WHO SHALL CONDOLE WITH THE POOR, THE NEGLECTED, THE POWERLESS...?

I find it hard to understand man - the Adams and Eves of today. They claim to be sons and daughters of one Supreme Power but fail to grasp the fact that humans live because others live. That man becomes "complete" when those around him become "complete". 

Our wellbeing is grounded on the philosophy of coexistence and of mutual respect. It's premised on the collective thought of people - that of rejoicing together and grieving together. To claim to be apart from others is a fallacy of the highest degree. We are linked. We were cut from the same cloth - whether poor or rich, literate or illiterate, powerful or powerless, etc.

Which begs the question - why do we amplify our cries when the upper class grieves and be muted when the poorest of the poor are killed like rats? 

It's so paradoxical that even the poor, the powerless, the neglected...have joined this choir. They sing the song of the powerful. That of recognizing the death of the powerful and forgetting the challenges of the weak. They scold and pull down fellow poor men. They don't believe in themselves and keep on casting aspersions on the successful ones amongst them.

No amount of misdoings shall give peace to man's conscience - and to the world. Such acts will trigger tsunamis and tremors that will crush humanity. It's just a matter of time. 

We mourn as nation when death knocks at the doors of the who-is-who in town. We plant trees in memory of their souls. We contribute the little we have to support their families. We do all (that) we are told to do to express our greatest love for the departed. Then we retreat to our cocoons to wait for another "big guy" to die for us to rise up in "solidarity".

A society that believes this is the right thing to do is a society courting disasters. It's a society that promotes oppression. It thrives on segregation and sloganization. These double-standards will kill us.

The lives of the slum dwellers are as precious as those of upmarket chaps. If planting trees and erecting statues in memory of the souls of tragedy-hit rich and powerful is the way to go, the poor and powerless killed daily by preventable diseases also must be accorded these last respects - at least in death for we have failed to respect them while still alive.

UNMASKING THE KENYAN SCHOLARSHIP CARTEL

It pays nothing fruitful to steal what will haunt one's conscience for eternity. All theft is bad. But some surpass the degree of tolerance any right-thinking society can accord.

I'm disturbed by the kind of trajectory we've taken to satisfy ourselves. Perhaps this is informed by my belief that the opposite of poverty is justice, not wealth. And justice is grounded on how we think and act. 

Let me break the ice for you: foreign scholarships to Kenya are a preserve of thieves - "official thieves" masquerading as your servants in the high places of the Kenyan nation. They have raped the Kenyan soul and (they) continue doing so. Literally, they have perfected the art of stealing.

You hear them talking of representing the national face and brandishing "official documents" in support of this. But follow them and get the shock of your life. Those government boardrooms up there are "a den of scholarship schemers". 

They auction these golden opportunities advanced to the Kenyan people by friendly nations/organizations to the highest bidder - or their village-mates' sons and daughters. For them, this is the best way to "represent Kenya". They abhor the competitive spirit. They fear it because they have never tried it.

Integrity is a foreign ideology to them - to adopt this ideology is akin to killing the goose that gives forth life-giving eggs. Their conscience is soiled. It's corrupted beyond repair. Their right place is hell - not even the Kamiti gaol. 

It pains alot welcoming innocent minds year-in year-out with funny stories of how their fathers/mothers/uncles/aunties got the places (scholarship) for them. It's depressing. This is indicative of our transformation of virtues into vices and vices into virtues. This is how "developed" we've become.

But we can slay this monster. Now is the time. A central authority in-charge of scholarships can help dismantle this cartel. Staying vigilant is what is demanded of us if we aspire to win this fight. May we restore the Kenyan soul to its former self.

GOVERNOR NANOK - THE RISING STAR FROM THE NORTH

There is time for everything under the sun. There is time to cry and time to smile. Time to till the land and time to harvest the fruits of our labour. These aren't my words. The Bible tells us so. But wait. I have some good news for you: it's time for Turkana to smile and to harvest the fruit of its labour.

 But before we reach there, let’s look up North and see the rising Star. A Star is shining. It's lighting up the dark paths for the sons and daughters of God to walk unhindered. The people are dancing and rejoicing for they have seen the God of the rising Star speak with authority. They are singing praise songs to the Almighty for sending this golden Star unto them.

This Star is personified in Governor Josphat Koli Nanok - a.k.a Nokia. This son of the land is proving the prophecy: He walks with the people. He feels for them. He is disturbed by their suffering. He isn't a settled man. He loves his people to the core. His words and thoughts are indicative of this love.

