A world full of sheep desperately needs more Softies!!!
Growing up in Kenya in the 80s and 90s was some of the best unintentional life lessons childhood could have afforded me. The Swahili proverb: “Asiyefunzwa na mamaye, hufunzwa na ulimwengu’’, resonated in my life and it helped to paint a picture of the world I was growing up in. As a kid, if you misbehaved, no matter where you were, an adult who was around you had earned the societal right by virtue of being older, to discipline you as they pleased. One was never to misbehaved in the midst of elders, knowing very well, that such acts would not go unpunished. Society truly upheld and embraced the biblical call of never ever sparing the rod.
I have very fond memories from my childhood; one that stands out is from my encounters with one of the neighborhood kids we grew up with called Mwendwa. He was the certified first body in the neighborhood, well at least among our age mates and he ensured that he put the fear of the lord in the rest of us. Everyone feared him, especially all of us who were younger than him. He made it his mission, to make our childhood as miserable and unbearable as possible. You see, Mwendwa was a few years older than my siblings and I. He was at least 4 years older than me, certainly one of those early bloomer kids who had height, weight, and strength advantage over all of us. He was the typical neighborhood bully, who picked on all the kids. For my two siblings and I, he was our Kevin and we were the unlucky trio of Ed, Edd, and Eddy. We got the constant bashing from him.
Over the past couple of weeks, unfortunate and unforgettable memories from my childhood runnings with Mwendwa resurfaced. The bitter unpalatable feeling of hopelessness that he had once cultivated, found a new surge of life. When a bully picks on you day in day out, they tend to chip away a tiny bit of your strength and resolve with each encounter.
In Africa, we are on this constant journey facing our bullies every day. We survive or are trying to live through some of the harshest conditions. We have governments that barely function to provide us with the basic amenities. A militarized police force that has taken and used their authority to bully innocent civilians. The current affairs across Africa have drawn me back to that moment when I felt I could do nothing to change my predicament at the hands of Mwendwa. How do we handle these bullies?
The week started with articles, social media posts, and conversations with friends from Nigeria. I was curious enough to enquire from my close circle of friends regarding #ENDSARS. It was and still is heavily trending everywhere on my social media feeds. Normally I take a nonchalant approach to social media trends and let them fizzle out. I mean I am African, we have unfortunately kind of grow immune to some unimaginable acts of injustice. But seeing my inner circle posting about #ENDSARS piqued my curiosity. This wasn’t just another fad or social media push.
I came to learn that, on top of battling Corona and having to deal with a corrupt government. The citizens of Africas largest population and economy — Nigeria, were being subjected to acts of terror, unlawful killings, torture, and extortion. All these being orchestrated by SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad). A special police unit that had been set up to address armed robbery, but had turned rogue and morphed into a criminal entity itself, subjecting Nigerians to unspeakable acts of injustice.
Nigerians having suffered and tolerated enough from SARS, took to the streets to protest and demand the immediate disbandment of the task force. A plea which the government apparently heed earlier in the month and decided to do away with the unit. Only for the same government, to, unfortunately, set up a new unit called SWAT — Special Weapons and Tactics, where they transitioned some of the same personnel who were initially in SARS. Making this only a cosmetic change and not a police reform that the citizens were demanding.
As the peaceful protests for #ENDSARS and against the Nigerian Police force for extrajudicial executions continued, protesters had gathered on the fateful evening of 20th October on the Lekki toll gate. It is at this point where at least 36 innocent protesters lost their lives after the armed forces opened fire at them. Shooting at and killing innocent unarmed protesters. An act that was skillfully executed by the armed forces in cold blood. Blocking off protesters on the bridge, turning off the CCTV coverage as well as cutting the electric supply to the bridge. All this coming only 19 days after Nigeria had celebrated its 60th year of independence. It is a sad and unfortunate memory for all Nigerians and especially for the families of the fallen heroes. Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. May their souls rest in eternal peace and may justice be served.
While things were falling apart in Nigeria; in Kenya, we were grappling with events from the documentary SOFTIE. A documentary depicting the life and story of the sacrifice that Boniface Mwangi, his spouse Hellen Njeri Mwangi and their 3 beautiful kids. Have had to go through as they fight to restore a more respectful Kenya.
