Kenyans in true patriotic spirit commemorated Madaraka Day by remembering and honouring the brave men and women who died fighting to liberate our country from colonial rule.
Today, hundreds of young men and women are risking their lives in service to our nation as part of the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) dispatched to Somalia under the African Union peacekeeping mission there.
It is not lost on many that like their loved ones in the service, spouses, parents, siblings and children also make a deep sacrifice when a loved one goes to serve their country in war-prone areas.
Renowned author Ngugi wa Thiong’o, who is in the country, made his first visit to State House to a warm welcome from President Uhuru Kenyatta — son of Founding President Jomo Kenyatta. Uhuru urged the award-winning author, who went into self-exile in 1982, to return home, saying the country needed Ngugi’s many talents.
Kenya has crossed magnanimous milestones in the last few years and there has been noteworthy changes in the way things are run in government.
For Kenyans who push through their daily lives to make ends meet, they have a distorted view of their fellow citizens overseas who insistently seem to be subject of brain drain. And this has been a long-standing debate among Kenyans and Africans generally.
My quick condemnation of people who leave Africa to live in the US, Europe or Asia has been long overdue but maybe they express genuine concern for their well-being once they are back. Kenya truly needs them: scholars, reformers, business leaders and scientists who do not serve Kenya but contribute immensely to the countries they reside in.
What if these fellow citizens embraced a global vision to embrace what is best about the West and bring it back home to benefit their country? There are many gifted Kenyans in the diaspora with creative and entrepreneurial energies to be unleashed in our country.
What if they came back and enriched Kenya today? Unlike before, there is equality before the law, and as the President emphasised, political will to enforce significant change in the country prevails. Perhaps the government should start operation Turudi Nyumbani. —ki********@gm***.com
By Caroline Kiuna
-mediamaxnetwork.co.ke
