By Albert Nyakundi Amenya aka The Banana Peddler
I strongly hold that the feeling of empathy dwells in a man’s character. If it is not there, it is not there. I have always said that governor Sonko is the right man for the Nairobi job and it is turning out that I am right. The State House cartels who relentlessly fought him have cowardly thrown in the towel. They thought they would cloak behind the presidency and pillory our industrious governor but they have been torn apart and put to shame. Thank God, the President has denounced them.
Our people used to say “The rock that is in the middle of the ocean does not fear rain” After what he successfully went through, the governor has proved to be the rock. His braveness and wizardry signposts that there is no sorrow without its alloy of joy and there is no joy without its admixture of sorrow. Sonko’s case has taught us that behind every ugly terrible mask of misfortune lies the beautiful soothing countenance of prosperity. Thanks your Excellency for peeling back the terrible mask of thievery, selfishness and greed from the hyenas of our commonwealth.
A clever man operates yet learns on the job. Our governor has demonstrated the capacity to bear the burden of his people since he took over the Nairobi leadership.
It is in our governor’s character to mourn with those that mourn. Whenever and wherever there is a disaster within Nairobi, Sonko moves with speed and avails himself in person to take care of the situation. Case in point for instance, there was fire in Kibra today and the governor rushed to the scene to mourn with the bereaved and commiserate the victims.
Governor Sonko’s style of leadership is equaled to some of the renowned world leaders that joined their people in the face of calamity. From the way he has handled affairs of the county since he took over at the helm of Nairobi, I can confirm that this governor shares traits with former US Presidents Barrack Obama and Russia’s Vladimir Putin
For instance, 2012, after a lone shooter killed 26 children and adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut, President Barack Obama visited the school less than 48 hours after the shooting. Similarly, after the train bombing in Volgograd in the North Caucasus of Russia, President Vladimir Putin rushed to the scene to commiserate with the victims of the blast.
In a nutshell, we must celebrate our success at home for the world to celebrate us. In order to demand respect from others, we must respect ourselves first. It’s time to for Kenyans to get serious! Recently, we have lost some of our finest human resources to the Diaspora. Undoubtedly, Kenyans do very well in various professional callings. When they are outside Kenya, they are one Kenya; when they are in Kenya, they are more polarized along religion and ethnicity. Let us stop preoccupying our minds with nothingness and mundane affairs and afford elected leaders to work uninterrupted. Let us give the governor time. Let us not build our brotherhood on a shaky stand.
albertamenya@yahoo.com
The writer sells bananas in the streets of Kisii Town and Nairobi
