Uhuru Generation Speech: A Response

[In early July 2000, I traveled from Johannesburg to St. Paul, Minnesota, USA, to attend the annual conference of Kenyans Citizens Abroad (KCA) and delivered a keynote address challenging Kenyans born after independence, the Uhuru Generation, to take up responsibility for the future of their country (http://njonjomue.blogspot.com/2012/02/uhuru-generation-taking-stand-on-high.html ). In the weeks following the speech, it elicited robust debate from Kenyans at home and around the world. Life Magazine of the Sunday Standard in Nairobi carried a special feature on the speech in their September 24 - October 1 2000 edition. Nancy Kairo, the Editor, wrote the following introduction to the Special Feature:]


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After Thought

Truth be told, for a very long time now I have been feeling very disillusioned by the state of things in Kenya. I have not yet lined up outside any embassy in search of immigration forms, and I don’t think I’m likely to get to that point, but I sometimes envy those who’ve had the guts to do so.

Even my closest colleagues will admit that I am not the most patriotic Kenyan right now. Practically every day they are subjected to my unsolicited comments about our declining state of affairs. I am sure they all secretly wish I would just sit down and shut up! So you can imagine their amazement when one day I walked into the office and started passing around copies of a speech that I said made me feel proud to be Kenyan.

Mildred Ngesa in particular almost fainted. She could not believe she was hearing correct. The speech in question, entitled The Uhuru Generation, was written by a gentleman named Njonjo Mue.

His speech starts on a rather harsh and depressing note. But as one progresses and reads between the lines, one starts to see the light – an unmistakable ray of burning hope.

I read Njonjo’s speech using candle light due to the on-going power rationing. My daughter had not seen me this excited in a long time. As I read on, I realized that I had allowed myself to be caught up in the here and now instead of keeping my eyes on the goal – no matter how distant.

To borrow from Njonjo’s words:

“…if we focus only on the legacy bequeathed us by those gone before us, a legacy of lost days, of greed and corruption, vice and violence, of battered lives and broken dreams, then we can only but see dry bones at the bottom of the desolate valley of our painful yesterdays.

“But if we lift up our eyes unto the hills and focus our gaze on the distant horizons of our new tomorrows; if we defy the odds and rebuild together; if we make God our closest ally and vision our guiding principle, then we shall see our homeland of Kenya once again become a heritage of splendor.”

I firmly believe in what Njonjo has to say. Even if I was born before the stroke of midnight on December 12, 1963, I have a daughter who depends on me for a brighter tomorrow. Therefore, I too, in mind and soul, belong to the Uhuru Generation.

God bless!

Nancy Kairo

- Editor