Where is the place of heroes when villains are celebrated?

Tom Mboya funeral service at All Saints Catheral Nairobi July 1969. [File, Standard]

In well-organised societies, national heroes are feted and villains named, shamed and punished. If the situation was ideal, Kenyans would be holding their breath, waiting to know who will make the cut when the next bunch of freshly minted heroes will be announced on October 20.

This has not always been the case. There was a time when there was an attempt to recognise and reward gallant servants of the State who went out of their way to serve humanity.