“Let me show you a tree that was planted by your President”, a Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park guide said to me as he patted me on the shoulder. The short but well-built man, whom I later knew as Moses, holding my hand like that of a child, caught my attention with the mention of my President. A minute later I was gently caressing the leaves of a young tree whose species was unknown to me as I posed for a photo by its side. On it was a tag with the inscription, “Planted by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Kenya, E. M. Kibaki”.
Immediately I could identify with this memento to Ghana from my President. I felt a strong sense of attachment to it. I could hear the question it silently asked of me, “How are the people back home?”
“Your country has a good record of achievements: you excel in athletics, you have a Nobel Peace Prize winner, and you have agreed on a new constitution”, Moses went on, interrupting my thoughts as they drifted homewards.
“So how do you feel being a Kenyan?”
“I m …”
At this moment, the rest of the group, youth representing Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific regions in the “Youth Exchange and Training Workshop on Web 2.0 for Agricultural and Rural Development”, organised by the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) in collaboration with several partners, and held in Accra, Ghana, in March, 2011, joined us and our conversation with Moses ended.
The tree was not different from others around it, but for me it stood out. There was something common and special between my President and me that it held. The atmosphere around it spoke something regarding where we both came from. This something could not be traced to the colour of our skins, the tribe(s) we belonged to, the social class or residential constituency. Religion, education, philosophy of life and eating habit may have been different but they didn’t stay on the way of this special thing. There was a strong pillar that supported the very ground on which I, an ordinary mwananchi, and my President, stood. This pillar is our being Kenyan, a status that goes beyond geographical boundaries.
“I am proud to be Kenyan”, is what I would have responded to Moses. Yet this simple statement of faith has often been maligned as people edit it to bring forth the most loathsome meanings. It has been abused by heinous acts of a handful of individuals with emptiness in their hearts and minds. But nobody can take away the nobility that is at its core.
Being Kenyan is beyond being a black man, one mostly seen in dire poverty, surrounded by calamities, such as floods and famine, beyond being a local of a region and a tribe, formerly a British colonial subject. It goes past the prestige of living in a posh estate in the outskirts of Nairobi and rolling in a multi-million limousine.
Being Kenyan is refusing to be like the one who has appropriated the goods of the country through corrupt deals, a bigot who enslaves the poor rural folk by misguided philosophies of tribal dominance or supposedly traditional cultural practices. Selling concocted deadly liquor to jobless youth is not part of the definition of a Kenyan.
“Kenyan” means to belong to a people with a strong bond of brotherhood and sisterhood upon which, as the National Anthem states, peace, love and unity rest. Being a Kenyan means being ready to live, work and associate with those of a different mind. It is a person who regards other tribes not as inferior to his. It is a man or woman whose greatest joy comes when peace and tranquillity surpasses any bad will from a villain.
A Kenyan elicits sparks of patriotism which illuminates the good of our country. He/she, regardless of skin colour, gender, ethnic tribe, age, economic status, carries within him/her an inherent statesmanship. A Kenyan is one who – if the need arises – is ready to withstand forest cold and rains, bullets, imprisonment and even death, fighting for the land of Kenya. A Kenyan recognises and pays tribute to our freedom fighters, not by feasting on their memorial day, but by carrying on the love they had for Kenya.
A Kenyan is always mindful of future generations. He/she, therefore, is in the frontline, planting trees, spreading HIV/AIDS awareness, preaching integration and making strategic plans for the future. He/she is the current freedom fighter, warring against economic, environmental and social enemies. This a Kenyan does regardless of betrayal and deception that may threaten to sweep him/her away.
A Kenyan invests in his/her country, promotes employment, discourages tribalism, racism and nepotism, shuns gender violence and instead calls for equality among all Kenyans. He appeals for respect for Kenya’s ethnic diversity in leadership and policy making debates. One is never a complete Kenyan if one does not enhance all the qualities and values that will form the synergy needed in achieving Vision 2030.
A Kenyan is not one who is quick to oppose his/her leaders, for ever mistrusting them. Instead, he/she is attached to the symbolic acts of his leaders, be it a tree planted to represent Kenya abroad, participating in international conferences or attending international games to motivate the country’s talented sportsmen and women.
A Kenyan stands by his/her country despite the hardships it undergoes. He/she participates in Kenyans for Kenyans campaigns, donates blood and a blanket for Sinai victims, does not hoard essential commodities, and is ready to exercise his/her democratic rights in national activities like referendums, censuses and elections.
I will be nothing if not this – a Kenyan. And the photo by that three in Ghana planted by my President is both one of the most precious possessions in my life and a stern reminder of how I should live my life as a Kenyan.
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