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46th Madaraka Day Special: I wish I was 82

As I woke up today with plans to attend the 46th Madaraka day celebrations, i just remembered my grandma's explanation of the first Madaraka Day in 1963, she was then a young wife of 36 years with a dream of how well she will bring up her children and how her family would prosper!

She went to a ceremony at a Gen Kago stadium in a then small town called Kangema to be officiated by a humble Dr Kiano, today I went to a National Stadium in the Capital with the guest as the most powerful man on the land, but my grandma was then more expectant and happier than I was today.

She was coming from a past of being confined inb congested villages, the powerful brutally killing the weak and the weak retalliating worsely and hard labour with no remuneration; but she saw a future with peace, prosperity and justice, her grandchildren if not her children would be educated, employed and build their nation happily.

Therefore, she and her fellow Kangemanians sang, ullulated and were truly happy, but look at her and us now, she continues to labour in vain, she still can't afford good medical care, she still can't feel secure since illegal groups and other communities (whom she hears are seriously arming themselves) threaten her and her offsprings struggle to meet their basic needs.

That is why in contrast to that first Madaraka Day, today was just a day to remember a blurred vision and pretend we can still see it, today citizens came in big numbers not to celebrate something gained but to mourn a lost goal, though unconsciously; one may ask what we have lost: today, citizens enjoyed a sardistic but appearingly nice exhibition of trained soldiers but not a true word of peace, they also enjoyed an exhibition of imported warjets dancing in the air instead of locally produced goods to benefit humanity not to destroy it, kikuyus cheered Kibaki's promises of talks and luos cheered Raila's beautiful figures of speech e.g rhymes, all because they share a language, we have lost the most important thing: SOUND JUDGEMENT! 

Therefore, unlike grandma and her friends who sang merrily, today's entertainers sang, not from happiness but for fame if not cash, we, the citizens blindly cheered them, not from enjoyment but to avoid breaking the entertainers' hearts!

That is the Kenya we live in now, we, envy the rich but pity the poor, hate civil wars but encourage external wars, forget where qwe have come from but memorize where we wish to be; I and you are fools, unfortunately, we don't know we are fools, tragically, we live with the illusion that we are wise.

I will end with a prayer that they don't kill the people who foolishly tried to spill water in a Wazee's baraza at the ceremony!