Do tragedies bind us together, bring out the best in us?

By Mugambi Nandi  

The death and destruction caused by the evil acts of terrorists at Westgate Mall last week brought out the best in humanity.

Civilians, children and security forces demonstrated valour, unity, and human kindness rarely seen in Kenya. There was no colour. There was no creed. There was no tribe. There was no nationality. We were all united as one.

Some of our Western “friends” who have in the past rushed to issue (and, when bored, renew) travel advisories against Kenya stood with us. It may well be that reports that a few of their citizens masterminded, and participated in the attack, could have caused them more than a little embarrassment.

In times of war, it behoves every citizen to be patriotic. It does not matter that Samuel Johnson, the famous English writer, thought that patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel.

It is this patriotism that demands that we give our security forces all the moral and material support that we can muster, even if we do not agree with their modus operandi and their day-to-day culture and philosophy.

 In times of war, there is no opposition, official or unofficial. The phrase “if you are not for us you are against us” applies in such times. As Kenyans, we scored quite well on that front until, thirsty for information to feed our intense curiosity, we started expressing anger, impatience and frustration towards the command of our security forces on social media, from the comfort and safety of our homes and offices.

One moment they were our heroes, and the next they were villains, apparently for hoarding information. Folks, for all their real and perceived mistakes and misinformation, our security forces did a wonderful job at Westgate. They deserve our respect. In my view, and without being an apologist for our security forces, the issue of whether they could or should have prevented the attack in the first place is a different debate.

As our patriotism must lead us to support our country in times of war, so it must also spur us to think hard about why we are where we are. As we struggle to come to terms with our loss as individuals and as a nation, we must also focus on the many unanswered questions, and questions that remain unasked because we dare not ask them.

We must ask how the terrorists managed to pass through our borders and past Immigration and Customs officers, with their cache of arms, undetected and undeterred. We must ask ourselves why religion, which is supposed to bring peace and harmony, has failed to do so. Instead, it has been used to sanitise evil. We must ask ourselves why religious fundamentalism has taken root in our society.

We must ask what level of deprivation would make someone kill innocent strangers, whether they are men, women or children. We must ask whether the unity of humanity demonstrated at Westgate will be the end of the racial profiling that is so rampant in Western capitals, especially at their airports and upmarket residential areas.

We must ask why we generalise and discriminate based on race, tribe, religion and sexuality. We must ask ourselves whether tragedies are the ties that bind us. Yet that is not all we must ask. We must ask why the killing of many on our roads by reckless public transport drivers should be taken with any less seriousness than the killing of the innocent by terrorists.

It may sound insensitive to say so at this time, but the fact is that road accidents claim about 3,000 people in Kenya every year. Are we lulled by the installment nature of these deaths to think that the number is insignificant? Are we unmoved by these deaths because most of the victims belong to a certain social class?

I hope I have pricked the conscience of those on whose lips the answers lie.