Mind Boggling
By Njeri Mucheru-Oyatta
Chapter 63
My countrymen and women suffer from selective amnesia of the worst kind. I say this in reference to something called ‘DETENTION WITHOUT TRIAL’. How do those words make you feel? They are horrific! If you hear that someone, anyone, has been detained without trial, you shudder at the thought of what might be in store for him/her. I can only imagine the harrowing experiences people go through.
In our country, two men called Kenneth Matiba and Charles Rubia were detained without trial. When they surfaced, both of them were maimed and crippled for life. Their families had suffered what can only be described as a monstrous tragedy.
These people to me are heroes. Our country has done little to recognize their valour. These people were detained without trial and tortured for the sake of our country and the futures of our children that we may have multi party democracy in our country and discuss politics freely without fear of persecution.
It is because of them that I am able to sit here and write about the elections and what I think without fearing that some hooded goons will ambush me and make me disappear from the face of the earth only to re-surface as a relative to the hunch back of Notredame! Are you daring enough to be detained without trial for the sake of your country? I dread the thought of spending even a minute in a police cell under arrest with only one shoe on to identify me as a cell mate. My heart breaks for those I have seen behind bars in a police cell or in the dungeons at the High Court or in remand prison.
I remember a story my mum once told me about how she struggled to free a cousin of mine who had been arrested at a bar in some border town for saying something unpleasant about our former president! Fortunately he made it out before they could start pulling out his teeth!
Recently, some muslims were arrested here in Kenya and deported to unknown destinations on suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities. Only God knows what kind of treatment they are being subjected to, if they are still alive. The families of those people who are Kenyans are in anguish. They are pleading with the government for only one thing: that they should be told where their loved ones are and their loved ones should be subjected to a fair trial to ascertain their guilt. It seems highly unlikely that those people will ever be seen again especially since our President recently declared that he does not even know their names. Imagine if that was done to your husband, son or brother! Would you have enough tears?
One of our presidential candidates has spent six good years in and out of detention without trial in his quest for multi-party democracy for this country. The government of the day has labeled him a dangerous man who is likely to turn our country into a dictatorship. Makes sense doesn’t it? Spend most of your life being tortured for the freedom of your people then you are labeled a dictator! To make it more interesting, one of the people labeling him a dictator is the same same person who subjected him, Charles Rubia, Kenneth Matiba and many others to detention without trial! And some of the Kenyan people actually accept the opinion of that person! People who are detained without trial are not expected to survive the ordeal. Not only did he survive the ordeal, he is hugely responsible for the removal of the former president from power and replacing him with our current president.
Apart from being labeled a potential dictator, leaflets are being circulated accusing him of being a devil worshipper because his religion is uncertain! Whoever came up with that idea should be given a medal. Anyone will tell you that our former president who subjected people to detention without trial and during whose tenure this country was robbed of billions, now apparently stashed in foreign bank accounts, is a Christian, a God fearing man who can be trusted to tell us who we should vote for! He has been seen so many times attending church functions and services that his religion cannot ever be doubted! It is laughable! A thief comes into your house, robs you silly, leaves your loved ones maimed and when you go out looking for a security guard to employ, the same thief recommends a suitable guard to you and you gladly take him in!
I am gob smacked by the selective amnesia afflicting my fellow countrymen and women!
I am unable to make any sense of most of the reasons being given to justify our not voting that heroic guy into power. It has been claimed that his promises are just dreams because he did nothing when he was in government. Our current president featured prominently in our former president’s government. If we apply his argument fairly, he too can be accused of having failed us. In fact, he can be accused of having conspired in all the robbery and atrocities that the Kenyan people were subjected to. Then what would be his answer? In truth, a Minister is only as powerful as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces will allow.
The other two presidential candidates’ curriculum vitae are no competition for someone who was detained without trial fighting for our freedom. To me, that in itself qualifies anyone for leadership in any country. Look at Nelson Mandela, can anyone say that he does not deserve to be president of his country even at his present age? What qualifies him for leadership? His persistence and boldness.
Why do we Kenyans persecute our heroes? To me, the answer is idol worship.