 His opponents know this. They understand very well that this man isn't the hot-air type - those who shout but rarely talk meaningful and progressive words. They have confused his silence to cowardliness. For them, bravery is shouting so as to be seen by the masses. 

But Governor Nanok is proving them wrong. He has mastered the art of attack and counter-attack. He isn't a hot-headed chap wandering around shouting empty words. He engages brains to bring forth solutions - long-lasting ones. It's this character that has endeared him to the masses. 

He demonstrates a figure of a guy who knows he isn't a depository of all knowledge. That knowledge is "dispersed" to all people irrespective of their sizes, character, gender or ethnic extraction. He easily gets this knowledge with a mastery never seen (before) in Turkana - and probably in Kenya. This warrior is truly the messiah that my people have been longing for.

The shortest time it has taken him to climb the leadership ladder in Turkana is in itself an evidence of a son loved by the people. They say good people are rare - and Turkana County is lucky to get this rarest creature. 

There are those who may attribute his rise to some magic power or power-of-money. To them I say - shut up and join the Walk to Canaan. The train has already left the station. Soon we shall reach that Promised Land.  The land flowing with milk and honey!                

OF ILLEGAL KISSES AND ANTI-ROMANCE LAWS

The last thing mankind can do is to forget policing himself. Man - has elevated his place among the living creatures - as a character that is capable of crafting laws and designing the social landscape of all living creatures. It's a role we all believe is rightly placed unto him.

But something interesting happened some few days ago. The matter rotated around - LOVE. Yes, love. A Far East nation passed a law restricting male-female interactions "so as to tame their romance". Closer to where I reside, two under-18s were arrested for kissing in a "manner that suggests romance."

What captured my imaginations was the justification propagated to warrant the restrictions imposed. Which led me to ask these questions: Is there any measure of romance? Can romance be tamed through laws and arrests? Can physical contacts be the only proof of romance?

 I understand and accept the reasoning behind these restrictions. It's grounded on the need to save mankind from the unforgiving jaws of HIV/AIDS. Its philosophy is sound and clean.  It seeks to advance the thinking that lack of decency is the cause of destruction we witness. 

Despite the sweetness of this reasoning, I find it useful to scratch it further to unearth the fallacy in its application. This is why. There is no way we can treat actions and thoughts differently. Actions demonstrate the thoughts we harbor within us. Thoughts on the other hand are enriched by the content we consume.

It's a proven truth that bad content begets bad thoughts and bad thoughts beget bad actions. To punish persons for their actions without questioning the content they consume is akin to jumping the queue. It's valueless. It advances hypocrisy.

War against HIV/AIDS can only be won through cleansing of our thoughts. We must refine what we pump into our brains if we aspire to live in a safe and clean world. To jail persons for kissing is farcical and negates the very objectives that we purport to advance. 

IT'S TIME TO FIGHT HIV/AIDS WITH OPEN HEARTS

               Recently I had a talk with a doctor friend of mine. The talk was generally about how Mother Nature is tormenting humanity.  My friend was disturbed by the suffering man is undergoing due to what he called, "the highhandedness of Mother Nature". He singled out HIV/AIDS, earthquakes and such kind of things. For him, Mother Nature is "over-reacting and hitting hard" on its children. 

              He continued stating that it disturbs a man's conscience seeing sons and daughters of Adam dying daily of HIV/AIDS. You could read his frustration from his choice of words. 

              But then I countered by asking to know if Mother Nature is acting unprovoked. I wanted to know if it was logical to blame Nature. I was/am of the opinion that man remains the biggest player in shaping his destiny. Hence should shoulder the blame. 

              I based my thinking on  recent research findings released by the Ministry of Health - Kenya. This research beamed a red light to the educated. It moved on to state that this group is heavily hit by HIV/AIDS. That there is high HIV prevalence among the educated than is among the "unschooled".

              For me, this sounded like, no these guys aren't serious. But I later swallowed my ego and accepted the bitter truth. I recalled the words of icon Nelson Mandela that the fight against HIV/AIDS can't be won if we hide truths and treat bitter truths as untruths. 

              Which begs the questions - is lack of education a possible solution to HIV/AIDS? What is the essence of educating minds if education shapes not their ways of life? If the educated succumb to this monster, who will guide humanity?

              Methinks man is to blame for all the woos  he is facing. He holds the key to his destiny. The educated have allowed ego to fill their heads. They have vomited all the fruits of education.  

              But this isn't the end of the game. It's not time for us to fold our hands and cry. Let's interrogate our past actions so as to correct the present and perfect the future. Time is now!