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BONFACE MWANGI DID NOT UNDERSTAND THE TRICKS OF STREET PROTEST



Boniface Mwangi decided to call it quits on being a civil rights activist. Congratulations to him. I wish him a very happy life with the family. Activism is not bread and butter as many Kenyans think. It is live bullets and teargas laced with clubbing. It leaves you hungry in an angry way.
Frankly, every Kenyan would love to be on the streets today. They would love to sing and chant anti-Govt and Pro-Govt songs in equal measure. They would love to correct the rot in society but, they dare not. Why don’t they?
Key among very many reasons is, Kenyans do not recognize leadership. I will swear that, there are very many Kenyans who do not know there deputy governors. I will also be confident to see any county resident name for me the members of the county cabinet. Rising up the ladder, the cabinet secretaries and cabinet meetings have become traditional stories. Who then rules Kenyans?
A Kenyan is governed by the boss at work. This is the person who sets the rules and governs their implementation. He gives orders and directives as the busy Kenyans rummages around to find opportunities to steal. Secondly, a Kenyan is governed by the money they earn from their hard sweat at work. What has made Kenyans reluctant to protest is the fact that. They have ached a way of living without government. They acknowledge its existence but have never expected anything good to come from it. Do Kenyans know the role of government?
No.
How then will they protest?
In his quest to fight for the rights of Kenyans, Boniface forgot four cardinal rules: one, charisma. Secondly, he forgot leadership. Thirdly he avoided motivation. Lastly he abhorred his mentors. While doing all this, he threw away purpose and sense of commitment until it is done.
In his zeal to bring the leadership to proactive responsibility Mr. Mwangi forgot to involve the country. He increasingly wanted to be the voice of the unheard without letting the unheard make themselves be heard.
Martin Luther became successful in activism because he stood for the course which he elevated. He was speaking against racism. He became racism and took the persona of Racism wherever he went. He did not take to streets, he opened the streets for the protesters. He spoke from a little church which charged him to fiercely rise above a simple pastor into a national figure. How did he do it? He used up his words to grow confidence in the people who so felt the oppression that they so wanted gone. He had the courage to defiantly rise above the din and have his dream. He used his voice, he used his audience and he knew well how to do it.
Mandela on the other hand made south Africans to believe him. He made them know that he was trusted and he alone was capable of delivering them. He was on point and he was fearless.
Two of the most significant activists in Kenya are the late Wangari Maathai and Okiya Omtata. Boniface need to ask himself the following questions; What did they have that I do not? Secondly, what were they fighting for?
After answering these questions, he should then ask, ‘What Am I fighting for?’ He cannot fight for everything.

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