Post by miguna on Dec 24, 2005 23:45:06 GMT 3
CASUALTIES OF KENYA’S SECRET WARS
By MIGUNA MIGUNA* - © 21 December 2005
As we take a few precious days off from our various lives and preoccupations in order to mark and celebrate with others; or simply to spend some quiet and private time alone, I am going to beseech Kenyans to spare a few moments to remember both our fallen s/heroes as well as those still with us.
Kenyans have had many casualties of our internecine wars of liberation. The wars that started raging and have continued unabated from the 1800s, with the first structured encroachment of our country by external invaders; the Arabs and Europeans. These are wars that have been raging for more than two hundred years.
We have had many wars of liberation in our beautiful country. And through it all, we have produced gallant, courageous and brilliant military geniuses, political organizers and brutally honest and committed revolutionaries.
Yet hardly any of our major war veterans have had monuments erected in their memory. Neither the post-colonial Kenyan government nor the ordinary people have constructed shrines and mausoleums in celebration or worship of our s/heroes.
The monuments we have built in the last 40 or so years have been in praise of collaborators and sellouts. Rather than sing songs of praises to our brave s/heroes, we have been dancing to the tunes of those who sold us to both local and external oppressors.
The real and true Kenyan s/heroes – Dedan Kimathi wa Hinga, Meketilili, Koitalel arap Samoei, Lwanda Magere, Odera Kan’go, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Markhan Singh, Pio Gama Pinto, Okong’o Arara and others – all those courageous sons and daughters of the land that braved the cold, the truncheons, the bayonets, the gun-powder, the dungeons and the inhumane brutalities of yore, have, without exception, been largely abandoned and their legacies relegated to the dusty bins and ruins of our history..
We have inscribed Holy Days in our calendars for collaborators but no special Holy Days for our s/heroes. In celebrating Jamhuri, Madaraka and all other post-colonial special days, we rarely mention, intone and regale in our s/heroes. It is as if we suffered a special permanent collective brain damage; the kind that selectively deleted from our memories names of all our s/heroes before independence and left only the data of the collaborators. The only time we have been able to remember some of our sons and daughters that contributed to our liberation, only the names of neo-colonial casualties have featured. These are the names of Jomo Kenyatta, Tom Mboya, Ronald Ngala, Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki – those who either deliberately chose to abscond from duty during our struggles or broke ranks with our s/heroes due to earthly temptations.
We have never actually, as a people, come to terms with our collective betrayals and insomniac memory loss. This is a sad legacy that begs our urgent attention.
Without knowing our true s/heroes, separating true s/heroes from sellouts, recognizing our s/heroes and putting them up on pedestals for our children to sing praises to, we, as a people, will find it almost impossible to develop and grow.
All the things we seem to hold dear; like democracy, freedom, economic and infrastructural development, technological advancement – essentially everything that we seem to worship – will not bring us peace, tranquility and prosperity if we abdicate from our cultures and refuse to embrace our positive historical legacies. Trying to permanently run away from our s/heroes and their legacies is like a person trying to flee from his or her shallow. The exercise is futile.
The Japanese and the Chinese are quickly reaching a stage where they will overtake the US and Europe as the world’s major powers. They are doing it through cultural renaissance and close historical perspective. They are doing it, not by running away from their history, cultures and s/heroes, but by a collective embrace of these.
Although the Chinese and Japanese “copy” and have copied the West technologically, their cultures, languages and the memory bank of their heritage, including that of all their s/heroes – in essence, their cultural and historical springs or wells – remain safely and closely guarded for their future preservation. These are their permanent insurance policies.
As we take our short breaks from our various lives, let us challenge our elites, the intellectuals and scholars, the writers and thinkers, to wake up from their lethargies and embrace our s/heroes.
Let us dedicate shrines, monuments and mausoleums for our s/heroes. But even more importantly, let us remember; remain true to their legacies, philosophies and visions.
To do this effectively, we should record our s/heroes lives in easily continuously and permanently in accessible ways and places. We should not just relegate our s/heroes to a few history lessons in our schools and treatises in out libraries. What we needed are creative national programs, initiatives and collective activities that will regenerate our s/heroes’ visions in our lives and enrich us with their wisdom and valour.
Our children and children’s children need to grow up with fond memories of our s/heroes; learning from both their achievements as well as from their mistakes.
