Kenya 28 Feb (Form the Patriotic Horse's Mouth)

It is quarter to 1 and I still haven’t come up with an escape plan. I’ve been looking at the clock since noon and for some reason the clock seems to be literally in a hurry. There is no way I am going to miss out on this. I have pictured it for over a month and finally the day has come – February 28^th the day Kenyans unite to sing the national anthem.

I still do not see how my boss will let me go to town just to sing, and singing all by myself, as patriotic as it sounds, seems wanting in glamour and flare and being a sucker for both, I have to be where the action is, Kencom. So I decide to take an early lunch; I will deal with the boss later. Just as I get to the door he pokes his head out of the office and hands me a package to deliver. My destination, the K.I.C.C.

with a deserved detour through Kencom. I literally run all the way from Lusaka Road, Industrial Area to Kencom. Not even the stupid Pro box driver who pulls over unceremoniously almost running me into a ditch can stop me. I give him the eyes and keep running; across the Kenya railways foot-bridge, through the Kenya Polytechnic fly over then I walk between the Times Tower and Central Bank of Kenya (I do not think it’s a good idea to run in some parts of the city…no matter how late you are). I get to Kencom at 1.05 p.m. and my heart breaks.

I missed it (at least I thought so) there is nobody singing no fists raised, no tears shed. For a moment I am tempted to raise my fist and sing; there is no way I’m going back to the office with this overwhelming feeling of emptiness. Today was all about this one moment, when I would join random people and friends and sing the national anthem, at least the first verse – I would lip-sync the other two verses but still, I would have accomplished my goal. Not being one to give up easily I make my way to the crowd and find some fearless Kenyans singing some zilizopendwa patriotic songs, not even my lip-syncing can help me. I then decide to take photos at least to get a few memories.

Just as my phone was raised taking (very low flying) bird’s eye view photos of the crowd, it started. It got me off my guard and for a moment I thought the music was in my head. “Oh God of all creation, bless this our land and nation…” I had made it. I was singing the National Anthem with random people in the middle of the city, fists raised and all. I sailed through the first verse, mumbled the second and third then did it all again in Swahili.

I must admit I was a bit skeptical as to the effect of this little act of patriotism. It wasn’t much, didn’t cost me much (okay apart from the fact that I ran all the way across the city) but at that moment when I looked around to find the dreadlocked dude standing next to me singing with all his heart and the dude holding the ‘Bunge la Wananchi’ (People’s Parliament) banner who didn’t know the words of the third verse but did a stellar job moving his lips accordingly, it finally came to me…this was it. This was Kenya; an amalgamation of diversity, culture, intellect, physical appearance, (and in this case) voices. We were one. We might have been one 5 minutes before but the realization that came at that moment brought it out so clearly, we are one.

As I took photos of random people and some not so random (I still insist stalker tendencies do not make one a stalker…okay that is debatable)

 I thanked God for that moment, for the old man asking me for a match while still holding his flameless torch as if holding on to his nationality,

 for David Mckenzie and all repoters who hopefully will let the world see this simple act of nationalism, as well as all the cameras, eyes, ears, voices and souls that made it possible for Kenya 28^th Feb to happen. God bless Kenya.

Still I cannot stop asking myself, how will we manage to unite the classes? For while I stood at Kencom singing and praying for my country, people in South B’s Fuata Nyayo slum were looking on in horror as a fire destroyed everything they heard including their hopes for a better Kenya and a better tomorrow.  

BONUS (Just Cause I love Kenya So Much...)
Due to popular demand (we'll call it pressure), I drew an illustration for this post in as much as I didn't intend to. This is for anyone who didn't get a chance to sing or just didn't see the need to. This is how patriotic you would have looked....