Exodus into our Respective Cocoons

The British have now decided that they don’t want to be a part of the European Union. They are becoming more and more withdrawn into themselves. What was once the mighty British Empire; has dwindled to become an increasingly inconsequential country. They have lost most of their colonies and even the countries which remain under Her Majesty the Queen such as Australia, Canada, and New Zealand, are (for all means and purposes) independent and autonomous. The USA has become the baby who outgrew and overshadowed the parent.

Brexit may be sensational and scary in terms of the expected impact on the world economy and politics. However, it is an indicator of a growing trend in the world where countries and communities are breaking up their unions and opting to go it alone in all spheres of life. What appeared to be news when the USSR broke up now feels rather commonplace when countries leave their respective unions.

Strength in Unity

All through our growing up and learning, we were taught that unity is strength. We were made to memorize such mantras as “If you walk alone, you may be faster but if you walk with others, you will go further” (or something to that effect). Our country’s long running motto of Harambee teaches us to combine our efforts to achieve anything that we want to. Our chama movement gave rise to cooperatives which have enabled ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things.

The Turnaround

I am not sure exactly when it happened but what I know now is that the philosophy of life in the world today is, “Every man for himself, and God for us all”. The sense of togetherness nurtured by our forefathers has been replaced by intense greed and selfishness. Wives are killing their husbands to inherit wealth accumulated together as a team. Children are killing their parents so as to remain with whatever property the family owns. Nobody wants to share anymore. Everything is now designed to favour lone rangers and all unions and associations are breaking up.

Devolution

I remember as a small boy listening to the former President Moi warning Kenyans against majimbo, which is Swahili for devolution. He told us that this is what would break up Kenya as a country. Nobody took heed and now we have the majimbo that we were warned about. It is hard to tell whether the benefits of devolution outweigh the shortcomings and vice versa but, it’s obvious that majimbo is here to stay. The kind of problems it has created tells me that Mzee Moi may have been right after all.

East African Community

My driving license is a small red booklet with seven pages. It is bulky to carry and does not fit well in my shirt pocket without bulging and protruding in an unsightly manner. Every year when I renew it, I have to stick an extra paper on page three meaning that it continues swelling in proportion to my driving experience. For a professional driver like me, it works in the same way that a university graduate has to wear heavy and oversize gowns emblazoned with all kinds of bright coloured paraphernalia during the ceremony where he is given the power to read (sic).

There is something on my driving license whose meaning I could not tell until I asked my dad. Between the words ‘Republic of Kenya’ and ‘Driving License’, there is an oval shape with the abbreviation ‘EAK’. This, my dad told me, stood for East Africa Kenya. The license was designed at a time when the three East African countries of Kenya Uganda and Tanzania were joined at the hip. They did everything communally. Ugandan licenses were written “EAU” while Tanzanian ones had the abbreviation “EAT”.

Listening to some reviews recently, it turns out that the three countries are not so fond of each other anymore. In fact, it is reported that Uganda went so far as refusing to endorse the expensive and highly publicised Standard Gauge railway that Kenya was building to serve the two countries. Apparently, Uganda now claims to have made its own similar deal with Tanzania at the exclusion of Kenya. This is the Kenya that once stood as the big brother of the community, but is now operating like an orphan in the region. So much for taking big loans to build the railway and some big roads in the spirit of good neighbourliness.

Tribal Affiliations

As at the time of Kenya’s independence, there were probably less than ten graduates in government. However, the leaders then were able to hold the country together in a way that amazed even our former colonial rulers. Today, the vast majority of leaders at all levels of government are graduates or well educated professional in various fields. They are however (in this 21^st Century A.D.) responsible for creating one of the most tribally polarised countries in the region. At a time when most children and youth cannot speak in their mother tongue if their lives depended on it, every individual is painfully aware of their tribal affiliation and is ready to die or kill for it.

We are the unfortunate generation that has given itself the task of taking human kind back to prehistoric times when only the physically or numerically strong survive. There is a bigger exodus than that which happened during the time of Moses in the bible. It is the frantic exodus of people hastily retreating into their family, clan, tribal, community, and country cocoons. You know what they say, “If you can’t beat them, join them”. Make sure you know the direction and distance of your cocoon because you never know when you might need to make a hasty retreat into it.