Saturday 15 February 2014

Mboya and The Challenge of Nationhood




            Kenya has been commemorating its 50 years of independence dubbed Kenya@50. It is an opportune moment for all Kenyans to reflect and meditate on the struggles of founding heroes and heroines who unshackled us from the doom of imperialists; the Second Liberation warriors who paid the ultimate price, but outwitted Moi in repealing Section 2A of the constitution to welcome the first multiparty elections in 1992. Kenyans also rejoice in the visionary leaders who teamed up to finally oust the ‘Nyayo Error’ after 24 years of blatant misrule.

             It is, however, not lost on Kenyans how the country martyred one of its eloquent and brilliant sons on the Saturday afternoon of July 5th, 1969. Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya fondly referred to as Tom Mboya, only aged 39, was fatally shot by Nahashon Njenga – a lone gunman–later tried, convicted and hanged according to official accounts. Kenya would never be the same again. 
            
           
Former American President John F. Kennedy and Tom Mboya: Both men who were to fall victims to lone-gunmen changing the course of history in their respective nations. 

Crisis of Confidence

            Unbeknownst to some, Mboya was a sharp and deep thinker who penned books among them The Challenge of Nationhood. In this incisive and engaging text, Mboya displays his nationalistic ideals on a wide range of issues. Confronted with steering a nascent nation to social and economic prosperity, the man who facilitated the famous US airlifts warns leaders on the perils of offering ‘over-simple answers’  in the introduction: Crisis of Confidence.  He also cautions against solving African problems particularly Kenya with answers lacking practicality and only meant to hoodwink the masses.  
            This echoes recent anti-West rhetoric by African rulers in spite of failing to amicably stop the sectarian bloodshed in CAR that has claimed innocent lives. Mboya confidently believed that the African people could integrate African ways in managing their challenges, albeit, without totally discarding the noble values learnt from the West. 

Intellectuals and Government

            Intellectuals continue to discourse with some vociferously longing for the ‘exciting’ 60s and 70s when a majority tackled the government head-on without fear. It is in this tortured trajectory that Mboya believed the success of Kenya lay. He observes that the intellectual “…has to make himself felt and not…grumbling and getting frustrated.” Mboya was also careful not to confuse the ‘educated’ with the ‘intellectual.’ A common trend today in our public discourses. The former Economic Planning and Development minister beseeched the elite from basking on ‘comforts and conveniences’ while abandoning nation building process.
           
 MARTYR: Mboya in a lively moment. 

             How many of our esteemed elites are playing puppets to their ethnic masters at the expense of the suffering citizens? To attain speedy economic and social development, Mboya noted that discipline had to reign amongst the educated and intellectual classes. 

            He warns of the intellectual who will “…use his privilege position to acquire more personal wealth through corruption, indulge in empty theorizing on ideologies thereby confusing the people who expect guidance...” And for “…that man who thinks he can be an honest intellectual and a tribalist at the same time.” How true today?

Press Freedoms

            The recent signing into law of Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill that regulates journalists triggered outrage amongst a majority of Kenyans who expressed their displeasure. Of course media had to ‘accept and move on.’ In establishing effective relations with the government, Mboya made a few, but pertinent demands from the press. 

            The press had to demonstrate sympathy to the nationalist cause, avoid being reactionary in its reportage and instead, embrace the virtue of progressiveness. He believed freedom of the press did not include turning into ‘…an agent for neo-colonialism’ and objective reporting that does not sensationalize a story to generate sales. The idea of ‘…preferring a story about failure or fear to a story of achievement or endeavor…’ According to Mboya, the media had to clearly identify with the struggles of the people and contribute in the national development. 

            In the book Tom Mboya explores other equally fundamentally issues such as the role of women in national development, conflicts that afflict nationhood, pan-africanism, and state of aid and development in third world countries. 

            The persistent question remains: 50 years later, have the relevant institutions and individuals done enough to free us from poverty, ignorance and diseases?