THE ONE MAN BATTLE.

As Kenyans, we have always wondered how our leaders continue to rule this country with a level of impunity that is unimaginable. We have always asked why people with such strong and dedicated personalities fight for our country only to end up being the most corrupt when we elect them for political positions. I will tell you the answer, because we the citizens are all cowards. We talk behind our closed doors and make noise about our dysfunctional governments and yet when we are called upon or an opportunity comes along for us to put our thoughts to action, we all run and hide behind our tribal blankets.

Today I speak to those Kenyans who have always said our country lacks leaders who take initiative. Isn’t Raila doing that on this whole Mau saga? Or what exactly is our definition of taking initiative? The prime minister has gone against the political current to save the Mau forest. Don’t you think it would have been much easier and politically correct for Raila to simply pretend the Mau destruction was irrelevant? Instead he has been fighting a one man battle for months now. Where are the so called environmental civil society organizations? I bet we are all hiding in the fear of being branded political entities. Where are our church leaders who always seem to have something to say about our bad politicians? Or do we only open our mouths to speak when we are critiquing and not when a good initiative needs our support.

I say this to you Kenyans, unless we learn to start recognizing good deeds done by some of our citizens, we will be sending the message to those few who are daring enough to take a stand that Kenyans do not really care either way. I know that not all of us can be as daring as Okiya Omtatah Okoiti, but the least we can do to support such individuals is to let them know that we approve and are grateful for their actions as Kenyans. So as president Kibaki sits in state house pondering whether planting the trees in Mau is worth his time, let the Kenyans send a message that we will stand behind those who try to save our nation, regardless of their political affiliations. We will plant those trees in Mau whether or not the politicians will be present.