Tuesday, February 11, 2014

KENYANS NEED TO RISE AND PROTEST... JUBILEE GOVT IS SINKING THE COUNTRY


The government crackdown on a peaceful demonstration by members of the civil society reminded Kenyans about the days when the Country was under the Kanu dictatorship.

Freedom is good and we all cherish it. The tragedy is that, it’s never given voluntarily by the oppressor but MUST be demanded and be fought for by the oppressed.

Those who attended the demonstration were brave men and women who love freedom and all they wanted was not to cause chaos but to send a strong message to the ruling elite that power is derived from the people and if the people will rise with a common purpose, they will deprive those in power the mandate they are using wrongly to destroy the country’s social, economic and political fabrics.

President Uhuru and his deputy William Ruto do not care about the hurting nation. Theirs is to give false promises, amass wealth through corrupt deals like the controversial standard gauge railway (SGR) in order to sneak themselves back to power in 2017.

That is why all Kenyans need to rise up and say, enough is enough! The Jubilee government came to power with a promise to rekindle the shuttered hopes for Kenyans across the board. They promised to safeguard the tenets of freedom and democracy. They promised to respect the constitution, fight impunity, tackle graft, and negative ethnicity.

What we are currently seeing is a complete metamorphosis. Corruption has gone sky high. Freedom is tampered with especially the recent signing of the draconian media bill by the President. There are skewed pubic appointments; with little or no regard to regional balance, youth, women and meritocracy.

In fact, the Standard gauge railway is one the corrupt schemes by the current government to steal from the tax payers under the aegis of development. We want development but we want the type of development which will not put the Country in debt for 100 years.

I wonder how they feel when in Turkana County, people are consuming dogs and wild berries like antelopes. They all live in material opulence. Uhuru has never slept hungry. Ruto swam into riches through his tribesman- Daniel Moi through the YK92. Both of them do not understand the true meaning poverty.
How do they feel when Kenyans are dying rampantly through insecurity?

As the late Francis Imbuga put it in his play, Betrayal in the City, we have got nothing to look forward to, we have killed our past and are busy killing the future. This is the time Wananchi should rise up against the Jubilee government.

Our legislators are the corrupt lot. Even the political opposition has failed. It’s high time we supported a consciousness like the Arab Spring. People power is lethal; people power is immune to blackmail, intimidation or the power of the gun. Above all people power is popular and powerful. This is the surest way to liberate a Country.

If Uhuru and Ruto can’t act, they must not forget the French Revolution of 1789 or the March against Ferdinand Marcos of the Philippines.
Let them be warned that the quest for leadership is not a quest for greatness but a passion to be the people’s representative in good and bad times; providing them with guidance and direction while sharing their aspirations and predicaments for a better life.

Like a trade unionist who advocates for workers; Uhuru and Ruto and our legislators are trade unions for the entire society-representing the interests of farmers, workers, women, youth, the poor, the sick, children and adults and the jobless.

This is their cardinal responsibility. If they fail, outraged Kenyans who gave them the mandate are justified to act in a manner that will propel them to act or even catalyze a revolution where the power of the masses will pave the way for a leader with the capacity and the willingness to catapult positive change in our country.

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