MK’s Reflections

It’s been a packed week for Kenyans. Sauti Sol got us in our feels on Saturday. I did not attend the concert but from the snippets online, the production, performances, costumes, screen displays, fireworks, and all 15,000 fans present were incredible! What a showcase of excellence, professionalism, collaboration, success, and love for and from a band that has not only entertained us for 20 years, but also redefined Africa’s entertainment. I’ll ignore the bow and ‘end of an era’ sign out for now because, it’s not the end.

Then there was the significant increase in acquisition of important identity credentials fees including passports, ID cards and birth & death certificates. It’ll now cost Kenyans a little more at birth, adulthood and death. And to the journalists who questioned the ‘stray’ Kes 1 million, good catch guys. Soon after, there was a random declaration of a tree planting public holiday this Monday. While I’m supportive of the ambitious 15 billion trees by 2032, we need to sync our priorities. A business day lost, is one too many and these holidays are now too much. Secondly, we know the businesses that will prosper on this day, two hours on Jamhuri day morning would have been enough. Ifikie Waziri.

Then there was the State of the Nation address by our President in parliament which I was looking forward to. Work got in the way, but I caught up on his speech over my jog this morning. He gave an account of the current government’s one year in office and provided a few proof points in agriculture, access to finance through digitization, national debt management, wasteful expenditure, job creation, healthcare, and security. While I highlight these with hesitation, they’re worth calling out for accountability.

As a communicator, the delivery of this address was quite commendable. The mention of individual Kenyans with whom the President said to have called definitely tagged on our emotions, the obvious use of a teleprompter, the acknowledgement of MP’s as elected leaders and all the flowers that followed made them adjust their postures with pride (a great tactic in fostering allyship), the gestures and voice variation kept the house awake, the constant messaging of transformational progress and preservation of human dignity and much more. I must say President Ruto has been quite proficient in delivering his speeches with the Paris address standing out the most.

Then there was a guest who I didn’t know how to welcome. Mr. Malema’s speeches stir up mixed emotions in me. His researchers do a great job in educating us about Africa’s history and tying that to the current events, but I find the speak rather sensational. While I sometimes agree with his ideologies, I really struggle with the proposed execution style. I however liked his bold call out when he said ‘President Ruto, I cannot locate you nowadays’, Sir, we also can’t.

Finally, it’s okay to host a circus, the problem is when we become the starring clowns. Let’s not get caught up in who rolled the red carpet in the game park for who as much as we know that was damn, who didn’t apologize, I mean these things are neither here nor there. Sometimes you put up with glaring unpleasantries to achieve your goals. Let’s focus on holding our leaders accountable because that will accelerate the progress of our nation.

In the meantime, let me join my community for Diwali celebrations at the common lawn because loneliness on foreign soil sometimes bites like frost. Talk soon!

MK's World.

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