A few weeks after we appealed to Kenyans not to forget their heroes, one of my many Kenyan daughters had the following dramatic dream, as it comes out of her mouth:
“The dream was about the end of the world. … and … were there and we were planning a trip to Kansas to pick up a car and visit a friend with tons of food. Then there was commotion everywhere. Shiny UFOs (Unidentified Flying Objects) flying everywhere. From a distance, a mob of secret service big black SUVs approach and stop right at the town circle.
“So we ran towards the circle in the hopes of news of what is going on. And out steps Moi…and starts calling for “Treona” (his long lost daughter).
“And me being the Mtoto wa Nyayo thought he was yelling out Joana! So I stepped forward in excitement saying “me!”
“I was deeply saddened and disappointed to find it wasn’t me he was looking for. And weirdly the dream has remained in memory.
“Indoctrination?”
END OF THE DREAM
After narrating her dream, this Mtoto wa Nyayo, now about 30 years old, told me: “Uncle, Moi is all we knew. We drunk Nyayo Milk and Moi was good to children.”
Her words and dream reminded me how I had ignored mentioning President Moi while I was preaching to Kenyans not to forget their heroes. Moi is certainly a hero to as many Kenyans as those who think he is a villain.
I remembered his untiring harambee efforts to build schools, especially girls’ schools. I remembered his efforts to protect the environment by such actions as personally taking part in building gabions to protect the soil from erosion.
I even forgot that he presented me with one of the two journalism awards I won from the Kenya Press Club. I was also one of the journalists President Moi made sure we were fed as we flew with him to Addis Ababa when he was Organization of African Unity Chairman. He also made it his personal responsibility to ensure that we (the Kenyan journalists covering the OAU Summit) were taken care of.
I also may have forgotten to mention that before he became a dictator, President Moi enabled ordinary Kenyans to compete with the rich. Here is one example. During Jomo Kenyatta’s time, the rich and powerful had become so powerful that we, the people, could hardly get our kids to decent private or public schools. After Moi took over, I was one of the Kenyans who used that new opening to take my kids to good private schools.
Despite Moi’s positive contributions, I will not consider him my hero. And I will never stop telling people that President Jomo Kenyatta was my hero.
I grew up when Jomo was a Kenyan hero. If you were there you know what I mean.
Why am I talking about all these?
I am trying to remind Kenyans not to run away from their heroes even when others don’t like them.
When we condemn President Moi for all the bad things he did, I expect other Kenyans not to be scared speaking about the good things Moi did, and continues to do, for them and the country in general. Many Kenyans will tell you that Moi is a generous man. I do not doubt that. To me freedom for all Kenyans is more important than President Moi’s generosity. However, remember that no one is perfect.
Not even Moi, Jomo or President Mwai Kibaki.
