That talk from my father has stayed with me to my adulthood. I was expecting my father to bash the leadership of the time and root for regime change, like the younger generation was demanding, pumping their fists in the air. Instead, he cautioned us against violence of any kind. He told us that if there is no peace in the country, nobody is safe, nobody can work or produce anything and nobody’s property is safe. The nation slides down a path of destruction that is tough to recover from. He said we would rather endure mediocre leadership that is peaceful for a few years, let them finish their term in office, then use our ballot power to replace them peacefully with whoever we believe can do a better job.
He warned us that the alternative is usually catastrophic, citing the example of Idi Amin in neighboring Uganda. We all knew the terrible things that were happening in that country. At that point it dawned on us why we had Ugandan teachers in our high schools, high profile Ugandans who used to be lecturers at the famous Makerere University. They were now refugees in our country, separated from their families and taking lower jobs than they would have back in their country. My father warned that any inciter who tells the people to take up arms and remove legitimate leadership from office, will only bring bloodshed to our streets and communities, something that can be avoided and sorted out at the ballot peacefully.
At that time in my teenage years, I almost felt like my father was being cowardly, settling for mediocre leadership, but as an adult who now understands the political systems of our country, I feel and share my fathers’ sentiments. The ugly incidents we experienced in our country in the recent past should shake every rational patriotic citizen to their core and wake their sensibilities up to desire a more peaceful society at any cost. My fathers’ fears came from his experiences of oppression in the colonial Kenya and the MauMau war that ensued to get the colonist out. His fear was justified. It had roots. Our fear should come from what we have experienced in our lifetime. Ugly incidents that brought bloodshed to innocent communities, displacing others and striking fear in the hearts of every citizen.
We should now all feel how my father and his generation felt about war and civil unrest, because we have experienced it firsthand. Our “war” experience pales in comparison to the real, full blown, scary war our parents fought, literally, but we should be equally concerned because our ‘war’ was not with an outside enemy, but rather amongst ourselves in an independent country.
War is ugly in every form. It destroys families and entire communities and it benefits no one, except the evil, cowardly perpetrators who hide in their upscale mansions with bodyguards all around them, as the war they incited rages on in the streets and neighborhoods of the common man.
