Our National Anthem - The critique we need right now

I watched today the Report by Denis Okari - Children of a Lesser God, it broke my hear & lit a fire in my guts.

It's a painful piece to watch, I challenge you to view this report on the Garissa University Attack and let it not be a call to examine yourself, let it not be a stirring cry for change for justice for our parents, spouses, children and siblings - yes they are our siblings you know, the parents, spouses, children and siblings of the victims of Garissa.

Think about it.


As the emotions boiled in my guts and the anger rose in my chest making me want to scream and break something - I began looking for someone to blame someone to squarely place the responsibility for this enormous loss of life and the ensuing colossal cock-up & collective amnesia that ensued in our society.
I wanted blood - someone I could look at and curse till the end of time, until the very judgement throne of God Himself - for letting innocent children die with unfulfilled dreams, lost hope for whole families and villages - that person must be there.

The pain and symphony of mediocrity that we go through each day has to be the fault of someone. It's not chance that the majority of Kenyans' live & die like they are foreigners in a country that ostensibly belongs to them.

Guess what I found that person - in the mirror. Seriously check your nearest reflective surface - you'll see the same person to blame - that person is you and me. You shake your head, and probably want to dismiss this as a guilt laden rant of some wanna be blogger. To some extent - your right except it's grief not guilt.

I have been feeling such a sense of sorrow and grief when I look out at our nation and society and it's at a personal level.

Kenyan Coat of Arms

As a Kenyan Citizen I have a charge envisioned during the birth of our nation and entrusted to all who would call the cockerel embossed shield with spears their coat of arms.

To clarify  if you are a Kenyan then this is your coat of arms as well.

So if you are a Kenyan you have a contract a covenant envisioned by the hopes and dreams that founded this nation - The Kenyan National Anthem.

Simply put we are to live the words of our national anthem - otherwise, we might as well replace it with the theme song from Vihoja Mahakamani (Kenyan courtroom TV drama) or something that has no meaning and is hopefully catchy. Our national anthem is not something that we sing for the sake of singing or listen to with swelling pride when our athletes win competitions at the international level. It's a charge, its's a call, its a prayer to God to live by.

Like any prayer it's not a one way conversation, there are things we ask God to do (as only He can) and others that we commit to do.  I firmly believe if we live by this anthem - our nation will the best place on earth, all the definitions are taken from the Miriam Webster Dictionary

That's the first stanza of our national anthem - tell me if we just lived that part each of us, every day would Garissa , Mandera, Longorion, Baragoi, Tana River, Mpeketoni, Matatu Attacks, Westgate, Kikambala, August 8th, Likoni, PEV, Kayabombo, 82 Coup all the way back to the political assassinations of the young Kenya have happened?

Would citizenship be sold in government offices or land  held in trust for the nation, diverted to individuals and families who then fight over it when the patriarch dies?

How would the leadership of this country look? Would individuals looking for elective office need to bribe voters?

Would investigative journalists have heart rending pieces to publish about this nation?

Now while it's true you can't have a perfect country however I think we would get pretty close.. don't you?

Here is the rest of the national anthem:

So you want someone to blame, you want blood, you want someone to kick in the backside for the state of our nation today - you'll find them when you look at yourself in the mirror.

If as a nation we endeavored to live by the words of our national anthem then maybe, just maybe people would line up at 5AM at our embassies for a chance to visit our country instead of Kenyans lining up at 5AM at foreign embassies for a chance to leave.

If we don't live by the national anthem then we are just as guilty as the politicians and civil servants who we regularly point fingers at.

The person for me to blame is me and for you to blame is you..........