by Dr. Njoki Ngumi

Someone lied to you, mwananchi: –

2 explosions in one day.

There was another explosion a few weeks ago. At a slum. Hundreds were injured. Who remembers that?

“Na tukae na uhuru, AMANI na undugu.” Who remembers that?

Yet another fiasco with public funds, now with Kazi kwa Vijana.

There was another grand theft of donor grants, that one about stealing resources earmarked for helping Kenya achieve the millennium development goal of universal primary education. Who remembers that?

There was a fortnight’s worth of court hearings at the Hague, for people accused of crimes against humanity to have their charges read out to them, and to give them the opportunity to defend themselves. Who remembers that?

There was a time when the dollar was retailing at 80 shillings. And a litre of petrol at less than 100 shillings. When 100 shillings could get you 3 packets of milk. Who remembers that?

We don’t do enough remembering. And because of that, we don’t do enough caring about how fast and how furiously things have moved from bad to worse and we don’t do enough complaining about that in the places where it needs to be heard.

The people who are ordering offence, riding shotgun on the decisions being made to act against Al-Shabab and now refusing to comment comprehensively about anything are tucked away in bunkers don’t have to go to a supermarket or a mall. They don’t have to walk through town or take public transport. They don’t have to stand at bus stops. They don’t go to public bars and nightclubs and places of worship.

Who remembers that?

They are driven around in armoured cars.

Who remembers that?

And their children are not the ones that will have to pay the millions in debt we are incurring as we borrow money for them to steal from our coffers, or for us to go into a very ill-advised war. Guns are not free, you see. Our children are. Who remembers that?

The only people who can make enough noise about this, and say we are tired of being played like pawns in a losing game? Us. The only people who can refuse to stomach the nonsense of Churchill saying about the war “send us pictures of real action” on national radio? Us. The only people who can speak and speak until our voices are heard? Us. The only people who are going down with this ship if it sinks? Us. The people who are ruining the future for our children with our silence? And selective amnesia?

Us.

Lest we forget.