Today, I wish to remind Kenyans of a contemporary hero; one who made an extraordinary contribution towards our national liberation. In struggle, he suffered brutal torture and incommunicado detention. However, despite all these, his voice rose and rose again and again; taunting his oppressors and giving inspiration to the youth and the country. I am also asking that we remember Harrison Okong’o Arara because it appears as if no one truly knows where he is, what he might be doing or whether he is still alive. Okong’o Arara is a true hero, and we should never ever forget him and his legacy. The task is daunting. But it is a task I am proud to attempt. Join me in celebrating the life and legacy of Okong’o Arara.
On September 24th, 1988, Harrison Okong’o Arara faced his accusers, the presiding judge, the country and the world, and uttered the following words, when asked to state what mitigating circumstances, if any, he wanted the judge to consider before sentencing him:
I do not ask for leniency from this court for to do so is to recognize its right to judge me. I expect no mercy and ask for none, for if there is no mercy for millions of Kenyans, what will mercy for one individual serve?...Those apostles who have attempted to rescue justice have found themselves in detention, prison or exile…I am proud and happy to join the company of such illustrious sons and daughters of the land. The people of this nation are simply demanding their fundamental rights and freedoms. They are simply demanding their rights to a decent living, right to education, right to proper medical care, right to housing. In short, the right to be human beings. If that is sedition, so be it. These are the goals for which I have always fought, and for which I am prepared to die.
- Harrison Okon’go Arara, High Court, Nairobi, Kenya, September 24, 1988
These are brave words. They remain permanently imprinted in my mind, as they must be in the minds of many thousands other people both in Kenya and abroad. These are words one should never forget. They are also words a country cannot be forgiven for dishonouring.
Okong’o Arara was both a casualty of the post-independence liberation struggle as well as one of its many giant heroes. He gallantly fought the liberation war when it might have been much more attractive and easier for him to close his eyes and ears and simply settle down and make money. With his originality, brilliance and courage, I have no doubt that he would have been “successful” on that score. But he choice to undertake the more treacherous task of liberating Kenya. For that, he deserves a coveted place in the annals of our country’s history.
Yet, Okong’o Arara’s whereabouts remain unknown. It is a mystery as to what happened to him. It is imperative for us to remember and try and find Okon’go Arara.
I urge you, fellow Kenyans, never to forget Okong’o Arara. For the sake of our future and that of our children, please let us try and find what happened to one of our national heroes. It is a step and risk worth taking.
______________________________________________________________________
*The writer is a Barrister & Solicitor in Toronto, Canada
By MIGUNA MIGUNA* - © 21 December 2005
As we take a few precious days off from our various lives and preoccupations in order to mark and celebrate with others; or simply to spend some quiet and private time alone, I am going to beseech Kenyans to spare a few moments to remember both our fallen s/heroes as well as those still with us.
Kenyans have had many casualties of our internecine wars of liberation. The wars that started raging and have continued unabated from the 1800s, with the first structured encroachment of our country by external invaders; the Arabs and Europeans. These are wars that have been raging for more than two hundred years.
We have had many wars of liberation in our beautiful country. And through it all, we have produced gallant, courageous and brilliant military geniuses, political organizers and brutally honest and committed revolutionaries.
Yet hardly any of our major war veterans have had monuments erected in their memory. Neither the post-colonial Kenyan government nor the ordinary people have constructed shrines and mausoleums in celebration or worship of our s/heroes.
The monuments we have built in the last 40 or so years have been in praise of collaborators and sellouts. Rather than sing songs of praises to our brave s/heroes, we have been dancing to the tunes of those who sold us to both local and external oppressors.
The real and true Kenyan s/heroes – Dedan Kimathi wa Hinga, Meketilili, Koitalel arap Samoei, Lwanda Magere, Odera Kan’go, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, Markhan Singh, Pio Gama Pinto, Okong’o Arara and others – all those courageous sons and daughters of the land that braved the cold, the truncheons, the bayonets, the gun-powder, the dungeons and the inhumane brutalities of yore, have, without exception, been largely abandoned and their legacies relegated to the dusty bins and ruins of our history..
We have inscribed Holy Days in our calendars for collaborators but no special Holy Days for our s/heroes. In celebrating Jamhuri, Madaraka and all other post-colonial special days, we rarely mention, intone and regale in our s/heroes. It is as if we suffered a special permanent collective brain damage; the kind that selectively deleted from our memories names of all our s/heroes before independence and left only the data of the collaborators. The only time we have been able to remember some of our sons and daughters that contributed to our liberation, only the names of neo-colonial casualties have featured. These are the names of Jomo Kenyatta, Tom Mboya, Ronald Ngala, Daniel arap Moi and Mwai Kibaki – those who either deliberately chose to abscond from duty during our struggles or broke ranks with our s/heroes due to earthly temptations.
