The Fountain magazine Issue 04, August 2016

10 11
Will The Real Politician pleaSE stand uP!
I have always had an interest in politics.
Sports, fashion, music, poetry and other
sedentary pursuits of life have nothing
on me like politics. As my peers sit
up all night making betting sites rich,
feeding upon on television series to
another, I can sit up being consumed by
political documentaries; be it the lives
of Hitler or Mussolini, the Syrian war,
American politics or anything political
you can think off. Note: the word I used
was CAN, this should not be taken to
mean that I literally sit up indulged in
the ungodly night hours. This might
sound quite odd to many and may not
even go down well with a lot more
who by now are already looking for a
suitable SOP quotation that will quench
down my submission. Relax! It’s not
that serious!
By politics I don’t mean the bickering,
tribal lashing, back and forth nonsense
that is exhibited in our political scene
…that’s is a disgrace to the world of
politics. Ignorance to what politics
really is has found paradise in Kenya’s
politics, hence I am never shocked
when; our “leaders”: loot coffers dry
and are given “lighter duties” to handle,
drag thousands of jobless youths to
the street for demonstrations and
are whisked away into their “heavy
duty” second hand when the tear gas
canisters and acid water are outpoured.
When they build palatial homes for
themselves in the suburbs while pupils
at Loliondo primary, Loosampurpur
primary, Adugo primary to name but a
few are still studying under trees... what
a pride for Kenya at 50. I can go on and
on about the devolved corruption in
our counties, MCAs glob trotting and
Governors being treated as semi-gods…
but I leave it at that. Nothing rosy to
write in our political scene, the rot
in the system is quite sickening, our
leaders use their manifestos to fan
away the heat and heat up their fire
place. They heap unnecessary praises
to themselves if they get to do what
they are paid to do.
With keen interest I have been
following the run down to the US
elections. From the dramatic party
primaries where contenders fought
relentlessly to get their party’s to
nominate them for the white house
race. What I enjoyed the most is how
the contenders were literally stripped
apart to the core, from their policies,
to their personal lives, to how they
made decisions in the past, no stone
was left un-turned… We suffer from
severe amnesia as a nation hence such
a process is just but a dream.
I am admire how Americans stay true to
what they believe in. For mant, once a
Republican always a Republican. Even if
it’s trampy Trump who is at the helm of
it; you just hope he will trample upon
the Clintons and restore America’s
lost “glory”. And the same goes with
the Democrats; be it a black man, a
woman…they stand by them
relentlessly. You see this can kind
of loyalty can never be bought
or sold…it’s neither cheap nor
shallow if you take an in-depth
look at it. In both the Cleveland
and Philadelphia conventions,
delegates came from far and wide.
Others spending all their life time
savings just to be in attendance.
I saw many cry as their leaders
went up to give speeches, they
cheered for leaders on hours on
end and booed the ones who
refused to toe up to the party’s
belief.
As young people we have always
been taunted as the leaders
of tomorrow. When is this
tomorrow? Looking at the biblical
political history the average age
for most kings was around 25 years
when they ascended into power.
Though for most of them their lives
were nothing to write home about, I
admire how they knew their positions
at such a tender age. The reason
why the old guards are still in power
comfortably is because we as young
people are yet to stand up and take
our rightful positions. But how can we
do so if; we are hooked up to sport
betting, have countdowns to when the
next season of Scandal will be released,
our first thought in the morning is
social media, the last book we seriously
read was that KSCE set book, we know
all the fashion bloggers in Kenya but
have no idea who is representing us in
the august house…
We need to awake from our slumber
and like the Americans stand up for
we truly believe to be politics; Truth,
Justice, Equity and the greatest of them
all SERVICE. Will the real politicians
please raise up….!
Gloria Mwende is the current FoC
Organising Secretary. She is a member of
Newlife SDA Church, and just completed
her BCom (Finance) degree from
Strathmore University.
: Mule and
company during the
hike to Mau Forest
< Some FoC
members during a
nature Sabbath at
Karura Forest
= FoC members
after having a
sabbath ministry at
Starehe Boys Centre
; FoC on one of
the best attended
Thursday meetings
of the year. FoC
members in Nairobi
fellowship with each
other every Thursday
afternoon at Nairobi
Central SDA Church.
The Fountain magazine | Issue 04 - august 2016 The Fountain magazine | Issue 04 - august 2016