Our society's Red Gold

The book of Job

6 One day the angels[a] came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan[b] also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

I love this passage. It illustrates the kind of relationship God and Satan have. Its not always war war war!!! The kind of thing that we are convinced it is. God is even fair enough to give the Devil his time of day because God is just in all His ways and that includes giving a fair hearing. Something unusual we aren't used to hearing.

For those who  are unaware, the Devil accuses the saints day and night before God and he does this because he understands that before God, all men  are made equal and His justice is unbiased. The only escape is the blood  of Christ that paid for our sins. So, for any accusation not covered for by Calvary means another penalty must be paid.

Travel with me to the second part of this story.

Here is part of an interview between the Al jaazera and the Al Shabaab spokesman. You can read the full interview at http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2013/09/2013923628350977.html

AJ: Kenya says it will go after the perpetrators of this attack and won't stop until they are defeated. What do you say to that?

SA: We are not perpetrators. We are only defending ourselves and defending our rights, the rights of the Somali people.

Today no one has a worse criminal record than the Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. He's talking about tens of people killed at Westgate while he's responsible for the deaths of thousands of people killed when he was running for the presidency. If Kenyans want to hold someone accountable for crimes they should first start with him.

At this point, may I expressly state that I have not called our president a criminal, I have just quoted the words of the spokesman. However, as said in my previous post, a leader carries the aspirations of a community. So don't be quick to judge that guy. I guess he saw the president representing a certain goal and way of life of Kenyans.

So what happened after the Westgate incident in our city?

We Christians rushed to church and prayed for protection. We Kenyans tweeted and facebooked about #WeAreOne. We even went ahead to make declarations about the peace and prosperity of this country and even had a National Prayer Breakfast because we are concerned about our prosperity. We all want to pacify our security and image as a nation. That's all we cared about. 

Question is, will it happen again?

Let me now take you on a journey, a possible q&a session. Maybe then you might understand this somewhat incoherent writing.

*Scene One*

Judge: Hello prosecutor, what have you been upto?

Prosecutor: Just touring here and there like the kanjo do when looking for money. Guess what I found?

J: What?

P: I went to  your tenants' territory, the land your servants took from me

J: So what about it?  You know yo don't have any business there!!!

P:But I do. They took it but they haven't given me my red gold back. They  are still holding onto it since 2007 December. They need to pay for it if they are insisting on keeping it. So I have to go back for my pay until they give it up.

J: *Shakes His head*

P: Even if you shake your head, you do know the law. So I'll be on my way now Mr. Judge. Have a good day.

(Prosecutor walks out of courtroom)

*End of Scene*

At the National Prayer Breakfast a woman stood up and shouted, "Repent!!! My God has told you to repent." Shortly after which she was escorted out.

I am not a prophet of doom but I know some red gold somewhere needs to be given up. I also do not know how the rest of the scenes go. Maybe we will write the script or maybe we will leave it hanging and let it unfold. Only time will tell.

The heart of a nation demands for its leaders

Every time people blame their leaders, we are reminded that our leaders are our own products.

I have come to learn something of late as a leader, every leader that is voted in or buys his way into an office is a reflection of the aspirations of the people that chose him to lead them. This statement is very true since leaders lead a people towards a certain goal. The goal might be good or bad but its essentially what the voters have subscribed to. Technically this is how election and leadership works.

1. I see a goal I need to attain to and the path which I would like to take.

2. I  look around for people around me with a common goal and associate myself with them

3. From amongst ourselves, we choose the one with the clarity of the path to be taken.

4. The elected person becomes the leader and steers us towards this goal irrespective of our persistent opinions.

5. After a certain time, we grade their ability to lead us towards this goal by way of another election.

No leader is there without carrying the heart of the society since after a while of association with fellow members of the society, he understands the heart and mind of the  people around him. Every leader carries the aspirations of  his people, no matter how he got to that position.

We can never blame our leaders for corruption and impunity without first accepting that we ourselves as citizens are corrupt. In fact if the leader corruptly got into government, even the better because he is just behaving as the nature of the community requires him to. 

The reason why Africa has the kind of leaders it has is because the heart of the nation demands for such leaders. Before becoming a leader, you  must understand the heart otherwise the heart will always be in conflict with the leader. And not many leaders can bear that.

Don't blame leaders for poor leadership, remember you chose that path. The leader just takes the first step in the journey.