Dead little girl who’s beacon of hope
Mary Mokaya, 14, who died during the recent school fire at Moi Nairobi Girls High School. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- During colonial times, ethnic differences were nurtured to entrench the doctrine of divide and rule.
- She didn’t care whom she was helping, courageously playing her part like the humming bird and paid the ultimate price.
- Our diversity is either a curse/burden or an opportunity, while lately, even talk of secession is being entertained.
For over half-a-century Kenyans have been pre-occupied with whining, complaining and philosophising about ethnicity.
Fellow citizens, every thing has a life expectancy and a shelf life! Let us bury this obsession and get on with creativity, innovation and other positive ways of our national life. Let us consider what I mean against the following backdrop.
Mary Njengo Mokaya, the 14-year-old Form One student at Moi Girls Nairobi School faced the greatest adversity of her life when she made every effort to save the lives of fellow students during the recent fatal dormitory fire. She didn’t care whom she was helping, courageously playing her part like the humming bird and paid the ultimate price.
She lost her life in the bid to save the lives of her fellow students. Have we learned a lesson from this young and innocent patriot who died on September 1?
PEACE
According to the Bible, Isaac and Ishmael were the sons of Abraham, but from different mothers. Jews and Arabs are said to be descendants of Isaac and Ishmael, respectively.
They share blood and yet in recorded history they have never lived in peace and harmony! Our next door neighbours, the Somalis, are the most homogenous society in Africa, with a common language, religion and culture.
However, for the past 27 years, they have never known peace, with their country split along clans that have fought one another since before the overthrow of President Siad Barre in 1991, falling into the category of a failed state! The recent massive bombing in Mogadishu killed more than 300 people and hundreds of others were injured and yet they are one people!
Kenya has 44 officially recognised tribes. During colonial times, ethnic differences were nurtured to entrench the doctrine of divide and rule.
It worked perfectly well for the imperial power but sowed seeds of animosity and hatred post-independence governments have been grappling with. Our diversity is either a curse/burden or an opportunity, while lately, even talk of secession is being entertained.
ETHNIC BASED
A lot has been written about the so-called negative ethnicity. But I have not come across a proposal on how best to deal with the evil manifestation of ethnicity!
In November 1998, I disagreed publicly with former President Daniel arap Moi. This was during one of the many Mbagathi conferences when he held the view that Kenya’s problems are ethnic-based.
I believe our capacity to produce enough goods, services and create opportunities for the majority of our citizens, is the real challenge.
At independence, we had very few top schools, which were the preserve of whites.
However, the political class instead of expanding and improving facilities in more primary and high schools and universities, chose to maintain more or less the same schools, despite growing need.
RICH CLASSES
This led to the production of a special class of students in those schools, mainly from the political and rich classes.
The situation was not addressed until, thankfully, President Moi revolutionised the education system in the 1980s through the 8-4-4 system, sparking an implosion in demand.
This followed harambee schools for needy children. Soon after independence we also experimented with the industrial substitution policy by producing textiles, assembling motor vehicles, and growing the manufacturing sector. But in the 1980s, these industries were cannibalised and the mitumba phenomenon was born, with devastating results.
It encouraged massive imports of cheap second hand items.
What we hardly acknowledge is that we have a nation with incredible geographical diversity, where virtually anything can grow.
CREATIVE ENERGY
We have great fauna and flora, and a hardworking people. If we can master our creative energy, and focus on inventions as we have shown in the ICT field, this nation is capable of providing for five times the current population. However, we need a new dispensation of creative thought.
Our country should not pre-occupy itself with the glorification of ethnicity, but rather celebrate one another’s contribution and uniqueness.
This has been spotlighted by the example of Mary Mokaya, a beacon of light that must never ever be extinguished.
We should erect a monument in her memory along the new Ngong Road highway under construction as a symbol that never again shall ethnicity be the basis of our identity and/or differences.
Mr Kabage is an advocate of the High Court of Kenya. [email protected]