We have never actually, as a people, come to terms with our collective betrayals and insomniac memory loss. This is a sad legacy that begs our urgent attention.
Without knowing our true s/heroes, separating true s/heroes from sellouts, recognizing our s/heroes and putting them up on pedestals for our children to sing praises to, we, as a people, will find it almost impossible to develop and grow.
All the things we seem to hold dear; like democracy, freedom, economic and infrastructural development, technological advancement – essentially everything that we seem to worship – will not bring us peace, tranquility and prosperity if we abdicate from our cultures and refuse to embrace our positive historical legacies. Trying to permanently run away from our s/heroes and their legacies is like a person trying to flee from his or her shallow. The exercise is futile.
The Japanese and the Chinese are quickly reaching a stage where they will overtake the US and Europe as the world’s major powers. They are doing it through cultural renaissance and close historical perspective. They are doing it, not by running away from their history, cultures and s/heroes, but by a collective embrace of these.
Although the Chinese and Japanese “copy” and have copied the West technologically, their cultures, languages and the memory bank of their heritage, including that of all their s/heroes – in essence, their cultural and historical springs or wells – remain safely and closely guarded for their future preservation. These are their permanent insurance policies.
As we take our short breaks from our various lives, let us challenge our elites, the intellectuals and scholars, the writers and thinkers, to wake up from their lethargies and embrace our s/heroes.
Let us dedicate shrines, monuments and mausoleums for our s/heroes. But even more importantly, let us remember; remain true to their legacies, philosophies and visions.
To do this effectively, we should record our s/heroes lives in easily continuously and permanently in accessible ways and places. We should not just relegate our s/heroes to a few history lessons in our schools and treatises in out libraries. What we needed are creative national programs, initiatives and collective activities that will regenerate our s/heroes’ visions in our lives and enrich us with their wisdom and valour.
Our children and children’s children need to grow up with fond memories of our s/heroes; learning from both their achievements as well as from their mistakes.
Today, I wish to remind Kenyans of a contemporary hero; one who made an extraordinary contribution towards our national liberation. In struggle, he suffered brutal torture and incommunicado detention. However, despite all these, his voice rose and rose again and again; taunting his oppressors and giving inspiration to the youth and the country. I am also asking that we remember Harrison Okong’o Arara because it appears as if no one truly knows where he is, what he might be doing or whether he is still alive. Okong’o Arara is a true hero, and we should never ever forget him and his legacy. The task is daunting. But it is a task I am proud to attempt. Join me in celebrating the life and legacy of Okong’o Arara.
On September 24th, 1988, Harrison Okong’o Arara faced his accusers, the presiding judge, the country and the world, and uttered the following words, when asked to state what mitigating circumstances, if any, he wanted the judge to consider before sentencing him:
I do not ask for leniency from this court for to do so is to recognize its right to judge me. I expect no mercy and ask for none, for if there is no mercy for millions of Kenyans, what will mercy for one individual serve?...Those apostles who have attempted to rescue justice have found themselves in detention, prison or exile…I am proud and happy to join the company of such illustrious sons and daughters of the land. The people of this nation are simply demanding their fundamental rights and freedoms. They are simply demanding their rights to a decent living, right to education, right to proper medical care, right to housing. In short, the right to be human beings. If that is sedition, so be it. These are the goals for which I have always fought, and for which I am prepared to die.
- Harrison Okon’go Arara, High Court, Nairobi, Kenya, September 24, 1988
These are brave words. They remain permanently imprinted in my mind, as they must be in the minds of many thousands other people both in Kenya and abroad. These are words one should never forget. They are also words a country cannot be forgiven for dishonouring.
Okong’o Arara was both a casualty of the post-independence liberation struggle as well as one of its many giant heroes. He gallantly fought the liberation war when it might have been much more attractive and easier for him to close his eyes and ears and simply settle down and make money. With his originality, brilliance and courage, I have no doubt that he would have been “successful” on that score. But he choice to undertake the more treacherous task of liberating Kenya. For that, he deserves a coveted place in the annals of our country’s history.
Yet, Okong’o Arara’s whereabouts remain unknown. It is a mystery as to what happened to him. It is imperative for us to remember and try and find Okon’go Arara.
I urge you, fellow Kenyans, never to forget Okong’o Arara. For the sake of our future and that of our children, please let us try and find what happened to one of our national heroes. It is a step and risk worth taking.
______________________________________________________________________
*The writer is a Barrister & Solicitor in Toronto, Canada