Most Kenyans who went to school when education was king read the book, “The animal farm”. The famous statement in the book is often quoted, with Deputy President William Ruto quoting it most recently during the presidential campaign 2017, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” This statement describes Raila Odinga to the Cole. Though he was the one who should have been suffering for his swearing in, it is the smaller ‘animals’ like Miguna Miguna who take the fall! But even within the bigger animals, there are other animals in between: The Judge is higher than a lawyer, but the politician is higher than the lawyer, and the president is higher than all of them. As for the people who established the hierarchical process, they just sit and watch the game unfold!
The state of peace is created by mutual respect of each among each. The Queen of England has no political power given that she was not elected by the people to be Queen. And yet every prime minister elect must report to her and request that she allows them to form a government. She sits in the House of Lords to present to the ruling institutions the government’s agenda. The members of the House of Lords sit while the House of Commons stand and watch. This is a sign to the prime minister and parliament who is the boss.
The people allow governments to subjugate them, and though many around the world protest, their protest is quenched by the STATE and they go back to be subjects and let those who they have elected govern them even if to their degradation. It is this state of human government that remains mysterious to those of us who THINK! It is no secret that the people in any country are more than those who govern them. If the millions of people in the United States stood in protest as one, they would bring the government down. Yet they allow the leaders to exist, to pass laws that oppress them, and to enact institutions that benefit a few.
The Bible records a protest against God where the creator submitted to the will of the people. And to those of us who have studied theology, this is the foundation of human government and its’ decreed authority which no population on earth is able to remove. It is one of God’s decrees that many ignore, to their predicament. “But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
It continues, “Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle[c] and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”1Sam.8:6-20.
And so the game of thrones was established upon the sons and daughters of man. Can the Migunas of this earth win against such a decree? In Kenya, the villagers were told to adopt constitutions of western government. They voted and said, “Behold the right to self-rule.” But the game of thrones is complex. Therefore the people sit and watch television mystified by the mystery of life in the ‘animal farm’!
Teddy Njoroge Kamau (Ph.D.)
HTBluff Associates
BBN TV
Diaspora Messenger Senior Columnist
