Many Kenyans have historically benefited from Ukraine, with many graduating from universities there. Diaspora Messenger Contributor Elizabeth Ekakoro Bore has testified that Ukrainians are good people. The humanity of Ukraine and their hospitality towards East Africans warrants appreciation. However, Ukrainians might also benefit from an East African proverb that goes something like this:
Two villagers were talking about their wives while drinking what we call “bitter water” In Kijabe. The two men agreed that they needed to reaffirm their manhood by returning home and beating their wives. When they got home drunk, one of them took a bat and started beating his wife. The other took a bat and beat a gunia.
The late Kenyan radio personality Sam Mandoka had a program on Saturday afternoon called “TNT.” Those were the good old days in Kenya when we could listen to great music on KBC on Saturday afternoons. Following Mandoka’s program my program from Bibilia Husema Studios, Kijabe, was called “Sacred Music.” His was secular entertainment while mine was spiritual enlightment. Both provided great lessons on life.
Mandoka would play a song by Peter Tosh, “The Poor Man Feels It,” which was a great analysis of who suffers when fools run a nation. He would also play a song by Bob Marley, “Heathen” from Marley’s album Exodus. The lyrics were very inspirational, “Rise oh fallen fighters, rise and take your stand again, for he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day . . . as a man sows he shall reap.”
Ukraine’s tragedy did not start now. It is a historical planting of seeds by politicians on behalf of their citizenry. The people trusted that the politicians would lay their lives down to protect them and their livelihoods. But as happens all the time in the history of nations, politicians sacrifice other people’s children and livelihoods while claiming that it is for the glory of the greater Republic. Ukraine war with Russia, though tragic, could have been avoided.
Yesu Kristo also had a philosophy on war. He advocated for reason and logic in matters of life’s decisions. Many people associate Yesu Kristo with only spiritual matters. However, a closer look at what He advocated calls humanity to wisdom. Remember, “All things were created by Him, through Him and for Him,” St. Paul write in Colossians 1:15ff.
Jesus understood how the heart of man works. I therefore point to a statement Jesus made to His disciples about the need for wisdom in leadership: “ . . . suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand?” (Luke 14:31).
God uses language, logic, and reason to communicate His truth. The Bible is not written in a heavenly language but in the languages of humans. Jesus used examples from what He observed and what He, as God, knew about human nature to communicate truth. In this case, if we are to apply Luke 14:31 to the events in Ukraine, we can conclude that
President Zelenskyy is not acting wisely because he, as the nation’s leader, is responsible for every person who lives in Ukraine, and seems to have not calculated how many “soldiers” he had. As the President, he knew the capability of his army and resources to fight against Russia. I know some will scream at me and say that as a pastor and theologian I should understand that Russia is the aggressor. That criticism would miss the point I am making as a theologian. Ukraine’s president should have made every calculation necessary to protect the lives and property of the Ukrainian people before committing to war. He should not have counted on the actions of his buddies who had ngunias.
This should have involved blocking every other voice from the United States, European Union, and United Nations. He should have listened to godly wisdom and asked, “ Do I have the weapons and the power to protect my people and our land against Russia’s weapons and power?” To not follow godly wisdom is to digress into the philosophy of Kufa Kiume, a philosophy of a drunkard husband who continues to scream about his circumcision and manhood, ignoring that his wife and children are dying and his house is burning.
“Mimi ni mwanaume, Nimetaeri, hii nyumba ni yangu.” While the drunkard in the proverb buys his buddies kumi kumi, his children and wife starve and then they are sacrificed to his god of raw power when he returns home in a drunken rage, destroying them and his home.
Zalenskyy is like a drunkard who is being praised and encouraged by his drunken buddies while women and children in Ukraine suffer, being hopeless and destitute. The children of Ukraine are crying in the wilderness to God, the Creator. And the Creator is looking at the government in respect to Romans 13 and asking the question, “ Did you not calculate the number of soldiers needed to fight the enemy?”
Again, Yesu Kristo advises us to, “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still together on the way, or your adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison,” (Mathew 5:25).
He who has ears to hear let him hear what wisdom has said. Even the secular songwriter Peter Tosh understood that “the poor man feels it.”
Teddy Njoroge Kamau (PhD)
HTBluff Associates
Diaspora Messenger Senior Columnist
