Kenya Village Voices: If the Country is Dirty, then Wash the Whole Body.
Dr. Teddy Kamau
There is a cleansing that is taking place in Kenya. It is the realization that the nation is founded on shaky grounds when it comes to that which people own. The strip at the cost of Mombasa finds millions who, though they and their ancestors have occupied that piece of land before the British colony and before Kenya became independent in 1963, they are not the true owners of the land. There are many people who have title deeds of property owned by others. The interesting thing is that these title deeds, though criminal, are stamped with the legitimacy of the Government of the Republic of Kenya.
Recently, a woman was crying when she was evicted from her land in Nakuru, which she claimed that was given her by president Daniel Arap Moi. After the post election violence, Kofi Annan, former United Nations representative came to Kenya and created the 10th parliament, which was negotiated after post election violence of 2007-2008. After meeting president Kibaki, Annan was advised to go to Kabarak to meet with the former president Daniel Arap Moi. After meeting with Moi, Kofi Annan was quick to propose a simple non-binding, one parliamentary session agreement between president Kibaki’s government and Raila Odinga. The proposal was guided by the information Moi gave Annan.
Remember, during the 2007 election campaign, Raila Odinga joined by former Maasai leader, William Ole Ntimama demanded the Maasai be given back their ancestral land. They argued that there needed to be an eviction of millions of people from the whole of Maasai land. This would mean that everyone who has settled in Nairobi through Ongata Rongai, Keserian, Matathia, Ngong and the hills needed to be evacuated. The argument was that this land belonged to the Maasai: Raila Odinga received thousands of votes from the Maasai. It is this nightmare scenario that was given Kofi Anan by Moi.
Kenya is founded on issues that cannot be resolved unless there is civil war! Yet Raila Odinga is willing to constantly poke the eyes of the nation to satisfy his desire to become president. The sad thing is that he seems to possess powers beyond the capacity of any Kenyan politician to contain. Every major Kenyan politician from Uhuru Kenyatta to William Ruto, including and not limited to Kalanzo Musyoka, Mudavadi and all the personality politicians have at one point been Raila’s partners. Only when they withdraw from fellowship with him do they emerge as the victors.
No one in Kenya has ever asked what happened to the Ndungu report on land issues. Why is it that all those people mentioned in the report as having gotten illegal land from the former president are enjoying the produce of that land and some poor woman in Nakuru cannot be allowed to harvest from the same land? Can any one explain to us why that is OK? How long will women and children be abused by the wealthy in Kenya? How long will the people be silent? If the Ndungu report was evidence that the wealthy and the powerful in Kenya obtained land illegally, then should we not ask that they also be evicted from that land?
Many people view the bible’s role in the world as only a guide to spiritual path towards entry into the Kingdom of our God. However, its’ role is also to guide the believer in the application of God’s truth to daily life: Christianity is a life that is lived in every day events. Given that majority of Kenyans claim to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, it should be expected that these are also those, who participate in this injustice against the poor!
Therefore, and because of this fact, Jesus stands to teach us.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” “No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” “Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you.” John – 13:1ff. NIV.
Many theologians have argued about the application of this passage. The common reference is that it is about servant leadership. But Jesus uses the reference as a matter of fact! If your body is clean, then the need for washing the whole body is erased and you need to wash your hands and feet since they might have gathered dust or touched some virus. Peter, within natural application of clean, was clean.
Kenya is not historically clean and if the president, Uhuru Kenyatta, is going to order cleansing of the feet belonging to the poor, including the widow and the orphan, then let him like Peter say, “not just the feet, but the whole body.” For Kenya as a body, is dirty. And it needs a whole body cleansing, if we dare!
Teddy Njoroge Kamau (PhD)
HTBluff Associates
Diaspora Messenger Senior Columnist
Kenya Village Voices: If the Country is Dirty, then Wash the Whole Body.
