OF DEDAN'S KIMATHI DEATH AND BIRTH OF PEOPLES' CONSCIOUSNESS

18th February, 1957 was the moment. On this day, 57 years ago, a Son of the Soil was captured and publicly executed for standing up against the excesses of a colonial power and all its collaborators. To the British, he was a terrorist, a saboteur, a devil and a criminal who deserved neither sorrow nor sympathy.

To his fellow sufferers, fighters, Africans and admirers, he stood as the symbol of courage and a light of hope. He was their god - a moral colossus that knew not the oppressive frontiers of Man. He disrespected the oppressors and all their extensions.

He stood by what was (and is still) morally right but unpopular in the eyes of the who-is-who at the time. He was the self-appointed police of the masses. He suffered for them. He was jailed for them. And he paid the ultimate price for them. That they may be free. That they may decide for themselves their destiny, their future and their lives.

This is not a call for us to worship this hero. Neither is it a declaration of infallibility on his part. He was human. He was like us. He felt like us. He was born, lived and died like any of us will eventually do!

At 37 years of age, this man pulled strings and shook the oppressive machinery of the time. He outwitted them but was finally betrayed by those he fought for.

Time for self-examination

Kimathi fought the fight; he won the battle and gifted us with independence. With this, it is therefore, incumbent upon us to cleanse our souls, to reflect and to stand up in the defense of the ideals that freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi fought for.

We must stand up and say NO to post-independence injustices, theft and neglect of the poor and the marginalized. 

This is the golden moment for all of us to shape the destiny of our generation. We must stand for posterity. Kimathi did it and that is why we are who we are.

Kimathi's humanist thinking

Let his selflessness and courage be the guiding star that opens our eyes every time. His resolve to soldier on should open our consciousness of what is demanded of us. Let it be the catalyst of actions - progressive actions. 

His 'stubbornness' must always be our constant North that compels us to think, think, think and see each other as part of us.

This is what we miss. And our hero has gifted us with it. Stand for truth and be the change you want! Rest In Peace Kimathi.

Twitter: @mlemukol