Kenya @ 50

I was one of the Kenyans who had been waiting eagerly for the public lecture by his Excellency the retired president, Mr. Kibaki. Kenya is turning 50 and that was one of the events planned to celebrate our jubilee year. Great expectations make frustrated men. There I was frustrated, that this economic genius of a man decided for some reason to read a speech instead of engage in an academic discourse. And to my chagrin, choose not to answer questions that came from the public gallery. Surely, he should have indulged us, but on his part our retired president has never been a predictable man.

As the president read his speech it occurred to me that the man born in 1931 was about 50 years when I landed on this planet. I wondered to myself when he celebrated his 50^th birthday what he thought. He must have been the minister of finance then. Did he think that was the beginning of the end of his career, or that one day he would be president?  One can’t tell, but for sure a whooping 21 years later when he was 71 years old he became president. And though it was when this country recorded its citizenry being the most optimistic people, it is also the era Kenyans learnt the art of bickering (serious bickering). It is also when we became aware that upgrading a 50 kilometers stretch of road can change life of scores upon scores of people. What if Mr. Kibaki at 50 had folded his loins and decided that it was over?

One thing though that really got me thinking is the answer he gave when he was asked whether he thinks there things he thought he should have done that he didn’t do. And as usual he seemed perplexed by such a question. And he said “Do what you can and are expected to do now, don’t think of what you will not have done in the future.’’. To me, my frustration and unmet expectations, that was the greatest thing I took from that public lecture on that day at my alma mater.

Do what you can do now and what is expected of you now. If you throw this at Kenyans a large number will say they are doing whatever that is, but is that true? Let’s take a deep breath and ask ourselves for example how many of us and our friends drink and drive. And I don’t mean those who drink water and milk. Weekend after weekend we endanger our lives and those of other citizens with reckless abandon. People actually die, others are maimed or injured, and cars are written off and so on and so forth. Have we done what we can do?

He might not have been an angel, but at his 71 years the citizens of this Country learnt to do so many things differently, in fact for awhile we all wore seatbelts while using the public transport system. And so as we turn 50 as a country the question we ought to ask ourselves is what have we achieved to show for it? What can we do and are expected to do? And finally, no matter how thick things are can we change the course of destiny for this country in the next few years by just looking at it critically today? It is a responsibility that both the citizens and leaders of this nation ought to take. And we could start by just understanding that you should not drink and drive. Unless you drink water or milk.

Enjoy the 50 years celebration and then get to work.