Chuka’s centenary celebrations

 Chuka’s centenary celebrations

“I have not even told you a half of the story. Thing is, I don’t know where to start but I believe the best way to write is not for a writer to lead a story but the story to lead the writer.”- Musyoka Ngui

Wednesday marked the end of this semester’s syllabus. All the lectures are now over. It is the striker like scenario. You see a striker evades the rival’s midfield, defense until he is left face to face with the goalkeeper. It is how he deals with this ultimate challenge that defines the player and the team’s history.

We are in such a situation. Though one challenging assignment on website design is yet to be handed in the exam season is here. So is the end of year. I found myself being caught flatfooted literally. After revising thoroughly for IT sit in CAT it came to pass without me knowing whether I would garner at least zero two out of fifteen.

I took a break and went shopping at Chuka market, the headquarters of Tharaka Nithi County. No sooner had I disembarked from the cab than I noticed the excitement in the air. People were whispering that the next day the president will tour Chuka.

The workers were polishing a monument erected near Equity Bank. It looked much like the twin cement monuments of Meru and Embu. In 1998, I saw them in a calendar my dad bought and hung on the wall. I asked him “Daddy whose hands are those?”  He replied, “It is presidents Kenyatta and Moi’s hands”. The two are immortalized in the concrete waving a club and a tail of the horse. These artifacts came to define the early presidents’ symbols of power.

I went to Jatomy Supermarket and did my usual shopping despite the economic crunch. When I was passing near the monument I noticed it looked quite similar to the one at Meru and/or Embu. However, this one did not have ‘hands’ of the founding president and his successor. It had a black head and four pillars resting on a wide base.

I went straight to Posta to send my mum a congratulatory card as she was graduating and clearly I could not join her but we were together at heart. The statue would today (Friday) be the symbol to mark the existence of Chuka Town as we know it. President Uhuru Kenyatta officially opened the stone. He later launched a road project for the entire Chuka municipality effectively putting Chuka on the prophetic path it was destined to go since Jerusha Kanyua prophesied many years ago.

I have not even told you a half of the story. Thing is, I don’t know where to start but I believe the best way to write is not for a writer to lead a story but the story to lead the writer.

Friday started in a patriotic tempo. What with walls being covered by national flags around the university and more flags waving freedom on high hoisted masts? The police were controlling the crowds. The usual searches degenerated to long and winding queues of frisking. The red carpet stretched far and wide. The main square of the campus was a nightmare. The queues wasted time for morning class students.

Soon the Recce Squad of GSU arrived. Clad in their KDF like uniforms, to say that they were in charge is a gross understatement. They jumped from their lorries with an antelope’s swiftness. Their red caps and juggle green uniform bayed for trouble makers to come on.

The regular police where there too. This is not a confession. The traffic boys in blue do not have any other picture in my mind rather than that of taking bribes. The administration police (AP) reminded me of my local chief and his bakuli hat. The guy who brandishes a black stick used it quite sparingly to push back Wanjiku from getting nearer the pavilion.

The event was meant to celebrate 100 years since the establishment of Chuka town. Chuka University VC Prof. Erastus Njoka articulated the key development milestones of the Chuka community. He said that the town has grown. To me, the most significant project is the establishment of Chuka University. It is causing ripples around. Jobs are sprouting everywhere like mushrooms. From mama mboga to landlord to multimillion contractor things will never be the same again.

The president promised to end the mud nuisance by carpeting the town with tarmac. Meru Senator Hon. Kiraitu Murungi recalled how he used to go to Chuka Boys’ on a muddy path. This will change. The Tharaka residents will also benefit from irrigation scheme to ensure food security.

Scientists and researchers will also gain from soon to be constructed technology center-a first of its kind in Africa-if the designs of local architects and technocrats get to see the light of the day.

I was thrilled by the unity of Mt. Kenya East residents and leaders. The counties of Tharaka Nithi, Meru and Embu are one. The good neighborliness and concern resonated well with the Nyumba  Kumi Initiative. They are their brother’s keepers. They devise joint development plans and execute them with admirable support. The visiting leaders could only envy the unity exhibited by these counties. They are also peaceful people who welcomed us here since freshman year. I am yet to document a key case of xenophobia. The villagers are only shocked when some provocatively dressed campus girl strut her stuff before them or when a male student pierces his ears and eyelashes in protest. They cannot decipher the drive of these youths adhering to rocker life and Western dress codes. All the same they tolerate.