SOFTIE follows the life of Boni and his family as it takes us through their lives, moving from two times award-winning CNN photojournalist of the year, to an activist and finally to his shot at politics. It is exhilarating, inspiring, heartbreaking, and all in all such a strong wake-up call. Softie exposes a lot about us as Kenyans. Our shallowness in approaching issues to deal with politics, tribalism, and economic development, all the way to how we don’t value life.
I do not want to spoil the plot for anyone who hasn’t watched it. But overall there are a few key things that I would like you to reflect on whether you have watched it or not.
- First and foremost, what does freedom mean to you? What does it mean to be free?
- What does it mean to you to be a loyal citizen? Do you put the country before self?
- What does it mean to be from a particular tribe? Is that your main identity?
- What do you think of when you think of our founding fathers and heroes like — Dedan Kimathi, Achieng Oneko, Bildad Kaggia, Fred Kubai, Paul Ngei, Kung’u Karumba, Tom Mboya, Pio Gama Pinto
- Does it really matter what tribe the other individual is? Why do we always insist to know someone's second name?
- For our armed forces, do you ever think of yourselves as a citizen first and do you consider your duty serving and protecting fellow citizens?
- Do you pledge your loyalty to the republic or are you just serving your own self-interest?
I would highly recommend for all Kenyans to watch SOFTIE. It puts a lot of things into perspective. No matter what side of the divide you belong to, there is something to learn from it. We really deserve more as Kenyans, we really do.
Coming back to Mwendwa my childhood bully. He continued to pick on my siblings and me for several years before we could figure out how to rid ourselves of his bullying. My brothers and I suffered at his hands until we were all forced into a corner. We started thinking and realized we could actually do something about it. My parents had grown tired of our complaints and we decided to try to resolve the issue using a different approach. We sat together and thought, even though he was several years older, if we united against him and surprised him at once, then he would need to face all of us at once. We did exactly that and together, we surprised the neighborhood bully. Eureka, the plan worked out so well. Mwendwa was no match against our united front. By uniting our efforts we had managed to do the unthinkable, we ended his bullying not only for us but also for our friends in the neighborhood.
When I think of all the current activities going on across Africa, I mentioned my childhood memories coming up. Not to belittle or compare the gravity of what is happening now to my bullying. I think there is a lot we can do and achieve together when we stand more united. What the brave men and women in Nigeria are doing, is standing up to the bully. This time their government and SARS are the Mwendwas in their lives. That united front is what we need more of to be able to tip the scale.
SOFTIE is such an emotional piece. My hats go off to Boniface, Njeri, their kids, and their family and friends. We cannot even imagine the level of sacrifice it takes to take all that abuse and risking everything, especially for the same mwananchi who doesn’t see beyond tribe or their current predicament. Putting country first is one virtue the likes of Dedan Kimathi, Paul Kaggia, Achieng Oneko and the like did so well.
Since independence, our leaders have been using the same tactics that our colonial masters left. A militarized police force, a system of divide and rule to pits us against each other, fighting along tribal lines, while they steal and squeeze their citizens to keep paying taxes with nothing to show for it. We as Africans need to demand more of our leaders.
What the likes of Boni &family and what our brothers and sisters in Nigeria have started, should not be in vain. We should keep the momentum and push for reforms in government. We should hold the leadership accountable, but more so we should hold ourselves accountable. We have the power to change the narrative, turn the page, flip the script. It's all in our hands, there is no leadership without us. We should never think we are too small to tip the scale. When we stand alone we are all just Softies (an easy target), but when we unite, good things start to happen. After all, a world full of sheep desperately needs more Softies. Stand to be counted!!!
© Untitled’s Cut
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“Asiyefunzwa na mamaye, hufunzwa na ulimwengu’’ — he/she who hasn’t been taught good manners by mom, dad, family members, will be at the mercies of a cruel world to right their wrongdoing.
First body — the alpha male who can take on everyone else in the class or neighborhood.
Softie — someone who is an easy target to pick on.
