Monday, January 22, 2007

of parks and piety

i passed near uhuru recreational park yesterday and i could not help but notice that its beauty has been restored. no it was not only the green well kept grass, nor the young green trees. not even the beautiful fence that caught my eye. rather, i noticed that the park which had been grabbed, nay taken over no that is also wrong. the park that was given by devine providence to one redeemed church and which they had 'used' since their pastor was born (for thats how nairobians argue when caught with illegal land) was this time being used by very different congregation. that park which was forcefuly repossesed by the ever hardworking Gakuo of city hall, has regained its past glory literaly and was teaming with tens of young and not soo young lovers. cudled in twos like the animals of noah.

They lay on the green grass perharps fulfilling the song of solomon that the grass shall be our bed. i must say i found this to be a very refreshing sight. these parks formed very good dating grounds for many lovers before. but in the '90s evangelicals took over almost every inch of it and preached to those lovers that what they were doing was sin. (i found that confusing since i thought LOVE should be the central theme of christianity) some who got quick converts eventualy put up large tents and claimed that if its used for Gods purpose then it doesnt matter even if its stollen. thus effectively making God an accomplice in crime! to make matters worse, those grounds were taken over in the evenings by street boys and the glory was gone. however thanks to adopt-a-light , who brought 'nuru gizani' and one John Gakuo, the park has been handed back to lovers and more pple can now take snaps holding the KICC from uhuru park like before, or standing akimbo or inside the boat. the family outings are now slowly coming back and the camera men are loving it. many other biashara like the candy men, the soda kiosk etc are getting value in their business once more. what still baffles me is how come Gakuo has refused to be kenyan and beaten his chest for all and sundry or even declared his interest in nairobi constituency!

4 comments:

  1. The man has guts to stand up for what is right! Even some idiot cabinet minister found out you don't joke with Gakuo!

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  2. You wonder why we are then so focussed on politics when we have people like Gakuo who are actually performing their roles and delivering the goods to our satisfaction.

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  3. Onosh - The problem is that the current crop of politicians will undermine folk like Gakuo.

    When Gakuo had the church tent/building demolished there was an idiot Minister who tried to stop it! At least the City Council askaris were equally brutal to him!

    Many in the government wanted Gakuo sacked for doing his job!

    So we need politicians who will NOT undermine those who do their jobs.

    Another example is when govt tried to get jb wanjui (golfing buddy of kibz) onto KQ's Board of Directors in 2003 as Chairman. Luckily, KLM managed to fend them off by getting other large shareholders (individuals & institutions) to side with them.

    We have to kick out these crooked politicians & bring back professionalism. Politicians should NOT be allowed to undermine folks like Naikuni or Gakuo.

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  4. i dont think we are supposed to shy away from politics and pretend that things will work when we sink our heads in the sand. we must demand services. i have held this position and still believe its the best position. remember these guys are not doing us a favor. they are working for us and we pay them. so why should we make it look like we owe them for delivering?

    africans must get up from their slumber and accept that this is their country and stealing from it is like a father stealing sugar from his own family. this thing of over indulgence in corruption and ineptitude and then turning to the west for 'aid' is not only sick but also stupid. the likes of mwiraria , kiraitu , kibaki, saitoti and awori suprise me that despite their advanced age they steal from their own subjects and feel not an iota of shame or guilt. however the one githongo john keeps on suprising me, not by his revelations but rather by the fact that he has refused to bend to lies of lose tribal loyalty. the other guy who pleasantly suprises me is maina kiai and even Gakuo. what i keep asking myself is what are these guys made of? why cant the rest of us be like them? where are the episcopal conferences we used to hear of during nyayo error?

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