Was it peaceful or just Calm?

A flashback to 2007 December 30 in the light of yesterdays referendum voting has left me wondering which of the two was the real Kenya? Both had the drive to vote for change but with totally different outcomes. No one can even tell there was any voting yesterday and this makes me feel very proud.

But was it peaceful or just calm?

I am no prophet of doom neither do I enjoy conflict but I am disturbed. I am disturbed that even as we went for the vote we still have so much swept under the carpet that we hope will sort itself. I am disturbed that our brothers and sisters remain in tents as no one is keen enough to re-settle them. I am disturbed that many a kenyan voted for or against a document they had no idea what it contains or has for them. I am disturbed that politics and partisan interests remain a key driving force in Kenya and public means are used for private ends. For if politics was not the main thing, why then did bill boards with messages for Voting YES or NO have pictures of some persons who have declared their intentions to run for presidency in the next elections? Why were there cold fights about who will gain most from the referendum in terms of political mileage? Why is the discussion now on which politician delivered votes and who did not deliver and not on the millions of Kenyans who have borne the pain of bad leadership and how they stand to gain or loose in the new order?

This are the things that disturb me. The politicians are already sharing the spoils while Kenyans remain in their sorry state or affairs. This thoughts calls us to go flat out and work for peace by uprooting all causes of conflict in the country and no one should be spared if they are the cause. only then can we set our country on the path to success otherwise the scenes of 2007/8 will not be far from us.

One of the interesting observations in this referendum is that Kenyans have all that it takes to make this country new and that they want change. A change that is not just on paper but real change that impacts their lives positively. With the results showing a clear YES win, one is left with no doubt that in 14 days time Kenya will have in place a new order. But will Kenyans have a new order internally? As the paper is signed by the president, are Kenyans also signing new page individually and collectively. A new page of responsibility, honesty, abiding by the rule of law, living in peace, love and unity. A new page of respect of opinion and celebration of diversity. A new page of integrity and justice that is not about "just us".

For the change we so desire must start with each of us. We can not expect to remain the same and joy ride on the change from others. Indeed, if it is to be, it is up to us. Lets work for our country for in here lays our prosperity.

In Service to God and My Country.

ARMS

Final Thoughts on Referendum Eve...

Friends, we are Kenyans in Kenya for such a time as this. Much more, we are Disciples of Christ in Kenya that He may be glorified even through us. We have not always lived to this expectation. When called to courage, we havefeared; when called to reconcile, we have divided; when called to act wehave often ran away and when called to love we have hated. I am encouragedto note that destiny is in the future and that we have a minute by minuteopportunity to arise and shine. But are we committed to this course? Are we ready to pay the price for the prize, carry the cross for the redemption?Are we just keen on the returns or blessings? Are we given to walk the roadof the higher calling for which we are being called to? A path least usedand even unpopular,but right nevertheless which the Lord is calling us to.

I am grateful for those who have taken time to understand the document before come Weds 4th Aug 2010.On this day we shall either approve or disapprove the document. Grey areas have been pointed out and so have been the strong point. In a diverse society there can be no one straight road and thus a constitution is a negotiated piece with giving and taking, gaining and loosing.

The decision before us is a political one with implications on every aspectof our lives. It is a choice that requires us to weigh what we are willingto live with. We must at every time remember that the reason we are seekinga new constitutional order is to have a country where each citizen can havethe opportunity and support systems to reach their highest potential. Alevel playing field where all have an equal opportunity in enjoying thebenefits that our great country has to offer. As one of my good friends puts it “YES is a drive to fix the politics, while the NO is a drive to fix thevalues”. Question is which one is most critical and which one can only youand I do. But a keener look on the Kenyan society as is now, reveals that the problem we have may not be solved by simply enacting a new constitution.The problem that Kenya has is one of abdicating personal responsibility andoutright disregard for the rule of law (read impunity). This then calls usto a higher duty that is over and above a new constitution. That we must beready to change our attitudes and ways of life if we are to see prosperity.It’s a call to forget the former ways of corruption and impunity.

