Whereas our independence fathers and heroes such as Mzee Jomo Keyatta of Kenya and Nelson Mandela of South Africa fought hard for our freedom from the colonialists and made huge personal sacrifices which earned them long term incarceration in jail, they seem to have strayed the course and betrayed our faith after their release and eventually taking the reins of power from the colonialists. What could have happened to these former fire breathing giants of African liberation? Is there a possibility that the colonialist may have used his immense scientific knowledge and technological prowess to alter their physiological chemistry such that once released from jail, they would forget their past crusades and instead preach compromise and reconciliation with the former tormentor? Both Kenyatta and Mandela were released from jail and took the reins of power at a relatively advanced age. Is there likelihood that they may have mellowed with time and age and gone for the soft option of,"it's better half loaf than none", thereby giving in too much easily instead of hard bargaining for our sake? But did they have the energy, capacity and presence of mind to do the hard stuff that was required of them at those difficult transitional stages? However, whatever explanation is proffered, there is enough evidence to show that Kenya went terribly wrong after independence and South Africa has to take drastic measures to avoid similar pitfalls.
Mzee Jomo Kenyatta had great opportunity to lead our country into prosperity and complete freedom but he scuttled the chance when immediately after release he sought to assure the colonialist of his cooperation and intention to forgive even when so many Africans were hurting from the misrule of the British. People had been dehumanized and traumatized for far too long and the least they would have expected from the British was a formal apology and thereafter, then the new head of state would have followed it up with a conciliatory assurance. Similarly, Nelson Mandela upon release used the similar tact that Kenyatta had done earlier and sounded a conciliatory tone even before the lords of Apartheid had time to offer any excuse for the path they had taken over the years to dehumanize the African. Perhaps, both men had naively believed that the former master would behave as a gentleman, as he has always made us to believe, without looking around to see the suffering he continues to mete on innocent children in the name of protecting his wealth and superiority over other races.
The way Jomo Kenyatta started us in this country since 1963 is likely to haunt us for many years to come and will take a very strong leadership to undo the mess of corruption, inequality, animosity, poverty, hopelessness and continued supervision by our former masters. On the other hand, Nelson Mandela may have lost the plot when he opened his doors wide open to his former jailers for advise and even charity support. The idea to form the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) group for affirmative action may sound good but the recent stories about the emergence of a super rich class of Africans in a land where the majority continue to suffer due to lack of basics and unemployment is likely to complicate matters. At the moment, Africa doesn't have the luxury for soft options such as negotiations with the former oppressor because he has neither time nor respect for us. If there was such space in the oppressors' design for the world, then Somalia and Afghanistan would be peaceful countries for the citizens to enjoy. Now that we know, let's not follow the path of our independence fathers unless we want to remain in hell forever!
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