......Forever Hold Your Peace

Some of you are saying, “The Layman has missed the first part of this sentence”. Sorry to disappoint you. This statement is complete for two reasons. First, this is not a wedding. Second, and more importantly, this is Kenya in the 21^st Century. In Kenya today, if you did not speak up about something yesterday, you may not do so today or at any other time in the future. Now you understand that you have only one choice; to shut up!

Koffi Olomide has come and gone. This time however, he has provided us with a different kind of entertainment. He has shown off his remarkable martial arts skills. He has also shown us an ingenious way of dealing with those who want to harm our women. He has taught us that if someone wants to beat any of our women, we should beat the woman ourselves so that the stalker, or whoever else it is, will have no option but to turn away and leave since his (or her) work has been done for them.

If you have not noticed, I have avoided saying anything negative about Mr. Olomide. This is because I don’t want to get into trouble with our self-appointed morality police. They are on the prowl for people of my kind who think they can just wake up one day and decide that all of a sudden they have eyes to see injustices today that they have failed to see at any other time in the past.

Some months back, France was attacked by terrorists. In sympathy with the grief they were going through, none other than Mark Zuckerberg himself, installed a function on Facebook. For a predetermined period, users could place a veil of the French flag on their profile pictures. One half of Facebookers took up the call to stand with France. The other half was on the case of first half. They had some very unkind words (many of the unprintable) claiming that those sympathising with France were hypocrites of the highest order. This being in the backdrop of the Garissa terrorist attack, the self-righteous among us accused us of not sympathising to the same measure with our fellow Kenyans.

There has been rising accusations by women against men. The women have been claiming that men have not been defending them when they are humiliated and abused. A case in point is when a woman was stripped naked on the street and men who were there appeared not just to do nothing, but also seemed to enjoy the ‘show’. A lot of men, me included, cannot watch this happening in our presence and do nothing. However, according to the new dispensation, we are better off not doing or saying anything because we are already guilty together with our perverted brothers.

The country is primed for an election next year. Voters are asking the usual questions that precede any election. “Who should I give my vote for the Presidency, Senate, Gubernatorial, National Assembly, and County Assembly?” These are good questions because in an ideal situation, they lead to leaders who have been chosen objectively based on their credentials and track record. The situation in the country is however not ideal. There is a weird reasoning by voters that it is better to go for the ‘devil you know that the angel you don’t’. I have heard a strange question being asked that, “If we don’t elect the current position holders, how will we get other befitting people for these posts?” My counter question is this, “Out of 40 Million Kenyans, are there no other people who are either equally or more suitable than the ones we have now to lead us?”

It is true that if elections were held today, a lot of the current holders of various positions would still win. In Africa, it is called the “Power of the Incumbent”. Incumbent office holders are like small gods to be worshipped. Word on the ground is that these leaders will be leading us well into the foreseeable future. After that future, they will probably pass us on to their protégés to lead us into the unforeseeable future. That is the truth of the matter. Deal with it and make sure you forever hold your peace!