The constitution may fix the hardware (systems) but I doubt it will fix thesoftware (people) which is largely responsible for the state Kenya is innow. We must appreciate that we cannot legislate on peace, love and unity.This must of necessity stem from willing and transformed hearts. This newKenya must be built in the hearts of Kenyans otherwise we will remain underunder siege and as a people without a birth right. Kenyans must arise andbuild their Kenya, just like the Japanese, the Chinese, the Americans andothers have done. No lasting solution will come from outside. Others can support but we must be out doing the real work. Thus come Wednesday, we mustall vote and be proud of our vote.

A new page in Kenya’s history is in the offing. This is regardless ofwhich side gets more votes. Of interest is that both those voting YES andthose voting NO have a point of agreement. This is that the PCK is notperfect. The point of departure is that the YES Camp want it passed thenamended while the NO Camp wants it amended then passed. This is in myopinion is a good thing. The challenge is on how we get both sides to worktogether after the referendum to ensure that we have the contentious issuessorted for therein lies the stability of the country. In the absence of thiswe are simply cooked!. We are cooked because the reasons you and I arevoting yes or no are not necessarily the same as why the politicians aredoing so. This calls for us to arise in prayer and action, the Martin LutherKing Jnr style and demand that Kenya and Kenyans be respected and treatedaccordingly. More so ensuring that Kenyans are the drivers of their owndestiny with the help of God.

Ours is a role to build a loving, peaceful and united country. And this wemust do with all the zeal and zest we can command. We must vote and work fora responsible nation, teach and practice the values we desire to seeexhibited, and be an example of the change we want to see. Lastly we must asa church always recall and emphasis that a well governed country is notnecessarily a godly one, thus we must keep on with the great commission ofmaking disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,Son and Holy Spirit.
God Bless You All.

In Service to God and My Country.

ARMS

NB: This is a speech I gave in St. Andrews Church on Sunday, 1 August 21010 as Wrap Up to the Serialization of the Proposed Constitution of Kenya. This version is edited by John Ngichu

19 Days to go....

With barely 19 days to go to the long awaited 2nd national referendum on the constitution, the campaign tempo is rising with each camp leaving no stone untouched.

Come 4th August we will rise early in the morning to go queu to "bring reforms" or to "reject reforms" as some would make us believe. But will voting YES or NO mean anything to our country or will it just be another expression of our democratic right to vote. Both YES and NO are working to make us believe that transformation of our country lies on their side. YES are arguing that having come this far its just in order that we cross the river wipe the little not-so-good parts and move on. On the other hand, NOs are saying that we must not just cross over when we know we have some parts we can fix. each of us has a choice on which side we need to follow. Important to note is that none of us will go unaffected by whichever side carries the day.

But lets know that society is as good as the individuals in it. There seems like we are keen to have an external solution to our internal problems. We (kenyans) have a heart problem that we must indivdually be willing to have it fixed. No one is responsible for our future but ourselves. So in as much as we fix the car, lets also fix the driver. Poverty wont fade away when we send more money to grassroots until we have healed the corruption at those grassroots. The environment wont improve, unless we address the greed and abuse that we individually cause on the environment.

We each have role to play.


In Service to God and My Country.ARMS

The Irony in Kenya

This is dedicated to all those who desire to lead this country. It is from observations on our country. sad ones indeed. Its my prayer that we will work to change this culture of blaming others.

I am worried for you leaders...with all votes comes expectations (read very high expectations) not for something in return but for everything in return. Infact voting in Kenya seems to be the process of choosing the person (s) we intend to blame for our mistakes in the future.

Kenyans expect exemplary leadership from you and nothing else even if they have no idea what exemplary leadership looks like or should look like nor willing to provide. We expect you to define it, live it and they be happy. We will fail and look bad but we expect you never to fail and always be perfect. WEwill make mistakes but expect you to take responsibility. We will call each other names but expect you to apologize on our behalf. WE will fail to take their children to school but blame you for mass illetracy and insecurity. WE will bride and take bribes then blame you for weak enforcement mechanisms.

WE will liter our towns and villages then blame you for filthy environment. WE will cut down trees and grab forests then we will complain to you of unreliable rains. WE will seat by and watch then complain you are doing nothing about our plight. WE will Vote YES or NO without even reading the proposed constitution, then later insist you misled us. WE will vandalise whevever is government property then blame you for poor service delivery.

