My two cents on Masaku 7s

Following the recent buzz on social media regarding what has since been described as the biggest even of the year, I would like to give my view. I like to talk after the flame is calm because research is very important. So yes, it is confirmed that whatever happened. There’s photo s doing rounds all over the net. Everyone is busy sucking their teeth talking about “The youth today…”
I will not post today to condemn anyone or what-not. I think waking up on Monday with a hangover from here to hell and a revelation of your photos doing rounds on the internet in which you are in compromising situations that you can’t remember is more than enough punishment for anyone. Yikes: trouble in triple deck; that must really juice out life for you.
Anyway, by the age of fifteen you more or less have a rough idea of what’s wrong and what’s right. Even with catch phrases like YOLO, you still know. You cannot unlearn the principles that society has founded as part of your growing up. As such, no victim of the ‘paparazzi’ can say they didn't know. No, I'm not being Momma Bear, I know people who were victims of this and I told them the same thing.
So as the youth, we are apparently known to corrupt just about anything we get our hands on - and maybe it’s true. When it comes to practicing democracy which was oh so graciously given to us by our forefathers, we are the first to turn to violence whenever we are unhappy; when we lose a soccer game, we have stones in our pockets (never mind that we were searched before entering the venue…how??? We should really tap into this creativity and channel it to more important things, aye? ); when we are accorded the rights to protest peacefully, we want to loot innocent raia, stone people and basically just ruin everyone’s day; when we have rugby tournaments that are aimed at celebrating the game, treating true fans to day of action and bring Kenyans together, we want the entire world to know how much liquor we can buy (I won’t get into how much we can consume because if we could really handle our alcohol then we would be talking about saba saba… not saba saba, NACADA, Mututho, Masaku Sevens, Nairobi Wire, and all the bad behaviour witnessed this past few weeks).
So I sat down and thought long and hard about this issue. Obviously, this isn't the first time we've heard all this but to this extent? That is news to me too. How do we help to preserve our events and rid them of crude aftermath photos? Simple. If you have no business relating to the event, steer clear of the area. Those who really love rugby were busy at the benches watching the games. The busy bodies and thousand idlers that turned up for the event to turn up are sadly the ones whose raunchy photos are doing rounds everywhere.
We love our events; we love that our leisure time can place us on the maps as among the most fun countries to be in. Heck, our president is the second most followed president in Africa on Twitter. We are proud of our events that pull thousands, so be so kind as to not ruin it for those who the events are aimed at. When your event comes up you too will appreciate it when idlers don’t turn up to ruin it.

T-minus 5 Days

Since the saba saba rallies were announced by opposition everyone has had something to say about it. Some even forgetting that we have a myriad of problems that we need to discuss right this second. I am not trying to downplay the rallies; in fact it is faaaar much a bigger deal than what we thought.  Being only five days away, the countdown has come with it many unexpected reactions. Now, obviously, we are not all in one camp regarding the rallies but keep calm m’dear. I don’t like to discuss politics in opinion and loyalty… people always get too touchy. Just to prove it; go through your Facebook homepage and tell me if you won’t find people hurling insults at each other for differing on a politics-related topic.

What I never saw coming, though, was the circulation of hate speech –filled leaflets in Naivasha and the Tana River Delta and, even more to my shock, the fleeing that is happening in Naivasha and who-knows where else. I was quite so stoked and suffered a mini heart attack when I especially saw the photos. No, it’s not one or two people fleeing, we’re talking families here. One local newspaper reported that women and their children were fleeing and leaving their men to monitor the situation. Already families have to separate because we have allowed tribal differences to be the benchmark of everything including the entire process of running the affairs of this country. So for me, obviously, it is this ginormous sense of insecurity and spirit of fear that is my biggest concern during this countdown to the rallies.

It is not proper for anyone to live in fear in their own country owing to our ‘incapability’ in as far as appreciating and accommodating diversity on ethnic grounds is concerned.

Countries thrive at the diversity of their people. They find unity in that very diversity. We somehow look at each other as threats rather than brother and sister. The sad thing is that this ethnic based conflict became apparent to Kenyans after post election violence occurred and nearly brought this lovely country to her knees.

It seems to me that this fear is a classic example of ‘once beaten twice shy’. We are in fear of executing the political processes that concern us because we have allowed ourselves to attribute everything to ethnicity and that it is seemingly marking the downfall of Kenya and its people.

We have not healed from all the mental and emotional wounds we suffered back in 2007/08. Our physical injuries suffered from the violence have since turned into deformities, amputations and scars. Kenya and her people need to find healing and it is our responsibility to ensure that it is achieved.

Whether the rallies go down or national dialogue is agreed upon, resist, refrain and desist from raising your arm against a fellow Kenyan, hate speech, spreading propaganda, defamation, slander or destroying property. Keep your heart pure and maintain clarity of mind. Rid yourself of any negativity and advocate unity.

#WeAreOne for #WeHaveAlwaysBeenOne

Daima Mkenya :)