I had my article I wrote about Barack Obama and somehow I lost it without saving so I despaired and left the office. That was on 5th November 2008.

I have observed Kenyans for a while and it amazes me how we think. I asked a few friends, and that’s what Barack said while he was here in Kenya, that if his mother hadn’t rescued him, he would be languishing somewhere in Nyanza, rather, he thinks the abandonment by the dad saved him from becoming “another great son of the Luo”. He said that by himself after seeing the suffering of his siblings here in Kenya. He was of course sad he has no one to call dad. But sleeping on a mkeka, taking an overcrowded “7 a side” matatu to the market with shimwelo (basket) balancing on the head, and walking long distance to get to the potholed roads inspired him.

I looked at the great minds that could have changed our destiny – Robert Ouko was burned beyond recognition at Got Alila, JM thrown to the dogs in the forest for a meal, Pio Pinto, Tom Mboya felled by a stupid felony on Moi Avenue, and so many other Baracks. All dead, and we ask why we are 50 years behind South Korea. We killed our own, and celebrate our diaspora who can’t help us.

I remember one Hon Ochuodho (who remembers him, anyway, he’s another great Luo) talk at the Naivasha retreat about a Kenyan at the International Atomic Institute, he was supposed to inspect Nuclear installations, wewe, he’s a Kikuyu. Eeeeh, another Kikuyu. He’s not respected at all at all at all, by Kenyans. Just like Wangari Maathai and Ngugi Wa Thiong’o (we had to rape his wife, shame on Kenya) amongst the others. Kwani nini mbaya na sisi?

A man called Mugabe Were, taking care of widows and orphans in Dandora, he’d been a beacon of hope to the defenseless. Who remembers him? Can we remember Prof. Mbai? Or where Prof. Ghai teaches nowadays? Can we comprehend these people?

Guys, let us go back to the basics. Gas has jumped from 1,600 to 2,700, and there’s no shortage of gas (now gas costs more than petrol, gas is not taxed, and is harvested freely from mother nature), unga is 89, and our income is less than 70/= per day. cooking oil, eeeeh, lets not go there. Power bills? public transport, shambles and overcharging. Everything is amiss here in Kenya. And we just go about our responsibilities as if everything is normal. …. and we dare celebrate the victory of one single Kenyan rescued by the wazungu’s. We are a lost generation. I need a hanky, I can feel the weight of our carelessness as Kenyans.

A useless Kenyan lawmaker (local) is paid three times what a Senator of the USA (global lawmaker) takes home. Joe Biden has to take a train ride everyday to see the family in Pennsylvania, when did you hear a Kenyan MP taking a train to Mbooni or Makueni to see their constituent dying due to lack of food? Tell me if they would ever board the filthy shacks called RVR?

Our time is now. Lets fear not the impunity. Lets keep vigil and attack at the right time and moment, just like Barack Obama measured.
Probably, he would not had made it if he allowed Hillary to run first. Now lets emulate this great mind. Lets not get cowed if the eminent Right Honourable Raila Amolo, PM of the Republic of Kenya decides to run in 2012. I dare dream, and that in 2012, we’re gonna have a person different from Odinga’s and Kenyatta’s and Moi’s and the other old hands, let them turn the baton to a new generation of progressive leadership. A generation that thinks at the speed of light and not snail mail. The page is turning. Yes, We Can change the destiny of this wonderful nation, this country we call our country, this land we call our motherland, this nation we behold, a nation like no other, a country we love. Yes We Can.

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Date: Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:39:11 -0800 [08:39:11 AM CST]
From: Kenfish
Subject: Kenyans Turning The Page