#WeAreNotOne: Let’s get our heads out of the sand and solve problems

#WeAreOne has become a great tool for bringing Kenyans together in times of crisis.

Whether it be a genocidal bout of post-election ethnic violence or a terrorist attack on the Westgate scale, it reminds us that we are first and foremost Kenyans, bound together by one unshakable bond.

It helps us pause and reflect on our common destiny and pull together in support of the afflicted.

The latest incidents suitable for recalling the hashtag would obviously be the Garissa University terrorist attack and the ethnic conflicts pitting Pokot and Turkana warriors in northern Kenya.

However, what these recurring incidents of slaughter should remind us is that it is time to retire the #WeAreOne mantra.

In its time it has a served as great unifier and pacifier, but it now has become an escape route from our real problems. We must now come out of self-induced myopia so that we can properly tackle the beast within.

Let us give external terrorists a break and recognise that the reason we are losing the war against Al-Shabaab, and local bandits and cattle rustlers, is not because our enemies are too powerful, but because we are too weak.

We are weak because the State security machinery — encompassing the National Police Service, the Kenya Defence Forces, the National Intelligence Service, and their civilian political overseers — is inept, corrupt, and largely led by officers recruited through political patronage, ethnic affiliation, and business ties.

Our men and women in uniform may sometimes be performing heroically, but a dysfunctional system will not allow them to perform to the best of their abilities.

That modern and well-funded security services are so often made fools of by a handful of Al-Shabaab gunmen or a ragtag bunch of cattle rustlers and bandits speaks volumes.

The clear and present danger that now stalks the land is, therefore, the product of a failed security system, which in turn is the outcome of failed leadership.

But then we get the leaders we deserve. We elected them and must grin and bear it. My only hope is that President Uhuru Kenyatta will come to realise before it is too late that being Commander-in-Chief is not just about playing soldiers. He needs to kick some serious butt to get the security services back in shape.

And at the same time he must devote plenty of brain in search of solutions to the perennial conflict and sense of alienation in the larger part of Kenya. Before that, #WeareNOTone!

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Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, or the 3Rs, make a critical component of the entire environmental conservation movement.

It is all about eliminating waste, protecting and preserving energy and natural resources, and in the process not only saving a great deal of money, but saving planet Earth from destroying itself through destructive human activity.

Being an avid proponent of the 3Rs is one of ardent beliefs I share with President Uhuru Kenyatta and it might just be why he could win my vote next time around.

Instead of lampooning the President’s exhortation for all to reuse and recycle newspapers, we in the media should be at the forefront in lauding such a basic and commonsense approach.

Almost since their inception, newspapers have been reused after their one-day shelf-life to wrap fish and chips, meat, and assorted foods. They have been used as lining for trash bins and pet enclosures.

In wooden huts, newspapers provide excellent insulation against cold weather or extreme heat. And when packing glasses and plates for delivery, nothing beats the good old Daily Nation as wrapping material to protect the delicate crockery and avoid breakage.

For President Kenyatta, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is not just an idle mantra — he puts his money where his mouth is. Who else would spend a fortune on a newspaper title nobody will take for free just to ensure that local nyama choma joints never lack wrapping paper?

And that is not all; even in his public appointments, President Kenyatta is demonstrating his practical commitment to the 3R philosophy.

Messrs Kalembe Ndile, Joash Wamang’oli, John Ngumi, Soita Shitanda, Musa Sirma, Ken Nyachae, and many others whose undoubted talents would be wasting away, have been given new leases of life. Remember, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

[email protected]. @MachariaGaitho on Twitter