Of Human Rights and Home Truths

In the '90s when there was great civil conscience, debate and activity , my good friend Kodhek kept on reminding me that injustice anywhere was a great threat to justice everywhere. Because of that, that he kept on saying that it was the responsibility of the whole world to make sure that the inhuman treatments, rights abuses and life threatening corruption happening in Kenya were dealt with and eliminated. That was well and true. But what if those injustices were happening in those places too? Kodhek held that those other places were too developed and civilized to allow such things to happen. Well that was true until we saw shocking pictures from one notorious camp called gitmo. suddenly the saviors became the tormentors just like the civil rights crusaders of Moi years became the dictators of Narc error. My eyes were rudely opened wide. I did not have time or opportunity to make Kodhek eat his words and indeed I never even had the energy nor the interest. I was learning rather fast.

Indeed they say that there is a thin line between good and evil and that the greatest of solutions are always also the greatest sources of problems. just like capitalism was the greatest and most successful formula to end feudalism and perpetual damnation to poverty and hopelessness, it became the greatest challenge to the world and is singly responsible for all current evils including exam leakages, teenage pregnancies, moral decay, global warming, corruption and even the increase of human rights violation all over the world. I hope Mr. Obama will not go the route of Kibaki. and that he will respect the world enough to deliver on the promises he so eloquently made. I know its a tough call but then again no one said it was going to be easy.

And this day, I remember in a special way, my former MP for Kisumu one Robert Ouko, a brilliant foreign affairs minister whose body was found burnt in Got Alila near Koru. I remember him because in 1988, when I was a pupil in Shauri Moyo primary school in Kisumu, my friend and I recited a poem to entertain him during a councilor's home coming party in our school. The poem was in praise of President Moi. In those days all entertainment pieces were in praise of president Moi whether he was present or not. Hon Ouko really liked our poem. He looked rather a small man compared to my dad who was a giant of a man but he left quite an impression on me.

His death was condemned far and wide but today, I wonder if it was any different from the senseless deaths of the many civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.