In Kenya, success has many fathers but failure is an orphan
What you need to know:
President Kenyatta did not find it ironical that the government was congratulating Peter for doing the job they were voted to do.
He instead, he saw Peter’s success as a Jubilee manifesto agenda item.
- Deputy President, on the other hand, did not acknowledge any lessons learnt from Peter’s torturous journey to the world stage.
The poor can’t win in this country and when they do, the rich still want to be part of their success.
On March 1, 2019, the Nation carried the story of Peter Tabichi titled “A teacher who goes above and beyond the call of duty”. Peter, who teaches at Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School in Nakuru County, had just received the news that he had made the top 10 in the Global Teachers Prize award series that came with a $1 million (Sh100 million) reward.
Few took notice of this big news, for it came right at political crunch time when someone had sneaked into the political kitchen of this country and adjusted the oven temperature knob upwards.
URANIUM JUICE
That weekend, political rallies were unnecessarily charged; politicians insulted each other with so much bile you would have thought they had eaten polonium biscuits and washed them down with uranium juice. There was no mention of Peter Tabichi in those weekend rallies turned nuclear power plants, and you can see why.
Peter is this country’s poster image of government neglect. He is 36 years old, doesn’t come from a family of note, took the job of a day-school teacher, and chose a neglected environment to practice his calling.
He has not eaten anyone’s goat and has no ambition of diving into politics. All his life he has wanted to uplift the downtrodden with his God-given talent. He gives 80 percent of his salary to fund the education of orphans and vulnerable children around the village where he teaches.
Typical of Kenyans like Peter, the government had not taken notice of his efforts until he was invited to the award ceremony in Dubai.
On the podium to receive the award along with Peter was Sports Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed, who was, until three weeks ago, the minister for Education. Kenyans were shocked to see her holding Peter’s trophy and posing with it; one would not have been mistaken for thinking it was a joint award.
EPIDEMIC
She was celebrating more than the winner — had the podium been a stadium, I suspect she would have made a victory lap with that trophy. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if I was told she asked the organisers for a replica to put in her home trophy cabinet. Government officials in this country love riding on other Kenyans’ glory so much it is now becoming a national epidemic.
But if you thought Amina’s joyriding was legendary, wait until you hear from President Uhuru Kenyatta. “Peter, you chose to teach in a remote part of Kenya — a choice that I am sure was difficult. You give me faith that Africa’s best days are ahead of us,” said a visibly glowing Kenyatta in a recorded video shown during the gala.
Ordinary Kenyans can’t understand why those who wield real power make it look like there’s nothing we are missing. Here is the President recorded on tape joining celebrating Kenyans without realising that it is the government’s bad policy that led to Peter receiving that global recognition. He did not find it ironical that the government was congratulating Peter for doing the job they were voted to do. We know the President can’t relate to Peter’s story for he only hears about poverty in the news. But his handlers should have done better with that speech. We expected Peter’s story to jolt the President into promising more resources towards bridging the education gap between the chronically poor and the embarrassingly rich. But instead, he saw Peter’s success as a Jubilee manifesto agenda item. The poor can’t win in this country and when they do, the rich still want to be part of their success.
SACRIFICE
“To be a good teacher, you have to do more and talk less,” said Peter in his victory speech that was beamed to a global audience. I wonder if the State House drinking water supplier was also watching, because the wisdom in that quote should have been bottled by now and be availed to Uhuru Kenyatta every time he feels thirsty.
Not to be left out of the congratulatory bandwagon was a tweeting Deputy President, Dr William Ruto — who knows too well the challenges students go through to achieve academic excellence, having delayed his PhD graduation for a year after failing to meet set standards. He made reference to Peter’s selfless attitude, hard work and sacrifice, but he did not acknowledge any lessons learnt from Peter’s torturous journey to the world stage.
Because it is easier to tweet about selflessness and sacrifice from the comfort of your air-conditioned office than it is to go down to those humble villages where real acts of sacrifice are needed and appreciated.
Our leaders are opportunistically latching onto Peter’s global recognition because success has many fathers, but failure is an orphan.
Mr Oguda writes on topical issues; [email protected]