The villagers too embrace their culture. This is best exemplified in their indigenous songs and dances. Chuka dancers are famous for their synchronized dance moves and thundering drum beats. They swing their waists like they do not have bones. Their sisal regalia fly around them as if to fan their bodies which by now are dripping with sweat due to vigorous action. They are the John the Baptist who went before Jesus. Salsa Dancers can only up the bar since the standard is set.

From the beginning the university pavilion was set to be the theatre of political actors. It was the playground on which politicians traded their rhetoric and hit out at their real and imagined rivals.

To their credit, they dismissed the official opposition, Cord as mere hypocrites who do not own the House decisions yet they vote for such laws. They attacked their Jubilee colleagues who go to the press to discuss issues rather than bringing those issues to the parliament. They took a swipe at those who let petty differences and politics divide them. Collectively, they admitted that they are giving wananchi a raw deal by bickering and not working on their manifestoes.

I particularly like what Tharaka Nithi Senator Prof. Kithure Kindiki said about leadership. He argued that the elected leaders should not be obsessed with titles at the expense of the mandate that they have been given by the electorate. He said that the electorate can call him Mheshimiwa or Professor if they want but he is comfortable with being called just Kithure because he is a people’s person. In him I could see honest humility and appreciation of the call of duty. He lamented his diary is full and wondered how the president juggles his daily routine. His was a sincere appreciation of the president’s visit. Just to recap how the president’s diary was he said that Uhuru was down at the Coast to launch a standard gauge railway line and Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Nairobi to launch an expansion facility for the JKIA to enable more intake and turnover of passengers.

Being journalism major, I was keen to hear the take of various leaders on the new media law and generally about the topical issues. What I sensed was like being stepped on the toe by an elephant. The pinch and pressure was overwhelming. I felt sad. I mourned the rhetoric of politicians. My stomach churned. My gas pipe blocked and finally I was stifled on the throat by a killer grip of anger. The air around me disappeared. I breathed heavily. My eyes watered.

The sun was scorching. Journalists from the mainstream media camped at the foot of the pavilion stairs. The MPs slammed journalists for what they termed as lies. They said that the journalists misled the public by reporting that the stiff penalty of the new media bill is KSh. 500, 000. The politicians corrected this ‘misconception’ and said it is only KSh. 100,000. They literally and figuratively pointed fingers at the reporters. The cameras were heavy and the lecture was harsh. I sympathized with my mentors who carried heavy cameras on their shoulders to cover the same people who called them liars. I crossed my fingers praying that the scribes will not drop their pens and pads and protest as they did this Tuesday. They kept their cool despite the harsh criticism from MPs.

The president’s comment that the government has no intention of gagging the media made me pause and think. He posed the question of why someone would be alarmed by a prohibitive penalty if they have no intention of violating the law. He quipped that the fine does not apply to a responsible scribe. Could the journalists be running away from the long arm of the law? Are they masters of impunity? Do they present a picture that is not what is on the ground? I may disagree with Mr. President when he gave an analogy of the journalists’ actions as like that of a robber of violence bargaining to have his life sentence waived to one year so that he is released to go and rob again but I agree with him that journalists require  regulation. They should not mislead the public who hold them in a deity trust.

The Deputy President William Ruto underlined the importance of free media and said that the government has no power to gag the press rights especially when they are enshrined in the new constitution.

One myth that this high level visit debunked in my eyes is that Uhuru Kenyatta is light browner than the way newspapers photograph him to be. Ruto is light and swift. He is not even very tall. Both have an eloquent tongue which is a major plus. They are great orators. That has not come out clearly in the mainstream media. I guess I had to witness it myself to believe.

