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Penned on 28th January 2014

Yesterday a dream died. It had been sick for a long time, withering on its deathbed waiting for its inevitable fate but still hoping against hope for some salvation, desperately fighting to see another new dawn when the rays of the yellow sun would gently dance on it but alas yesterday it finally succumbed to its many ailments.

It died a horrible and monstrous death. A death none can even wish upon his worst enemy.

Smothered by the indifference and apathy of the millions the dream died. Chocked by the uncaring masses who hastened its horrible death with their passiveness.

The millions cheered and applauded as they watched the dream breathing its last. The dream desperately clung onto life, fighting with every last breath as a small minority willed it to live. But the weight of the millions soon strangled the dream and it breathed its last and was extinguished.

Today I sit at my computer to write about me, about you and about us.

We are the architects of the death of a dream, our shared dream. The unfortunate architects of our own decline, descent, and ultimately our own demise.

It is said our founding fathers 50 years ago had a dream for us all. A dream of a united nation, a dream of justice and equality for all, a dream of a prosperous nation where every man, woman and child can pursue their ambitions and aspirations and live in harmony, a dream of a healthy nation free of sickness and disease, a dream of a contented nation not ravaged by famine and hunger, a dream of a young nation that shall be an example for Africa, a dream of a United Africa a dream for us all.

But architects of doom stole this dream and ran away with it. They replaced our shared dream with their dream that was premised on the selfish concept of benefiting a few and oppressing the rest. Ten millionaires and Ten million paupers their mantra. They carry this dream from generation to generation. It is not a shared dream for this dream is fueled by their greed and a nightmare to many. Yet we the masses have continued to let these architects of doom continue to murder our dream as we silently sit and watch.

This week I saw Legislators allied to the government on television finally admitting that the railway project as has been widely reported is riddled with corruption and intrigue.

They jumped up and down one by one screaming, panting and pointing fingers at unnamed cartels that they blamed for the corruption intrigues on the railway tender. They claimed these cartels have continued to thrive from one presidency to another. Their itchy fingers ready to raid Treasury every year no matter who the occupant of the seat on the house on the hill is.

The legislators gave the President and Deputy President one week to dismantle these corruption cartels or they will be forced to dismantle them themselves. What was more telling was that none of them named a single person to be behind the corruption cartels though speaker after speaker spoke with conviction and belief about the existence of these cartels. None even hinted at the identities of the members of these cartels.

The Fourth Estate too reported widely on the legislators claims but none of them too has dared to expose the members of these cartels.

This should be enough to get any Kenyan worried that there can exist a cabal of powerful people who no one can dare name or shame in public. One should be worried that no one in the country can be brave enough to call out this clique of shadowy people who exist behind the veil but whose pockets are lined with billions siphoned off the unsuspecting and hapless public.

A week did not have to pass by before they got a response.

First it was the horror of watching the Deputy President talking tough telling Kenyans that no one will stop them building the railway that has already been confirmed to be riddled with corruption. The final nail in the coffin came the next day as I was further stunned as I watched none other than the President at the State House flanked by his Deputy and a whole retinue of Cabinet Secretaries and government officials state categorically that the railway project was above board and will continue as planned. No talk about correcting the issues of corruption and irregularities previously raised but only defiant talk that the project will go on whether we like it or not and those dissatisfied can as well as hug a pole.

The Cartels had won! We were powerless to stop this juggernaut of unnamed individuals whose needs to line their pockets with our billions seem to surpass the needs and wants of the masses!

And we the people sit quietly twiddling our thumbs.

I remember listening to HOT96 FM yesterday at 3:30pm when the presenter said something that resonated with me and perhaps you. He said that Kenyans are an indifferent lot. They do not care about things that directly impact them because they feign ignorance. They pretend they do not understand that the money lost in corruption and suspect deals is my money and your money. Our money and we will pay for this indifference in one way or the other because we refused to get angry enough to do something about it. We sit and hear about irregular railway tenders then hear the leadership defend it and declare they will go on in spite of all issues raised and we do not say a word yet this will soon translate to higher taxes, high cost of living, poor service delivery, poverty and death with a few untouchables lining their pockets with my money, your money, our money.

We are an indifferent lot. We simply have given up on fighting. Fighting for our dreams. Fighting for our rights. Fighting for our futures. Fighting for our children. Fighting for our democracies. Fighting for a better way of life. Fighting for accountability. Fighting for equality and justice. Fighting for one nation and one people. Perhaps we think it is not our fight. Ours is to pay taxes every month, vote every five years and when the time comes die! Perhaps it is not our country we feel. We own no part of it.

We fight those who dare speak out and fight for us.

When Boniface Mwangi @BonifaceMwangi takes on the establishment for the betterment of the masses the very masses do not join him. Instead they ask who the sources of his funding are and we dismiss him as a mouthpiece for foreign powers and forget the ideals and values he is fighting for. The masses forget the sources of his funds which have been clearly stated are not the source of our problems.

When activists including John Githongo @johngithongo pen a letter asking for accountability in the railway tender the masses are at it again questioning why he left his job and fled to western countries and forget he is fighting for me, for you, for our dreams and our collective futures. The masses are blind to the cause he fights for and instead attack his persona.