Top of the list of our idols is economic development. I do not see anything spectacular about the economy of this country in the last five years. I am still driving on potholed roads spending huge amounts on car repairs and paying for private health insurance and primary school fees while getting taxed at the highest, most efficient level of taxation ever achieved in the history of this country and our Kenya Revenue Authority will openly admit to this. At the same time, our country has continued to be robbed of billions and most of those who resigned from government for having been implicated in the theft were accepted back into government and entrusted to head Ministries! Is this what economic development is?!
Next on the idol list is TRIBALISM. There is a friend of mine who was recently looking for a house to move into. He identified a suitable one, signed the agreement, paid the deposit and just a day before he could move in, the agent called him and told him that the landlady had refused to sign the tenancy agreement because she could not let her house to someone who eats fish! Hahaha! Imagine that a grown woman living in the 21st century in Kenya and educated enough to own a house is practicing tribalism! And while you’re at it, imagine that in order to get a house, that friend of mine had to lie about his tribe!
I wonder what that lady would say to the theory presented by the infamous Dr. James Watson who recently declared that Europeans are more intelligent than Africans by nature. If she would be offended by that guy, she deserves a trophy for hypocrisy at the highest level.
Recently we experienced earth tremors which put the fear of God in us. People were so anxious about going into buildings. At night, people would wake up and vacate their houses and flats and during the day, people were rushing out of their offices in fear that they would cave in. No doubt, when the earth tremors hit, the people running out of their flats and buildings were not bothered about the tribe of the person running next to them. Except for our president and a few privileged others, traffic jam afflicts us all. Noone cares about the tribe of the person who gives you way or who stops to help out when there has been an accident! When boarding a matatu or bus, noone cares about the tribe of the people sharing the vehicle or sitting next to them. Why then does tribe come into the equation when it comes to choosing our leaders?
Is it not hypocritical for us to be practicing tribalism while saying that racism and slavery are bad?!
If you are a God fearing person, recognize that your life’s purpose ought to be about pleasing God. God cannot ever be a tribalist and all of us are His children. People who have a past of detaining others without trial cannot ever be trusted. Do not allow yourself to be blinded by idol worship.
By Njeri Mucheru-Oyatta
Chapter 63
My countrymen and women suffer from selective amnesia of the worst kind. I say this in reference to something called ‘DETENTION WITHOUT TRIAL’. How do those words make you feel? They are horrific! If you hear that someone, anyone, has been detained without trial, you shudder at the thought of what might be in store for him/her. I can only imagine the harrowing experiences people go through.
In our country, two men called Kenneth Matiba and Charles Rubia were detained without trial. When they surfaced, both of them were maimed and crippled for life. Their families had suffered what can only be described as a monstrous tragedy.
These people to me are heroes. Our country has done little to recognize their valour. These people were detained without trial and tortured for the sake of our country and the futures of our children that we may have multi party democracy in our country and discuss politics freely without fear of persecution.
It is because of them that I am able to sit here and write about the elections and what I think without fearing that some hooded goons will ambush me and make me disappear from the face of the earth only to re-surface as a relative to the hunch back of Notredame! Are you daring enough to be detained without trial for the sake of your country? I dread the thought of spending even a minute in a police cell under arrest with only one shoe on to identify me as a cell mate. My heart breaks for those I have seen behind bars in a police cell or in the dungeons at the High Court or in remand prison.
I remember a story my mum once told me about how she struggled to free a cousin of mine who had been arrested at a bar in some border town for saying something unpleasant about our former president! Fortunately he made it out before they could start pulling out his teeth!
Recently, some muslims were arrested here in Kenya and deported to unknown destinations on suspicion of being involved in terrorist activities. Only God knows what kind of treatment they are being subjected to, if they are still alive. The families of those people who are Kenyans are in anguish. They are pleading with the government for only one thing: that they should be told where their loved ones are and their loved ones should be subjected to a fair trial to ascertain their guilt. It seems highly unlikely that those people will ever be seen again especially since our President recently declared that he does not even know their names. Imagine if that was done to your husband, son or brother! Would you have enough tears?
