“Remember you have to submit your article today for editing. I
know at times writers feel like they can’t do it but you can’t afford to let
yourself feel that. You have to come up with this week’s article for editing
before evening”. That was the text I received from my editor this morning at
around nine o’clock. I was still in bed and it’s like she read my feelings, I
didn’t even have an idea on what to write on my column this week. The whole of Kenya has been talking about the
“afro cinema” drama of “come baby come” as directed by one Miguna Miguna. From
mainstream media to social networks, this has been the talk. It is time to tackle other issues.
Lately I have been asking myself,
“Why should I write? After all they say “if
you want to hide something from Africans put it in books.” Yet my main
target audience is Africans. Then on the same line of thought, I got an idea.
This week I’m going to discuss the other side of that old phrase.
Today I want to prove to
the entire world that it was not meant to say that Africans don’t love books.
Primarily that could have been the meaning, but my far searching eyes show me a
dipper meaning; after all phrases have an outer and inner meaning. This phrase
has for a long time been misunderstood by students, scholars and professionals
alike in Kenya. They knew that this was the best way to trick and put Africans
in the dark, and yes they succeeded.
The developer of this phrase was so smart. It served two purposes.
The first was to get Africans to read the books and develop the reading
culture. Secondly it was to hide the truth from the Africans after developing
the reading culture. They knew Africans don’t read between the lines, they don’t
ask questions, they hardly criticise and if they do it, they do it to a minimal
extent, not the mano a mano thing that the Arab Pangaea does. I think this has
been the weapon of many African scholars to manipulate their people in politics
and development.
As the Miguna afro cinema was going on last week, I was arguing
with some fellow learning friends during a meal. They said that they had read
Sarah Elderkin’s response to Janyando’s book. One of my friends is a strict
book by book word by word reader “cross the t and dot the i” kind of person.
This day he was supported by many other except one of my mentors whom we often
share many opinions. Now let me prove to you how this phrase works superbly.
First they did not even know who the author of the article was; they did not
know her background, who she worked for and why she was writing that rebuttal.
Yet they claimed that they had new knowledge, which I don’t dispute. What they
didn’t know is that it was false and vendetta knowledge.
They went on to argue on the Justice Warsame’s
judgement in the same article that was filled with what i would call sarcasm.
They claimed Warsame was a good judge and couldn’t give a “bad” judgment. When
i went back to research on the judgement it was replete with numerous Grammatical,
typographical, factual, logical and legal errors. I would be forgiven if I said
that it was written by an intern student. It portrayed what I said on my
previous article on the judiciary; we have a long way to go. This just proved
to me the African reading culture. What I call learned, misguided, nincompoops’
elites. Yet to them this was their best argument.
Kenyans have a trend of following our
columnist especially political columnist blindly. We never want to know the
true argument or why they do it. For instance, someone came and told me that
Makau Mutua is one of the best columnists because he says it as it is. People
who know Mutua and have been keen followers of his articles might not agree
with this statement. Mutua is turning out to be a psychofant, an attention
seeker. In 2003, he categorically stated that he did not believe in Raila what
makes him believe in him now? Just two weeks ago I found it impossible to read
his article because he portrayed a different picture of the same Raila he had
portrayed before. Professor, are you feeling pity for Jakom after his votes
were” stolen”? Why don’t you stick to your strong opinions anymore? Why don’t
your articles claim that what you write are your personal views? Do you
represent other people’s views in your letters and columns?
Sarah Elderkin is on Raila’s payroll. She is
currently the writer of his speeches and all communication items. On May 19,
2011 she wrote of Miguna: “But first I need to say that I know Miguna and I
have worked with him. I have found him intelligent, well-read, well-prepared,
honest, stalwart, upright, hardworking and supremely committed to what is good,
proper, right and just. I also know he is impatient and highly vocal about
anything that contravenes these values, and that he does not suffer fools
gladly. About his style of operation (never the substance), he and I have in
the past had rather lively discussions. But I have learned to respect Miguna.”
Is this not her? Why has she changed her mind now? Would she have done it hadn’t
the book been published? Sarah is a puppet!
Ahmednassir Abdullahi, the Holier
than though advocate, famous for uncovering “rumours”. One of his good friends
is Caroli Omondi, are those people who represent change? How many times has he
been sued by people like Janyando and paid them due to defamation? Arrogance
and vendetta is always the motive of his articles. Look at Kwendo Opanga, Vincent
Makali, caroline Mutoko, Clay Muganda and Mutahi Ngunyi who make themselves
look like “fathers” of political science but is what they say mostly true.
Don’t you guys sense an arrow of falseness in their columns? Don’t you sense
biasness?
"The press as a player in the field of democracy has
a responsibility to convey truthful information about candidates and their
policies to enable citizens make informed choices." So says P.L.O.Lumumba and
I agree in totality. Most of our columnists are quacks, bloviating, shambolic,
wobbly, cowards, confused, opportunistic and deceitful. They take advantage of
our poor reading culture to twist our minds to believing what they want us to
believe. They are paid to deliver what is not there, we must take preternatural
circumspection while reading and digesting what is there. We may end up making
uninformed decisions that we will regret in future. Our columnist must be like
Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. But this is the direct opposite, our columnist
suffer from amnesia and change views like they do their shirts. We must be very
careful with our columnist.
I may not agree
with Joseph Momoh of Sierra Leone on many things, but I do on one thing, that a
Journalist with a pen in hand is like a soldier with a Kalashnikov in hand, he
can use it to defend or to destroy. If this columnists and analysts are the
opinion shapers, then Kenyans need to start reading between the lines and not
nodding their heads to everything said like its gospel truth. We need to grow
to a point on independent mindedness where we rely on no one but self to make
critical decisions about our country.
Let us stop behaving
sheepishly because we were told it is hidden in the books. Let me solve this
puzzle, I now have the missing piece. The book is the first piece, logic and
criticisms are the missing pieces. Try it and you shall see, isn’t the cross
word done. Yes you just won it. I think I deserve a “Nobel” for this “invention”
to Africans. I have nothing new to teach the world. All I have
done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could.
The columnist S.N.John; is a student of law at Africa Nazarene
university, the vice chair of LAANU, a prospectus columnist and political
analyst. The opinions written in this column are for the writer himself and not
in anyhow that of Africa Nazarene University or LAANU, if they are it is a mere
coincidence. The opinions given are impartial and no personal vendetta has been
expressed. The writer has proof of the facts given and is ready to adduce any
evidence if required to do so.