I should go back to writing…mainly because the consequences
of not doing that would result in ulcers, high blood pressure and eventual
death. Kinda like marriage, without the benefits of the occasional sex.
That being said, I passed by the vigil for the 147
people that we let down as a nation last night. I couldn’t stay, on account of
living in the neighboring Kiambu County, and the means of travel having been
severely constrained by our king in our shamba la mawe, Senor Evans Kidero. For
the short time I was able to stay however, there was a jumble of feelings that
was very palpable. I cannot speak for others, but I felt a combination of
remorse and anger.
WE
FAILED THOSE PEOPLE!!!
There is no other way to look at it. We failed them as
individuals, we failed them as a government, we failed them as the opposition,
we failed them as trade unions, any fucking way you look at it, we failed them.
Their blood is on our hands. Their deaths should rest heavily on our
consciences. The sad part however, is
that we will soon FORGET. We are known to do that, and we do it very well.
We will forget that by some miracle or other,
spectators to the massacre arrived before the squad of elite forces that
eventually ended the ordeal for the survivors. We will forget that there were
helicopters available for the burial of a certain Fidel, but the “Equipment to be used by the RECCE company
could only get there by road”.
We will forget that there had been a travel advisory
against the town of Garissa with the threat level set for imminent. We will
forget that the president’s reaction to the advisory was to make a derogatory
comment about taxi drivers. We will forget that the CS for foreign affairs went
on CNN and downplayed our failures; made the death of 147 people (If that is
even the real number) look like child’s play. We will forget that she blatantly
displayed a lack of any emotion, remorse, or grief that 147 people were dead.
We will forget that NOT A SINGLE SOUL IN GOVERNMENT HAS
TAKEN THE BLAME FOR DROPPING THE BALL IN THE BIGGEST WAY SINCE INDEPENDENCE.
We will forget that the president in response ordered
that 10,000 new police officers be recruited; provisions of the constitution be
damned. The fact that the recruitment process is flawed, corrupt and only serves
to churn out churn out the same corrupt individuals who were paid to let in the
mastermind of the Garrissa massacre into the country. We will forget that the
members of the RECCE company who endangered their lives to end the siege were ALLEGEDLY paid a paltry 500/- in
allowances. I capitalized the word allegedly because none of us could be
bothered to find out if this is true.
Worst of all, we will forget that 147 Kenyans full of
unbridled potential lost their lives. We will forget that most of them were tegemeo
la familia zao. We will forget that parents had sent them to Garissa to further
their education, to better their lives. We will forget that these people had
families, they left behind people that we wronged, people whose hopes we broke,
people whose dreams we stole. That their futures were extinguished by our negligence,
our lack of initiative, our collective incompetence.
Because why should we remember?
We have our own problems right?
We are very busy people. We have shit to do. We have
shit to steal and other crap to deal with. 147 people aren’t many. It’s not
like they can make up 13 football teams right? Tell me again why we should
remember… I mean 147 is just a number right?!
WRONG!
Those were 147 brothers, sisters, sons, daughters…those
were 147 lives. Those 147 had names. Those 147 were not divided by tribe,
terrorists did not give a fuck what their last names were. Those 147 could
easily have been either of us. Those 147 could have been your family member. We
should remember them because those 147 died on our watch. We should remember
them because the guilt of their deaths should walk with us for the rest of our
lives. We are the 147, and they were us.
147 is not just a number.
