“Sorry Mwalimu, I’ll nary commemorate you”

My name is Glutton, son of Conman.

Though as I’m jolting this down, 166 youths are toiling to track from Mwanza to Butiama, as the commemoration of your historic journey to support the late Arusha declaration, I won’t emulate you at this 10th anniversary of your heroic death. Hereunder are the reasons:

Firstly, I am light ‘hearted’ especially when I see money and power. I am a hypocrite, even a stinking materialist. I am corrupt through and through.

To be honest with you, I stink like a pig. My colleagues call me a liar and conman. I, therefore, am not supposed to get near your grave, wife, kids even your nation that I am sabotaging.

So too, which declaration am I to support, if at all I am ensconced amidst those that felled Arusha declaration? How will I commemorate you whilst human rights, equality have varnished as corruption, daylight robbery, and lies have taken over?

Good teacher, I don’t want to cheat you and myself. You fought for freedom based on self reliance. All these are long gone. Instead, there’s self-inflicted slavery and underdevelopment. You shaped socialism and self-reliance. We now are doing self-serving and nihilism. Yours was the future of the nation. Ours is to place these goodies in the hands of mighty investors, donors and those that run errand for them. You fought for and preserved our land and its minerals. Currently we’ve small gulf emirates amidst us. You know what, go to Loliondo. You’ll be welcomed to Gulf Emirates as if you’re in the Gulf of Arabs. Truly, they’ve engulfed us thanks to their sweet ten percent.

I’ve no qualms to emulate and commemorate your legacy. Do you know that all minerals you preserved for future generations are gone thanks to the quacks you accidentally backed?

Mwalimu, I can not honour you whilst I abhor and look down at you. Had I loved and honoured you, I’d have abided by your will that we love and help each other. I help nobody except my family and my stomach. You died grieving for your people after discovering you entrusted them to hyenas.

To say a least, your Mara region has already witness live bullets being fired to kill trespassers. When it comes to environmental degradation, God only knows what is on the offing. With all these blunders, do I deserve to emulate and commemorate your legacy? Is emulating you words or deeds? I am afraid. I’m not a parrot that says what it doesn’t do and does what it doesn’t say.

Though you are no more Mwalimu, you still do our nation better posthumously than the living ones that bring shame and miseries to us. They’ve privatized us including themselves and their heads. What’s more, your stint in power proved how selfless you are. You did not survive any kids in high echelons of powers like it is currently, where every who’s who is mentoring his kids to take over after most of them are done. We now have kid presidents, wife presidents and whiz kid presidents almost everywhere.

All was done. One thing will nary be forgiven by your suffering people. This is the taking of Kiwira charcoal mine that was built by Chinese, thanks to the friendly hand extended by your best friend Mao Tse- Tung.

Mwalimu, the bête noix you left behind cheated us. They told us that investment and privatization are the sole means of revamping our all-time-sick economy. They promised better life for all little knowing, ‘all’ means all of them not all of us! We’re now vending each other. There’s no difference between a police man and the thief. We recently witnessed police killing innocent businessmen they called thugs whilst the truth was the difference.

During your stewardship everybody was protected. Currently albinos are killed indiscreetly. It is believed by some goons that their body parts bring luck to their business! At your time, leadership meant service to the people not self serving. Ikulu was the holy of the holy, not a deal-making place. Leadership meant truth not lies. Politics was blessings not like now. It is a curse.

Thanks to dirty politics all those sons and daughters of stinking paupers you enrolled in free schools are now super rich. There’s one goon among them that called one billion shillings just mere peanuts! Even those thieves you cursed for amassing ill-gotten wealth came into the play. Their colleagues backed them so as to end up becoming biggies before they’re booted down, thanks to their evil desire of stealing from your people.

Mwalimu, I won’t emulate you. How could I whilst my bread comes by the way of selling drugs, receiving kickbacks, lies, empty promises, sabotage and whatnot as opposed to your teachings?

Is it possible for rats to emulate the cat instead of enjoying freedom thanks to its absence? Can a tick live without sucking blood? Isn’t the tick wicked even if it is fat and shiny?

Mwalimu, I’m even afraid to come to Butiama or stand before people on the tenth anniversary of your demise. How could I eulogize you whilst my deeds dress you down? I am afraid. Your wife Maria, even your children, might feel bad and tell it to my face. They know me well. I don’t want to be degraded by any of them that would be annoyed by my lies despite the fact that my deeds degraded since long.

Mwalimu, you’re bright. I am but dull and Tabula rasa. You were clean. I am dead dirty. Your wife did not use your office to steal from your people. Even your kids did nary vie for high offices as it is now. I’d like my kids to become presidents just like those of others I see being mentored.

Mwalimu, you introduced free education. To the contrary, I am the fan of cost sharing and bearing for poor all aimed at fattening the purses of those in power. You fought for the land and minerals. I wish I were president. I’d sell the all land and privatize minerals. You’re not in bed with thieves concealing themselves behind business. They’re my best friends and donors.

Mwalimu, you fought for equality of human beings. To me, equality is an archaic thing. Human value depends on his purse. And all human beings are not equal.

In a nutshell, I won’t emulate or commemorate you Mwalimu. For whatever I do and believe in is contrary to what you did and believed.
Source: Afro Spear Think Tank