LET US LOWER OUR POLITICAL TEMPERATURES THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON

On the left, ODM group, in the middle, Church activists and on the right PNU group
By Jerry Okungu
December 14, 2009

As we move to the Christmas season and New Year celebrations, it is about time we gave politics a break and focused on the little things that matter to us most; love for one another.

As we mark the birth of Jesus Christ, let the spirit of good will to all mankind be visited upon us too, let the peaceful wind of love, joy and caring blow across our land from coast to the lake and from our mountains , valleys and deserts.

This is our time to reflect and take stock of our actions in various fields and assess our performance in our various tasks and relations with one another. And there are many areas we need to look at to determine how we have performed.

Much as we want a new constitution that has sapped most of our energies in the last three or so months, there are other equally important areas that we may need to look at again.

This year has been a hard one for many in our country. The failed rains meant that most parts of the country had not enough food to eat. In many parts of our country, we lost our brothers and sisters due to acute food shortage. Others perished along with their animals due to devastating drought. Much as we tried to raise foodstuff, funds and other basic necessities, to some, the help we strove to provide came a little too late. It is our hope that disaster managers in our country have learnt vital lessons from this year’s experience and are planning to be more prepared next time we are faced with such predictable calamities.

On the security front, the Mungikis were as unrelenting as ever. Despite massive security deployment in Central Province, we still lost many valuable Kenyans due to unnecessary bloodletting. This Christmas season should help us to see the folly of killing one another and the need to live together as the children of one true God. More importantly, now that the Mungiki leader has been baptized, it is our hope that the message of goodwill will spread to the rest of Maina Njenga’s followers so that they stop taking the lives of innocent Kenyans.

While still on security; we cannot forget the many lives lost in recent months to cattle rustling bandits in Northern and Eastern parts of Kenya. The killings in Isiolo, Samburu and West Pokot need not have taken place had our security system been functional to its maximum capacity. Again, we can only hope that we have drawn vital lessons that will come in handy in the coming years.

As we break for the festive season when we expect to be merry, let us give a moment’s silence and thought to those of our brothers, sisters and children still in IDP camps or those newly evicted from Mau forests and are still camped on the roadsides. As our hearts go to them for whatever reason, let us share with them the little we have; a blanket here, a meal there and a cloth to cover their backs. This in my opinion is the true spirit of Christmas season.

In the spirit of Christ’s teachings, let us give politics a break and join hands in songs of praise to the God of all mankind. Let the squabbles in ODM, PNU and ODMK go silent. Let early 2012campaigns ease off and rival political rallies be turned into Christmas festivals. Fatigued Kenyans badly need this break!

In this season, let us for once celebrate the New Year without the usual senseless road carnage, matatu madness and deafening public prayers in our parks and market places. Let us be dignified enough to worship God without shouting at Him.

This season, let the wealthy churches that have been collecting millions of funds from their followers show their true Christian worth by truly sharing God’s blessings with the poor and the less fortunate. Let us see the true spirit of Jesus Christ on display this season when the men of the cloth will lead the way in giving back their year’s blessings.

Let us also dedicate our prayers to our Speaker of Parliament, the two principals of our Coalition Government and judges and parliamentarians to see the virtue of paying taxes like ordinary Kenyans. Let us pray that they will see the moral principle that real patriots give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar like Jesus encouraged his Jewish audiences to do. It is only through fair taxation shall we have moral authority to govern our people and demand services from our government.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

jerryokungu@gmail.com