Why did we stop building national monuments?
Xn Iraki
By
XN Iraki
| Dec 20, 2023
Uhuru Park is more than a leisure park. It's home to several monuments. The late President Daniel Arap Moi built most of them, visible from Uhuru Highway (expressway) and Kenyatta Avenue.
Very interesting coincidence - two roads cross each other, Uhuru and Kenyatta; father and son.
Just as Kenyatta and Oginga Odinga avenues cross each other in Kisumu City. The two were once political antagonists - streets joined them. It seems history has no manners. Why did we stop building monuments?
The latest was Mau Mau at the Freedom Corner.
Did we find them too expensive or history is no longer important as part of our national consciousness? How come no monument was erected to celebrate 60 years?
Is that not really a milestone? Or the hustles of this small planet caught up with us; from taxes to El Nino.
It seems after President Moi the other presidents shifted to economic not historical monuments. Kibaki built the Thika superhighway while Uhuru Kenyatta built the expressway.
President Moi loved our traditional culture and so did Jomo Kenyatta. That was espoused by their tools of the trade, a fly whisk for Jomo and "fimbo ya nyayo." These were personal monuments.The next three presidents carried no status symbols or personal monuments. IPads can't be personal monuments.
Monuments of capitalism
The replacement of traditional monuments with economic or capitalist monuments shows how much this country has been transformed; with the new order silently replacing the old order. Even our names have changed. From James and John to Liam and Jayden.
Other monuments of capitalism include cars, much bigger. Add residential houses and skyscrapers. In the rural areas, the huge mansions built by British or Afrikaans (Boers) settlers have finally got competitors.
Why are we muting the building of monuments? No matter how capitalistic we become, history will remain part of our lives and should be celebrated, serving as an inspiration to us and the next generation.
Anyone who has visited Washington DC or London is greeted by monuments that celebrate their countries's glorious past, which inspires their tomorrow.
We should avoid capitalism without a human face - where all that matters is money. Wondered why corruption thrives? Happiness, self-fulfilment, and intergenerational thinking matter too. As we celebrate 60 years, let's ask which monuments are needed to celebrate our past and inspire our tomorrow.
And at both national and county levels, are there any remains of a Mau Mau concentration camp in addition to Mageta Island?