WE will always demand more from you than we can ever deliver ourselves together and then will blame you for being inefficient and unrelaible . Then finally we will vote you out/or push for your sacking and replace you with the next person we intend to blame for our future mistakes. .... and that is the irony of society.

Kenyans lets end this culture and start taking responsibility for our actions. Lets be the generation that will be remembered as the ACTION GENERATION. Lets educate our children by participating in the schools programmes. Lets clean our towns and plant our forests. Lets plan implement food security programmes. Lets at the community level resolve to live with each other in unity.

In Service to God and My Country.

ARMS

Some Wise words on Integrity

"A liar needs a good memory." — Quintillian

"Integrity without knowledge is weak and useless, and knowledge without integrity is dangerous and dreadful."- Samuel Johnson Rasselas, ch. 41

"What is left when honor is lost?" — Publilius Syrus First Century BC, Maxim 265

"If we believe a thing to be bad, and if we have a right to prevent it, it is our duty to try to prevent it and damn the consequences." — Lord Milner

"Let no pleasure tempt thee, no profit allure thee, no persuasion move thee, to do anything which thou knowest to be evil; so shalt thou always live jollity; for a good conscience is a continual Christmas." — Benjamin Franklin

"To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful." — Edward R. Murrow

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." — Abraham Lincoln

"It takes less time to do a thing right than to explain why you did it wrong."— Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

"He is not wise to me who is wise in words only, but he who is wise in deeds."— St. Gregory

"There are seven things that will destroy us: Wealth without work; Pleasure without conscience; Knowledge without character; Religion without sacrifice; Politics without principle; Science without humanity; Business without ethics."— Mahatma Gandhi

In Service to God and My Country.ARMS

The Unused Road.....

"You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence. You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves."Abraham Lincoln, Republican

This famous quote by Abraham Lincoln underscores the place of integrity and personal obligation in making a country grow. This blog has taken the position, that every man and woman has and should play their role in making their society a better place to live in.

Listening to common discourse in Kenya, there seems to be an effort to find the other person who is responsible for this and that going wrong. Rarely, and this may not apply to all, will you find people discussing their role in the state of things. This leaves us in a sorry state where we claim to be clean and everyone else is dirty. If that be the case, then we should be extremely worried for no matter how "clean" we may be, if all that surrounds us is dirty then its just a matter of time and we shall also be dirty. This may be best reflected by a statement i read sometime back that goes, "Light that is constantly surrounded by darkness is in danger of loosing its brilliance". That may be debatable considering the moon has been around for ages but still shines....but if my science was right, the moon reflects the sun's light.

back to my point, I think we have had too many excuses in Kenya and its time I want to hear statements of responsibility. Will you be the first one to go? I am choosing that road, the unpopular and unused road of being a man of my word. This is certainly not ease in world society where telling the truth is unnormal. But I will try, will u try with me?

This we shall do in service to God and Country.

ARMS

Famous Quotes on Responsibility

"The price of greatness is responsibility."— Winston Churchill

"Success on any major scale requires you to accept responsibility . . . . In the final analysis, the one quality that all successful people have is the ability to take on responsibility." — Michael KordaEditor-in-Cheif, Simon & Schuster

"The man who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely to be the one who dropped it." — Lou Holtz

"Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off."— General Colin Powell

"You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself."— Jim Rohn

"The reason people blame things on the previous generation is that there's only one other choice."— Doug Larson

"In the old days, words like sin and Satan had a moral certitude. Today, they're replaced with self-help jargon, words like dysfunction and antisocial behavior, discouraging any responsibility for one's actions.."— Don HenleySinger/Songwriter

"Ninety-nine percent of all failures come from people who have a habit of making excuses." — George Washington Carver

"All blame is a waste of time. No matter how much fault you find with another, and regardless of how much you blame him, it will not change you."— Wayne Dyer

"In times like the present, men should utter nothing for which they would not willingly be responsible through time and eternity." — Abraham LincolnDecember 1, 1862 Message to Congress

"It is my daily mood that makes the weather. I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration, I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized. If we treat people as they are, we make them worse. If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming.”— J. W. Goethe

In Service to God and My Country.
ARMS

Adopted from http://www.leadershipnow.com/responsibilityquotes.html