When PLO Lumumba passionately speaks about the corruption that’s draining the resources of the nation the masses are quick to dismiss him as a failure during his term in office at Integrity house. Unqualified to speak for the silent masses to whom corruption is an inevitable way of life that they have learned to tolerate and not question.

When Tom Mboya @Tommboya articulates the way forward in relation to the intrigue and corruption riddled railway tender and offers advice on how we can stem corruption whilst advocating for good governance the masses quickly pick out his polished English and tag him as an elitist who doesn’t understand our problems. Yet there he is. Speaking for me. Speaking for you. Speaking for us all.

When Shamit Patel @just_sham_it gets angry about the sorry state of healthcare where infants share incubators that are procured at exorbitant prices at the New Born Unit at the Kenyatta hospital and the nurses at the unit lack syringes and diapers he is labeled by the masses as a propagandist. The hospital cannot lack basic equipment they scream from the comfort of their sofas whilst he speaks while on the ground at this very unit afflicted by these simple challenges still persisting 50 years on.

When an online movement like @KOTDemands gives the masses a potent platform to speak in one strong powerful voice, make them heard as they channel their demands to the leadership the masses ignore it and instead focus on tweeting and retweeting jokes and mundane pictures and wait to troll others rather than make their voice heard.

The fight has been left for the few but the masses wish to enjoy these fruits. They throw up their arms and sit back to watch as the few are beaten, bludgeoned and tear gassed.

Theirs is to wait to partake the fruits of that struggle.

In hushed tones they will speak.

They will speak about their lost aspirations blown away by raging winds of corruption, their broken dreams staring back at them on broken reflections, of lost opportunities stolen by the wolves in our society, of the citizens dying of hunger in Samburu and Turukana and those dying in senseless wars in Moyale, of an unjust society where the scales of justice seem swayed by the sizes of ones pocket, of the oppression of the weak by the strong, of the cancer tribalism gnawing away at the fabric of the nation, of the endemic corruption that’s draining public resources, of ghost workers and unseen hands and that siphon the billions from Treasury, the terrible state of our roads and of the matatu menace that are a law unto themselves, of inadequate and poor infrastructure, of the unaffordable private healthcare and wanting public healthcare facilities and services, of the threat of crime by fat cats who steal without breaking a sweat, of the unnecessary deaths on our roads and hospitals, of the threat of terror attacks on our country that has become a terrorists playground, of the rampant poaching of our precious wildlife resources and encroachment of our parks, of unresponsive and unreachable leadership and of a Presidency they voted but do not own.

Yet they will not get angry enough to start fighting back and reclaiming what is rightfully theirs. They will not get angry enough to ask the hard questions and demand accountability from our leadership. They will not get angry enough to ask for permanent solutions to the perennial drought and famine cycles that affect us every year. They will not get angry enough to demand that the citizens of all parts of Kenya be provided adequate security and our borders secured. They will not get angry enough to elect real leaders into positions of leadership instead of recycling famous politicians who have been weighed and measured and found wanting. They will not get angry enough to demand better roads and infrastructure. They will not get angry enough at the politician who is asking them to turn against each other every five years and then disappears for five years whilst you deal with the fall-outs of fighting a neighbor, a brother and a friend. They will not be angry enough to ask for opportunities for all and eradication of the bigwig syndrome.

They will not get angry enough to tell the crazy matatu drivers to slow down, drive carefully and stop endangering their lives. They will not get angry enough to join activists when they stand and question the establishment. They will not get angry enough to demand for better security and protection. They will not get angry enough to expose the poachers and demand protection of this vital wildlife resource that supports our tourism. They will not get angry enough to kick out tribalism by starting to see each other as Kenyans who all have a right to be here. They will not get angry enough to demand for better and more affordable healthcare and healthcare facilitates that are fully equipped and staffed to cater for the citizens.

They will not get angry enough to demand that the leaders expose and crush these unnamed cartels that seem to be holding the country ransom and killing my future and my children’s future. Killing your future and your children’s future. They will not get angry enough to demand these unmasked ghosts be handed down a sentence far much worse than jail for jail is a luxury for cartels that rob the poor.

I am angry now.

But I am angry now. I will speak. I will shout. I will rant. I will rave. I will ask hard questions. I will demand better rights. I will fight for my future, for my children’s future. I will demand justice and equality. I will ask the crazy matatu driver not to put my life at risk. I will not be silent in the face of oppression. I will demand for better and universal healthcare for all. I will demand for a fair and independent judiciary where justice will prevail. I will demand for responsive and pro active leadership. I will demand for transparency at the Treasury where my money is spent. I will demand accountability for all projects my money pays for. I will rise to speak when activists rise to speak for me. I will offer myself to be bludgeoned, beaten and tear gassed as I quest for justice. I will speak out against corruption, against violence, against poverty, against tribalism, poaching, against unresponsive leadership, against a few thriving on the sweat of the masses.

I will speak. I will not be silenced. I will resuscitate my dream, your dream, and our dream. But I need you to get angry enough to start doing something today. Start doing something now even is its just simply sending a text, an email or a tweet. Do something. Let your voice be heard. Let our voices be heard.

~ Maxwell Kado ~

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