One of our presidential candidates has spent six good years in and out of detention without trial in his quest for multi-party democracy for this country. The government of the day has labeled him a dangerous man who is likely to turn our country into a dictatorship. Makes sense doesn’t it? Spend most of your life being tortured for the freedom of your people then you are labeled a dictator! To make it more interesting, one of the people labeling him a dictator is the same same person who subjected him, Charles Rubia, Kenneth Matiba and many others to detention without trial! And some of the Kenyan people actually accept the opinion of that person! People who are detained without trial are not expected to survive the ordeal. Not only did he survive the ordeal, he is hugely responsible for the removal of the former president from power and replacing him with our current president.
Apart from being labeled a potential dictator, leaflets are being circulated accusing him of being a devil worshipper because his religion is uncertain! Whoever came up with that idea should be given a medal. Anyone will tell you that our former president who subjected people to detention without trial and during whose tenure this country was robbed of billions, now apparently stashed in foreign bank accounts, is a Christian, a God fearing man who can be trusted to tell us who we should vote for! He has been seen so many times attending church functions and services that his religion cannot ever be doubted! It is laughable! A thief comes into your house, robs you silly, leaves your loved ones maimed and when you go out looking for a security guard to employ, the same thief recommends a suitable guard to you and you gladly take him in!
I am gob smacked by the selective amnesia afflicting my fellow countrymen and women!
I am unable to make any sense of most of the reasons being given to justify our not voting that heroic guy into power. It has been claimed that his promises are just dreams because he did nothing when he was in government. Our current president featured prominently in our former president’s government. If we apply his argument fairly, he too can be accused of having failed us. In fact, he can be accused of having conspired in all the robbery and atrocities that the Kenyan people were subjected to. Then what would be his answer? In truth, a Minister is only as powerful as the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces will allow.
The other two presidential candidates’ curriculum vitae are no competition for someone who was detained without trial fighting for our freedom. To me, that in itself qualifies anyone for leadership in any country. Look at Nelson Mandela, can anyone say that he does not deserve to be president of his country even at his present age? What qualifies him for leadership? His persistence and boldness.
Why do we Kenyans persecute our heroes? To me, the answer is idol worship.
Top of the list of our idols is economic development. I do not see anything spectacular about the economy of this country in the last five years. I am still driving on potholed roads spending huge amounts on car repairs and paying for private health insurance and primary school fees while getting taxed at the highest, most efficient level of taxation ever achieved in the history of this country and our Kenya Revenue Authority will openly admit to this. At the same time, our country has continued to be robbed of billions and most of those who resigned from government for having been implicated in the theft were accepted back into government and entrusted to head Ministries! Is this what economic development is?!
Next on the idol list is TRIBALISM. There is a friend of mine who was recently looking for a house to move into. He identified a suitable one, signed the agreement, paid the deposit and just a day before he could move in, the agent called him and told him that the landlady had refused to sign the tenancy agreement because she could not let her house to someone who eats fish! Hahaha! Imagine that a grown woman living in the 21st century in Kenya and educated enough to own a house is practicing tribalism! And while you’re at it, imagine that in order to get a house, that friend of mine had to lie about his tribe!
I wonder what that lady would say to the theory presented by the infamous Dr. James Watson who recently declared that Europeans are more intelligent than Africans by nature. If she would be offended by that guy, she deserves a trophy for hypocrisy at the highest level.
Recently we experienced earth tremors which put the fear of God in us. People were so anxious about going into buildings. At night, people would wake up and vacate their houses and flats and during the day, people were rushing out of their offices in fear that they would cave in. No doubt, when the earth tremors hit, the people running out of their flats and buildings were not bothered about the tribe of the person running next to them. Except for our president and a few privileged others, traffic jam afflicts us all. Noone cares about the tribe of the person who gives you way or who stops to help out when there has been an accident! When boarding a matatu or bus, noone cares about the tribe of the people sharing the vehicle or sitting next to them. Why then does tribe come into the equation when it comes to choosing our leaders?
Is it not hypocritical for us to be practicing tribalism while saying that racism and slavery are bad?!
If you are a God fearing person, recognize that your life’s purpose ought to be about pleasing God. God cannot ever be a tribalist and all of us are His children. People who have a past of detaining others without trial cannot ever be trusted. Do not allow yourself to be blinded by idol worship.
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