Rudi Nyumbani’ programme. Attempts by Raila aides to make him evade the IDPs failed as they monitored his every movement. His driver tried to drive off but the IDPs blocked the road.

Which peace and reconciliation are the political leaders talking about when children have turned to scavenging, while girls and women are trading sex for food, whereas men from the camp and from outside preying on girls because of their vulnerability.

They are talking about peace and reconciliation when most families can only afford a cup of light porridge a day. They do not bother whether these IDPs can contract diseases at the camp as a result of overflowing toilets.

Can you imagine of a father who does not care about his displaced children? Other major problems include insecurity especially in major towns such as Nairobi and Mombasa; high cost of living, tribal politics, unreliable politicians/leaders among others. For the above reasons, the 49th Madaraka Day celebration had very little impact on the lives of the ordinary Kenyans.

It is agsinst the background that in most parts of the country, many people continued with their daily chores as if nothing important was happening on that day. In my view, time is coming when such celebrations will either be attended by idlers or the haves who are absolutely sure of something on the table at the end of the day.

Ideally speaking, Kenyans are justified to boycott such events where they merely waste their time listening to politicians who are intrinsically egoistic and are never interested with the ordinary Kenyans. Surely how do you expect a poor man/woman from Kibera slums to attend such events spending the whole day empty stomach? That would be an absurdity.

This time round, President Kibaki had very little to talk about on Madaraka Day moreover the attendance was very low at Nyayo Stadium probably because of the fear of insecurity. During his speech, he assured Kenyans of better security something which I did not take serious at all.

In fact Kibaki should know that the Mombasa Republican Council is a great threat to the Kenyan security and especially now that we are approaching the General Elections.

I know some of our cunning politicians are supporting the MRC skimming for their votes. Moreover security issue has been a talk by almost every politician including security agents such as Prof. George Saitoti and Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere.

I was tongue-tied on the 28th May 2012 after an explosion in an exhibition shop along Moi Avenue in Nairobi when the Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere denied that the cause of the accident was related to terrorists but was a nearby electric power mishap. Later it was found out that the contrary was true. In short how can we trust such people who do not want to tell the truth?

On Madaraka day very early in the morning, I was privileged to be in a chapel where we sung our Kenyan National Anthem. As I was reflecting about it, I came to realize that it’s merely a beautiful and appealing song which has nothing to do with the reality on the ground. For instance, up to date ordinary Kenyans are still fighting for justice denied them by the “leaders” beginning from the grass root level to national level; secondly, Kenyans are enemies of themselves with no peace/unity as was experienced during 2007/2008 Post-election violence.

Surprisingly, nobody has a will to arrest such troubling situations beginning from the President up to the last man down in the village. So with all these can you be proud of being a Kenyans? Think about it.

In as much as we may think that the colonialists went, they are still with us in full and the worst part of it is that they are no longer wazungus but our fellow blacks who pretended to have saved Waafrika.

The Vice President Kalonzo sent a message of best wishes to Kenyans something which I viewed as a slap on the faces of ordinary Kenyans. It was like wishing somebody a good night knowing very well that he/she is going to sleep hungry.

The bourgeois like Kalonzo will continue prospering while the proletariat such as slum dwellers will ever be ‘working poor class.’ Therefore my fellow Kenyans let us take precautions by making critical judgments as we prepare to vote-in new leaders in the next General Elections.

Lastly, while listening to Deputy Prime Minister’s speech on that day, I realized that he had forgotten that Kenyans have already known his game and that he is not a serious politician. When he was in ODM, he couldn’t see anything good that Kibaki has done but on that day he hailed Kibaki for doing a good job.

Now where is the truth in him? I think any Kenyan with sound mind should rubbish such mere talks. In as much he would hail Kibaki, he won’t get many presidential votes from Central and therefore he will live to regret for quitting ODM.

Chrispin is a student in Nairobi-he write on political and social issues

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