Honour Githeri Man if you want, but don’t overdo the hype

What you need to know:

  • If you were on Twitter during Jamhuri Day, it was lit for a number of reasons – one being the fact that the list of state commendations was made clear to the public.
  • There were a number of people on that list who were rather questionable, starting with the controversial Robert Alai and ending with the glorified Githeri Man.
  • The buzz created around a social media figure cannot lead to the overlooking of so many Kenyans who have done a lot more for Kenyans and Kenya as a whole.
  • Maybe the shambles that was that list is just a representation of the shambles we are as the country behind that list – unable to get our act together, even to fix ONE road that has killed dozens of Kenyans, and unwilling to do simple engineering in the place of thoughts and prayers.

What I'm doing at the moment is sitting in my house, waiting for dinner to cook over my stove, and anticipating the greater heights that come with what I'm about to eat.

You see, I'm frying some githeri, and since this delicious traditional food has recently taken the spotlight as a sure-fire way to become more than anything you've ever dreamed, well let's just say pretty soon you'll be calling me a name with a few capital letters added on to the end.

Forget being a Nobel laureate, or a record-breaking runner. Forget helping fellow Kenyans out of systemic poverty, or starting a programme that is going to help people in this country for years to come. Forget overcoming years of personal tragedy to help others like you; forget topping the country in one Matiang’ied exam or another. What really matters here is what you put in your stomach. You are what you eat, as the saying goes. And I am clearly worthy of a state commendation.

QUESTIONABLE PEOPLE

If you were on Twitter during Jamhuri Day, it was lit for a number of reasons – one being the fact that the list of state commendations was made clear to the public. Now, I assume that this list was true, because no one disputed it, that I saw on my timeline – no one from the government, or an official spokesperson, anyway.

There were a number of people on that list who were rather questionable, starting with the controversial Robert Alai and ending with the glorified Githeri Man who stood in line to vote in a (now nullified) election with a plastic bag of githeri takeaway in his hand.

Ory Okolloh on Twitter, fed up with the masquerade, was the first to mention that we should just start giving out our own awards. (Larry Madowo indicated that an awards ceremony of the sort should happen next year as we ignore the state-sanctioned travesty. I'm waiting to see if that will happen.)

Kenyans on Twitter doled out a multitude of names that they thought were more fitting for a commendation than the names listed, including Wandia Njoya, who consistently speaks truth to power in terms of the education system (she is an educator herself), and Clifford Oluoch, whom I have written about before, and his efforts with Homeless of Nairobi to try to give street children a better life. One of his kids just took KCPE and is going to Form One with an impressive 366/500 in tow.

REFLECTION OF FAILURE

Look, I personally have nothing against Githeri Man. By all means, give the man endorsements and random publicity unaffiliated and irrelevant to your brand. Change his life as he knows it and hopefully dish out some responsible investment advice while you're at it. Let him ride on the hype of something that a lot of Kenyans do – because, by Jove, he did do it. There's no denying that picture. And who are we to stop people giving other people free money? I would love some free money myself!

But let's not take this hype too far. Surely the buzz created around a social media figure cannot lead to the overlooking of so many Kenyans who have done a lot more for Kenyans and Kenya as a whole. Githeri is great, but there are definitely several other candidates to get to before we look at contributions in the micro-catering industry. Seriously, there was no one else more deserving?

Then again, this is me assuming that the chap compiling this list has a bit of sense and cares about the logic behind it. Maybe I'm giving him too much credit, and we really do need our own separate awards. Maybe the shambles that was that list is just a representation of the shambles we are as the country behind that list – unable to get our act together, even to fix ONE road that has killed dozens of Kenyans, and unwilling to do simple engineering in the place of thoughts and prayers.

Twitter: @AbigailArunga