WHO ARE THESE PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANTS?

This post is Unique to the Kenyan experience. You may find that you are not really following the examples, unless of course you have kept yourself abreast with the political situation in that country. That being said, there is definitely a Life Signatures message in this post for whoever will persevere to read to the end.

Kenya as a nation is standing on what I believe to be its greatest crossroads since independence. The country has a brand new constitution and would be ushering in the first ever general elections under that dispensation. It is precarious as it is challenging for this beautiful country to oversee it’s own true transition close to fifty years after independence.

As I was travelling by bus from Nairobi Kenya on to Kampala Uganda, we traversed very many regions. As usual, my mind was always thinking of this and that in relation to the current political climate in that country. For example, as we passed from Nairobi to Nakuru, I most definitely thought of non other than Uhuru Kenyatta, a Presidential Candidate. It appeared to me that the region we were traversing was his ‘stronghold’. 

Then of course we had to pass through the Rift Valley areas like Kapsabet, Kipkelion and so on, and automatically, I thought of non other than William Ruto, another presidential candidate.  By the time we entered Kaimosi and on to Chavakali, a new entrant in the presidential race with a brand new party Musalia Mudavadi crossed my mind. Before I could think enough about the Mudavadi guy, we were definitely in Kisumu, Raila Odinga’s stronghold. 

I honestly got sickened by all these thoughts on 'strongholds'. I started asking myself: What kind of country are we living in as Kenyans? I thought: What are the Ideologies that these presidential candidates are championing? Come to think of it. When we think about Uhuru Kenyatta, what IDEOLOGY comes to our mind? Honestly? How about William Ruto? What are his ideologies, let alone the party he is using for his presidential bid! What ‘new’ ideology is Musalia Mudavadi bringing in this whole circus? Isn't it sickening that we hear zero content on ideologies, visions, missions, passions of these guys…yet they all want to be the henchmen of our beloved nation? Isn't that just a load of bunk? Why should Vision 2030 not be in the forefront of the very men and women who are up smarting it out to lead this great country? Without a vision, people perish! How so worse when the people's king is visionless, directionless, and passionless for the very country he wants to lead!

Let me ask this question...why would one want to vote for Uhuru Kenyatta? Some people would consider this to be a rather cynical question, even politically incorrect. OK, for good measure, let me ask again...why would one want to vote for Raila Odinga, or William Ruto, or Martha Karua, or Musalia Mudavadi? Have we seriously thought about that? Does it matter anyway? Should it matter the answer? Is it because they are passionate about the country? Is it because they have vision? Is it because they have great teams behind them? Let me ask again...can the word 'Statesman' be mentioned in the same breath as the names of these guys? That is a sobering question worth a retake.

One thing about ideologies is the permanance of pursuit. If we knew these presidential aspirants as say, Reformist, or Economist, or Democratic...or any pure ideology, and are able to identify with those ideologies year in and out, wouldnt that be something? I have found out that tribal groupings are fickle...non of them since independence has held any water. Ideological groupings on the other hand hold UNTIL the ideology is obtained, and even then, it must be maintained.

Then again, let’s look at ourselves as the citizens of this country. Individually…and corporately…what are our ideologies? Between being a tribalistic country and a country filled with pursuits of dreams and Ideologies…what camp do we belong to? See, once we identify who we really are as a country, we stand in a pole position to move forward. It really adds no value to us to sing out that we have a new constitution and that we are not tribalistic, yet to the very bone we exude tribal biases! I talk to learned people and sometimes, a good number of them lean on the tribal train. Look, we either come out and ACCEPT that we are a nation of different varieties of people and use that knowledge well or our pretenses will catch up with us. You see, there is something so beautiful about variety. Sometimes one thing can be boring. Variety spells beauty…and so we should look at it that way. My biggest question to all Kenyans is this: What is our content?

A story is told about when the Berlin wall separated East and West. The Eastern guys one day got loads of trash and garbage and dumped it on the Western side. For good measure, the Westerners did their own dumping, but it was not of garbabe. It was of niceties and presents with a message thus: You give only what you can! This is so sobering a message!

And that is just it. You can only dump what you have. Remember, Ideologies are more permanent than emotional leanings. As a Visionary, I gotta ask you this question: What are your ideologies? What do we know you by? It's time we re-examined ourselves. Have an ideological week, wont you?

PS. No government is formed to specifically help you with fulfilling your dreams! SELAH