I was alarmed by my president’s disclosure that he does not read the newspapers in the morning. I felt I missed a big reader and immediately thought about writing for the president’s taste. How I hope my president could read even if it is the headline only. I get it that he is busy. However, Your Excellency please read us. We write for everyone including you. I feel you when you say that watu wa magazeti insult you yet you don’t say a thing. You have a big heart of forgiving them. Translate this forgiveness too to reading them. I long for a day when you will have a regular newspaper vendor deliver news to the State House for you.

The legend lives on

Thursday night Nelson Mandela died. It was long time coming. Having been hospitalized severally for lung infection and being on life support machines, Mandela prepared the world for his death. At least he has rested in peace.

He did not surprise us as victims of road carnage and gun shots do. I suppose it is because of his iconic status. What if you woke up one day and heard that Mandela died? Of course you would be shocked. You could even cause your own death in mourning.

This is because Mandela was and is not anybody. He is the most respected person on earth in life and death. He achieved more than all who ever lived before him. He changed the course of history forever. If I start counting his achievements I would bore you.

Anyway, I will highlight some of the most phenomenal lifetimes of Madiba. The most indelible reminder of Mandela’s life is his ability to forgive his enemies. He is one person who taught the world how to forget and move on. He forgave his oppressors despite having a chance to hit back. Most of us would agree that if we were released from prison and ascended to presidency we would kill our enemies.

Mandela shamed the Dutch by incorporating them in the Rainbow Nation. He united the Blacks with the Whites by letting them embrace Rugby when most Blacks were suspicious to the Whites.

Mandela held the highest office in the land and never salivated for a second term when most African strongmen clung to power like a tick sucks a cow even when it is dead. Mandela bore humility which restrained him from the greed and arrogance that come with power and authority.

People understood when Mandela divorced and remarried. Well, you may say it is patriarchy, but Mandela is one guy who loathed unfaithfulness. The 27 years he endured in jail made him search his soul and achieve an inner peace with him and 0thers.

When Mandela was the president of South Africa he battled with poverty, corruption, housing and unifying his country. These problems still afflict South Africa but he did his best and peacefully handed the mantle to Tambo Mbeki. Today, Jacob Zuma is leading the most developed country in Africa. The independent party Mandela founded, ANC is sliding to unpopularity and irrelevancy.

South Africa has the dubious distinction of having the highest HIV prevalence rates in the world. But trust Mandela to demystify anything. He went ahead and told the world the truth that his son died of HIV/AIDS. This served as a relief to the stigma faced by people living with AIDS. Mandela taught us to tell the truth.

Whichever way South Africa and Africa goes it will be guided by the servant leadership of Mandela who selflessly gave all he got for the sake of humanity. He made the world a better place than he found it.

Mandela, the world does not mourn you. It celebrates you. Your legacy will live on. Smile down at us always. We will miss you. Fare thee well.

PS: Below are some of Mandela’s famous quotes. Sample the nuggets of wisdom.

On fighting apatheid

“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people .I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal, which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

On imprisonment

‘Look into yourself. “People tend to measure themselves by external accomplishments, but jail allows a person to focus on internal ones; such as honesty, sincerity, simplicity, humility, generosity and an absence of variety,”

On his dream about South Africa

“Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world,” “Let freedom reign. The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement! God bless Africa! Thank you.”

On persistence

‘A winner is a dreamer who never gives up’

On romance

“As I passed a nearby bus stop, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a lovely young woman waiting for a bus ..her name was Nomzamo Winifred Madikizela .... and I knew that I wanted to have her as my wife.” 

 “My dearest Winnie, Your beautiful photo still stands about two feet above my left shoulder as I write this note. I dust it carefully every morning, for to do so gives me the pleasant feeling that I’m caressing you as in the old days. I even touch your nose with mine to recapture the electric current that used to flush through my blood whenever I did so. Nolitha stands on the table directly opposite me. How can my spirits ever be down when I enjoy the fond attentions of such wonderful ladies?”

On determination

"NO power on Earth can stop an oppressed people determined to win their freedom."

On stepping down

"I step down with a clear conscience, feeling that I have in a small way done my duty to my people and my country."

The writer is a 3^rd year student of Bachelors of Arts Degree in Communication and Media at Chuka University. He blogs at musyokangui.blogspot.com

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