Mandela’s Legacy; Kenyan Heroes…..

Are great men and women born or made? Mandela was a legend, a giant like in many African folklores and a myth to many people living today who grew up during the apartheid era in South Africa. In Africa and beyond it was hard to think of a great man without in the same breath and sentence talking of Madiba. World over we are not short of great people who have suffered for different causes or even stood up for or against something. During the struggle for independence and against the colonialists, the Mandela spirit could have been replicated across many African Nations, some of who could have been an inspiration for youthful Mandela and those who suffered along him in South Africa. In the next few days and perhaps weeks, the media will be awash with images and praises about Mandela. But why is Mandela’s halo so huge for any living man to match? Because in world full of self-serving human beings who have become an enemy to themselves and the environment they live in, it is hard and almost impossible to come across a man or woman who can rise beyond their comfort zones to suffer and sacrifice for others; individuals who can stand up for what they believe in, suffer as a result, loose their own freedom. Don’t get me wrong there a many people doing wonderful things, but unfortunately, very few doing great things when the circumstance demand them to rise beyond themselves. No wonder we speak nostalgically about Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mother Teresa, Mahatma Gandhi; because it is very hard to find such personalities in a generation. Closer home this offers us an opportune moment as we celebrate 50 years of self-rule as a Nation and as the debate about our heroes is in earnest. What can we take from Mandela’s legacy? Why is he such a resistible figure in our times and history of African democratization? Why is South Africa despite such an appalling past still is the giant of Africa economically, way ahead most of African countries that were independent many decades before South Africa including Kenya? While many of our fore fathers selflessly sacrificed during the freedom struggle, it is what they did after gaining independence that set the foundation for the Kenya we have today, distinguishing them from Mandela. It is not far fetched to say that Mandela was a politician by every definition, but he did not become who he was just by being imprisoned for 27 years. While this is a long time in the life of a man to remain confined, a period that is long enough for most of us to lose hope, despair, or even the willingness to live again, on the contrary, he came out to call for forgiveness and reconciliation of his followers and those who had imprisoned him. As if that is not enough, he became President for only one term and refused to seek re-election. Think about it; this is a man by all standards was qualified to serve as President, a President who had steered his country on a path towards political and economic prosperity through reconciliation of the Rainbow Nation, this a man who was adored by his people and popular within his political party. But he chose to retire in peace and give the younger generation a chance to define their future. In a place where we are dominated by leaders who want to stick to power through all means including oppression, and those who want to rise to power for the sake of power, others to enrich themselves and others just because they are owed by their subjects, it is not hard to understand why we are still plagued with inefficiencies in public sector, corruption, media suppression and life Presidents. The modern society is driven by capitalism as a philosophy, but hidden beneath it is selfishness, greed and hunger for power. There are few people far and wide and in between that we can draw inspiration from such as Wangari Maathai, but is upon us to find our own true self to stand for something and what we believe to build Kenya beyond what it is today. These will be the true heroes of tomorrow.