By Comrade Alberto N. Amenya (The Banana Peddler)
There is no contention that activist Boniface Mwangi, the Starehe constituency Parliamentary aspirant is the most suitable candidate. Love him or hate him, he remains Bonny. Those who hate his guts, Spartan discipline and incorruptibility are quick to infuse his past with muck which they often rake up to make others view him unjustifiably from a myopic and selfish prism.
Everybody has a past. Bonny’s past today represents both a personal and national gain. He may have been a lone voice in the wilderness but today people who genuinely desire peace and progress for Starehe are saying “thank goodness! Bonny is here to rescue us.” Mwangi’s mission to salvage Starehe today is a déjà vu following widespread corruption, ineptness (today we say cluelessness), serious economic predicament and crisis of confidence.
Bonny’s past has prepared him for the future. Although soft-spoken, he is highly principled and firm. He is not given to greed and vainglory. His years of rejection, loneliness, and manipulation have tapered him into a firebrand that the people of Starehe cannot afford to ignore if they truly desire genuine economic progress. Those who judge him with his past are at best indulging in arrogant ignorance because no matter how sordid a man’s yesterday is, his tomorrow is squeaky clean.
Tomorrow is always a new page and it all depends on what we write on it.
Those making mountains out of the molehills of his past have elected to be deceptive. They know he is the man for the moment but they are doing everything outside the books to stop him. The people of Starehe have said no because he is here to rescue Starehe by tackling corruption, insecurity and revamping its economy. There is time for everything. There is no gainsaying Bonny is the messiah they have been yearning for.
Those who say he is an activist and therefore should be stopped have not availed themselves of the pregnant lessons of history. The late activist Martin Luther King’s fertile wisdom has continued to guide and guard the America in its journey to greatness. The United States recalled 73-year-old Ronald Reagan – once an activist – to save it from the crippling effects of economic depression.
Again when America was confronted with a bitter war and economic depression, they found solace in a retired General, Dwight Eisenhower – former Human Rights activist – who helped win the war and returned the country to the path of progress. France found its own Moses in retired General Charles de Gaulle – former Human Rights activist – when it was bedeviled by war and a depressed economy. Former children Rights activist Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal was first elected President at age 74 in 2000.
Is Starehe not economically malnourished today? Is Starehe not at economic war today? Who is better qualified and in the mould of Reagan, Eisenhower and Gaulle to rescue it from war, corruption and economic malfeasance? Bonny is tested and proven and is reputed not to be skittish or indecisive about his responsibility once it is incumbent on him to act. He acts with the speed of light and very quick to decide on the next course of action.
Bonny is also reputed as an exemplar of Spartan discipline, highly principled teetotaler, an avowed anti-corruption crusader and a man of the people. He performs his duties diligently by accounting for every penny allocated to him.
The revolution to reclaim Starehe has not only birthed but growing. Be aware, they will sponsor all kinds of false messages to impugn on the avowed integrity of Bonny because having crippled the economy of Starehe and made the youths jobless and desolate; they want a leader under whom it would be business as usual.
Boniface is Kenya’s most celebrated activist because his struggle transcends both tribe and religion. The wise say “Forewarned is forearmed” Time for Bonny to save Starehe from the shackles of perpetual slavery is now or never. Enemies of progress must be aware of the fury of a patient man. After all, patience surpasses learning.
God Bless Starehe Constituency
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