Kenyans should be the last to talk of revolution

A revolution is born out of blood, sweat, tears and meticulous planning and coordination.

It is not born out of nursery rhymes and YouTube views. The excitability of Kenyans over King Kaka’s wajinga sisi is typical of Kenyan fluff; much ado about nothing.

It does not matter how many songs we sing, how many angry tweets we post or how many times we write bizarre comments on Facebook. In the end, we will not realise our dreams because we, like the song says, are wajinga and we want to use ujinga to revolutionise Kenyans.

Let us start here. How many of us are registered members of any political party? How many of us participate in the structuring and ideology of political parties? The answer is, few or none. And those few are members driven by the opinions of the owners of the party. They bring little to the table of intellect.

It is, therefore, foolish of Kenyans to demand for idea-driven politics when they are not even participants in the political process. If we want a paradigm shift in our politics, we must become political players and not bedside players like we are in the English premier league: spectators who bet life and limb for someone else’s win.

We sing songs and yet we do not organise. We simply chant and clap then walk away to resume our normal lives. Indeed, are we not the same Kenyans that give and take bribes? Are we not the same Kenyans who spent the festive season drink-driving?

Childish tantrums

Our revolution is equal to the tantrums of a five-year-old when they declare they are moving out of the house. These tantrums are even more apparent when you read our social media feeds. We are angry and full of vitriol at everyone and everything.

We want things our way, and we want them our way now. Never mind that our public participation is a myth and we have to be paid to give opinions on our own lives. The average Nairobian does not know where the chief's office is and neither does he or she know where the National Government Constituencies Development office is. But they will complain about how nothing is being done, yet they have no time to check their facts.

It is all emotional and fashionable to be angry and dream of a revolution. It is indeed ujinga to speak everyday that corruption must end yet be the same Kenyans who weave weird conspiracy theories every time a corruption suspect is arrested.

Then we all become better detectives than the Federal Bureau of Investigations and create our own theories on how the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) should do better.

Tell me naysayer, how would you fight corruption? Shoot them dead, you say? Well, that is also in your hands. Amend the Constitution to allow for detention without trial, and immediate civil forfeiture or punishment by death for persons indicted with corruption.

But all you really want to do is sit and listen to revolutionary songs while the only revolution you are starting is that on your office chair as you waste your employer's time.

Nations that have revolted did so for the chance to vote; the chance to limit presidential terms and the chance to participate in a prosperous economy. Kenyans have had elections every five years without fail. They generally vote the same way and complain of their choices.

They will say election promises have been broken yet they elected persons not known to keep any promises at all. There was no rigging in those elections, the people expressed their will and now they want a revolution against what? Your own choices? Can someone please smell the coffee?

The biggest impediment to a better Kenya are Kenyans. We have no common enemy but no common strategy. We, for example, want to fight corruption but we give no support to those who fight it.

Civil society can never speak well of the DCI and EACC's efforts because, unless they speak evil of Kenya, their white messiahs will not fund their lifestyles. If we do not support the people fighting corruption, which revolution do we want? If every noble effort in Kenya is shot down and every arrest disagreed with, what then are we crying for?

Kenyans are strange revolutionaries: They want an economic revolution yet they are fighting the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), calling it a train to nowhere. This, even as  they are jealous of Tanzania when its SGR is to be connected to Rwanda.

There's hope

For Kenya to change, we must first of all begin to be politically active. That means we need to join or form political parties, participate in their meetings, debates and elections and hold them to account. In this way, you and I can sieve out the people with criminal records from running for office. Second, we need to give credit to the genuine heroes of this nation.

We need to celebrate cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries who deliver without asking if they are Tangatanga, deep state or Kieleweke. We need to support the fight against corruption and push for more to be done and for the Judiciary to rule justly. We also need to push for fiscal reforms so that our pockets are better off.

Otherwise, all these songs we sing will be nothing more than playing a guitar to a goat.