A History Lesson

The Nyeri War Cemetry where some soldiers who died in World War II are buried.

So it has been 50 years since Kenya achieved self-rule! Three cheers! We are in our Jubilee year, and I don’t mean the political coalition. Independence and self-rule are so important to me, but they hold a greater significance to those who experienced life in pre-independence Kenya. My parents and grandparents tell us that they had to live in ‘native reserves’. They were pushed out of their land and put on little parcels of land. That is why some people still refer to the rural areas as ‘reserve’. In my mum’s case, they had to work in a farm owned by the church. They were given skim(med?) milk as the colonialists kept the cream.  They would toil over sweet potatoes and receive the most tasteless of the harvest. Yes, on the mission farm.  Eric Wainaina captured this in his song, ‘Fungeni Macho’. ‘Tulifunga macho kuomba, tuliibiwa ardhi’. Now, let me pause and say that I have nothing against missionaries; I love missionaries and their work. I wanted to be one. Maybe I still want to be one. However, I have a problem with people using mission work or spirituality for their own selfish ends. The ones who inspire the song, ‘Sifa mbaya kwa injili’.

Let me get back to my history lesson. My point was that those who lived through colonialism appreciate independence much more than I would. I was looking at the old men and women who were singing after the announcement that the UK government would pay compensation to Mau Mau who were tortured in colonial Kenya. A lot of this torture took place in the 1950s and therefore after the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. I was going through the UDHR recently (I want to give the false impression that I read such documents as my light weekend reading. Have I succeeded?) and I saw that it specifically stated that everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms irrespective of their race etc. It also says that no distinction is to be made with regard to people who are colonised. The UK was of course right there contributing vigorously and voting for the adoption of the UDHR. Meanwhile in Kenya…

My grandfather, had he been alive, would have been reminded of the period in which he was in detention for joining the Mau Mau. Indeed, one’s hero is another’s terrorist. He was held in several centres. Let me pause my History lesson and give an unsolicited English class. A friend of mine in primary school heard me using the word, ‘several’ to mean ‘many’. She told me that it actually means the opposite. I did not believe her so I consulted the dictionary and it was true! Back to History. The sweet irony is that a lot of the Mau Mau learnt how to fight using guns when they were conscripted and taken to fight in the first and second world wars. My grandfather fought in the second world war and he was in the Middle East countries and I remember him telling us about the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem. He also made fun of his fellow oldies who did not fight in any of the wars but did not want to miss out in the story telling. Their lies would be revealed when they would tell stories of how they travelled by ship all the way to Voi! Hahaha! Liars should be good researchers too! Another important lesson the real fighters learnt was that you could actually fight the Brits!  Anyway, you know all these things. 

I forgive you for thinking that I just wanted to rant about colonialism but I wanted to inspire. No, don’t colonise your neighbour’s flat. No. The inspiration is from the Mau Mau and other people who fought for independence in other ways. The people who chose to take a stand against injustice even if it meant that they suffered for it. I saw one of the Mau Mau saying that people say Jesus aliteswo but him aliteswo more than Jesus. While I appreciate his sacrifice for Kenya, I must point out that Christ had nails through his hands and feet and he DIED. If it was a competition (which it is not) then 10 points for Christ and 0.5 for the old patriot. I applaud him for taking a stand though.

My mother once described to me how we are related to Dedan Kimathi. I don’t remember the details but I accept the fact. If we are related to Obama then Kimathi is my grandmother’s cousin once removed. One (me!) may therefore say that the blood of heroes flows through my veins. I don’t think that I am very brave though and I think that may be because the hero blood was largely taken up by my elder siblings. They are much better at causing and standing up for stuff. However, sometimes I feel all shujaa and do some risky things. I was in a matatu one Sunday and the tout was in a particularly chauvinistic mood. He kept calling all the women heifers. He was speaking Kikuyu and he was telling the driver when a woman stopped the car, “don’t leave that heifer”. He kept insisting on it and would repeat it if he thought the driver did not appreciate his clever turn of phrase. I was getting increasingly irritated and plain annoyed. As I got close to my stop, I decided to do something about it. I could not at that moment remember what a young bull is called in Kikuyu so I settled for he-goat. I told the tout, “You he-goat, I am alighting right there. You are calling us heifers so I suppose you are a he-goat”. He looked at me and did not respond save for actually shukishaing me. I was sharing my indignation with my sister later that evening and she told me how lucky I was that he did not choose to abuse me and we all know that touts are very good at that. I was so mad that I did not think about that.

Other than that, I am not very vocal about injustice. I support the Occupy Parliament Movement but I’m not brave enough to join in their blood and pig demonstrations and I'm all like, do they have a Facebook page I can like? My lack of bravery was brought to my mind by seeing these Mau Mau and Juliani’s song, Utawala which has been taunting playing over and over in my mind. You know that line where he sings, “Sitasimama maovu yakitawala”. Isaiah 59:4 says, No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity. Verse 15 and 16 say that God is displeased with the lack of justice and is appalled that there is no one to intervene. Therefore He intervenes Himself. I hope I shall gain the courage to speak out.