Post by Onyango Oloo on Jul 23, 2006 11:52:52 GMT 3
I
You once went underground
Lurking in a downtown Western embassy
Before you graduated from
The dungeons of detention
For defending the left wing pariahs
Speaking truth to right wing power
These days you defecate on that history
By holding briefs for racist mercenaries on the run
And their arrogant well-connected local paramours
It is known that in your line of work
The client piper often calls the legal tune
And that you often shield alleged vicious killers
From overzealous and sloppy prosecutors
But surely,
Mister Human Rights Lawyer
Isn’t there a line in Kiruki’s sand that separates
Patriots of conscience from cynical opportunists?
Did you, like Dr. Faust, sell your soul to Obel Sibuth?
*
II
Psst. Executive Director of Human Rights Organization
Turfed out by insecure founder director
Whisper. Whisper…
Executive Director of Anti-Corruption body
Kicked out by corrupt chair of anti-corruption body
Shh.Shhh.
Imperious boss of NGO umbrella
Submits blacklisted NGOs to the government
For immediate de-registration
In the streets we used to shout:
"Democracy YES! Dictatorship NO!"
At the public rallies we used to declaim:
"Away with corruption and repression!!"
Today from our civil society high tables
We denounce the ministers and public officials
As we pause from our next atrocities against our own underlings….
*
III
All the saved souls in the NARC regime of national disunity not too long ago
Assembled the hapless hungry souls in a showy day of national prayers
They prayed for peace while terrorizing impoverished northern Kenyans
They prayed for unity while setting up NARC-Kenya
They prayed for equity and equality while tarmacking the paths to their rural homes
They prayed for stability while entertaining the marauding fake Armenian siblings
*
IV
Sadera Munyakei:
I can see you still tossing and turning
Under that thick blanket of recently upturned Narok red soil
Yet here we are, all imploring you to rest in peace
How cruel of us to expect of you a quiet repose
While your neighbour Saitoti still prowls the earth
And his urban neighbour and former boss roams our nation reinventing himself as our liberatador
The mythical gold of Goldenberg was long surpassed by the treasures of Anglo-Leasing
Even as the next Munyakei is about to be fired by those who pledged to end it all.
*
V
Nairobi city politicians and their civic counterparts
Across the country show the country the way to go
When it comes to civility, decorum and good governance
First by rigging the mayor’s poll
And then resolving the ensuing conflict
By transforming chairs into guided missiles
Targeting their opponents on national television
Let the students of politics take out their notebooks!
Sardonically Yours,
Onyango Oloo
Nairobi, Kenya
