CITY GIRL: Boniface Mwangi, you are exactly what Kenya needs
Dearest Boni,
I like you, Boni. I like your vim. I like your courage. You, Boni, are the personification of bravery, audacity and patriotism. You are also the proud owner of a pair of steel cojones, so strong and so bold that you address issues that the rest of us are all too spineless to talk about loudly.
You tackle the untouchables in government and you deliver to us hard, difficult and painful-to-swallow truths. You, Boni, are my generation’s David, confronting Goliaths around us with nothing but a sling and a bagful of small smooth stones labelled courage and passion.
Of course, many people reading this will not believe me when I say that I think you truly and genuinely love your country.
In fact, not many people like you. Most think you are a mad man. They think you are just another dollar-driven activist.
My readers are already wondering why I am wasting space supporting a young and reckless man who thinks he can tweet or say anything about anyone without facing consequences.
Having interviewed you a couple of times in the past and being a good judge of character, I think I finally understand you Boni. I get you. I understand the point you are trying to make and I get your big picture.
As we speak you are going head to head with one of the country’s most powerful men; the deputy president. Honestly speaking, I am afraid for you Boni.
EXTRA-JUDICIAL KILLINGS
This is going to be your biggest Goliath yet; and like most of your supporters, I pray that you make it out alive and unharmed because we all know what happens when you touch a live wire; you get burned.
This country, as you probably already know, is not worth dying for. We live in a troubled, sick nation, where public officers steal money meant for the sick but we do nothing and say nothing. We move on very fast from the injustices and atrocities committed upon us.
We do not celebrate people like you, people who have made it their business to speak about the wrongs going on around them. We watch young lawyers getting killed for defending the common mwananchi against the police and we say nothing as we move on to the next story.
We watch young people dying at the hands of the police in extra-judicial killings but we bury them in silence and retreat to our cocoons. We watch news about public servants stealing money meant for poor children’s vaccines but we sigh and trudge on.
We are a bunch of cowards who are too afraid to speak out. We are not angry enough when we hear about the corruption orgies taking place in the government. We cower in fright and terror when confronted by the truth. But not you, Boni.
You are exactly what this country needs. You have been to the mountaintop. Do not, for a moment, feel disheartened or discouraged by the herculean task upon your young shoulders.
Do not give in to the naysayers who question your sanity and attempt to intimidate you. Do not be worried about anything. Do not fear any man and let not any mace deter you from your goal.
DON’T GIVE UP
Allow the stones your enemy throws at you to build you, not to destroy you. You, Boni, are a fighter, fighting for our children and our children’s children. Your labour will not be in vain and your effort will not go unrewarded.
Straighten your back, recharge your spirit and keep on marching, for the journey has only just began.
As a big coward myself, this is the best I can do to encourage you. I may never join you in the streets and my eyes may never survive the sting of the teargas, and my feet may not be as fast as yours in outrunning the mean-spirited GSUs. But you should know that we are rallying behind you and cheering you on.
May you stay angry and fight for your country. May your spirit never run out of life. May your bag of small pebbles never run out of courage and passion.
May your sling never run out of swing. May you live long enough to watch your three adorable children reap the benefits their daddy’s fight.
Whatever you do Boni, do not stop. Do not give up. Let the words of Franklin Roosevelt guide you; you have nothing to fear but fear itself.
The spirit of the Lord is upon you. You shall overcome.
Sincerely,
The City Girl.
