Kenya Indepence Day in Washington DC

“According to African traditions women must respect their men. I ask you women, can’t you discipline one of your own who has crossed the line!” – Former President Daniel Arap Moi in response to the activism of Nobel Peace Laureate Wangari Maathai

On Thursday the evening of December 11th we went to the Kenya Jamhuri Day celebrations at L’Enfant Hotel , Washington DC, to mark 45 years of independence, courtesy of the Kenyan tax payers’ money (thank you all because the plantains were super delicious).

Wangechi Mutu ©

I realized that it had been a while since I sang our Kenyan National Anthem. Before I could feel guilty of this fact it came to my attention that my inability to keep up with the tune was not for the reason that I had neglected these verses during my morning showers but because I was trying to keep up with a choir of fifteen lovely pasty children who were butchering the living daylight out of this national poetry. The challenges that they faced are not to be underscored; the poor kids were not only singing a foreign tune but they had to do it in Swahili, all the three verses and try to rhythmically move to the sounds of a beating drum at the same time!

Then we went into singing Christmas carols.

I looked over at my good friend Wangechi, we cringed, we frowned, and we sneered, all in an effort to express an emotion that was beyond words. On a serious note, this was the perfect annual occasion to show case Kenya’s cultural heritage, to mark a history of struggle and promote potential local success. But no, other than the Ketepa tea packs on our way in and the Tusker beer bottles on the bar, there was not much else that stood out as being conspicuously Kenyan.

Curious to find out what the logic was behind the arrangement of this event we approached our dear Ambassador after he gave his talk where he of course praised the man Kenyans love, Obama. We introduced ourselves with our concerns. His quick response was for us to go by the office and address the matter there. Fair enough, this was a social gathering and no place to file a complaint about what we thought was a compromise to the symbolism of Jamhuri day.

Just when we thought the discussion was over and turned to express our frustration towards one another, his so-called Excellency came up to us and held us by our hands insisting that we have to meet his wife. He introduced my friend and I as the warembos (beauties) who did not realize that he had a beautiful wife of his own, and then he went on to uncomfortably stare at and compliment how I looked. The Mrs. stood right in front of us, still and complacent. Totally puzzled and disgusted as to where these remarks came from, and her reaction, I corrected him and reiterated that we are two young ladies that were seriously disappointed at the poor performance that had just been displayed in the name of acknowledging the efforts of heroes like Dedan Kimathi.

Now it was no longer an issue of having foreign-looking and vocally-challenged kids who did not live up to my image of Kenyan Independence.

Millions of dollars are poured into ‘developing’ Kenya; millennium goals set by the elite, a 2030 vision by our beloved President, celebrities coming to self-inflate their egos in the name of saving us, and the list goes on. Of what use is all this, especially for women and the youth of our nation, when what really needs to be urbanized is the self-destructive mentality of stale leadership that is beyond what money can salvage; a headship that intrinsically trivializes the contributions and concerns of the young, their sisters, daughters and mothers.

How do we crush a mind frame of self entitlement and chauvinism that reduces a somber concern into a sexist slur?

One thing for sure is that complacency to such representation is not an option, it should be an allergy!

Before any other Kenyan leader steps up to the podium to stand for our beloved country, to take prerogative in the accomplishments of an icon like Barack Hussein Obama, take a moment of silence and reflect on your ethics and veracity towards promoting the interests of the youth and the women of Kenya. If your values are even slightly askew, please step back down.