MY LETTER TO THE KENYAN CHURCH

Dear Clergy men & women,
While the scale of your interests persuades me that no thanks can be ample to the honor you have thus far bestowed on the dispensation of this great nation, it reproves me that the best return I can make is the zealous dedication of my humble abilities to the service of this nation, inspired by my God given talents and abilities. I must begin by regretting that it is a wrong time in the history of our nation to engage in religious fundamentalism, because God, in the ultimate, is not interested in politico-religious pursuits of mankind, but true faith and dedication to His Kingdom. I proclaim it as false to God and humanity that the battle we are engaged in must be fought by men. I must quote from the scriptures that “the battle is the Lord’s”, not ours.
Let me elucidate my position clearly. God has vouchsafed to me a priceless gift in the weapon of tolerance, not of man’s inhumanity to man, rather, of man’s liberty to choose. For, if Christ himself would have been a fundamentalist, Christianity would have been an eternal hustle. But Christ was an extremist for love and inclusivity. I write to you knowing that you are opposed to the Draft constitution on grounds of the Kadhi’s courts. The mail you have written to me says it all. But I regret that the church should author division at a time when we need cohesion the most. I must confirm to you that the viral strategy you have adopted amounts to religious malevolence and Christina malpractice. I am a Christian. But I support the Draft constitution. Christianity is love and understanding. Let God do His part. During the time of Elijah, God rose up to destroy the prophets of Baal. Elijah didn’t have to engage in hate mails and speeches. During the time of Daniel, God emerged to save him from the jaws of lions, Daniel didn’t have to complain. During the time of Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego, God manifested Himself to the chagrin of the King. So don’t tell me that God won’t manifest Himself in the Kenyan political dispensation. With human strength there’s only little we can do. Maybe God wants this to happen so that in the end humanity may learn a point or two in the 21st century. Just as Christians wish to be heard, the must grant latitude of equal measure to the Muslims, and souls of other faiths across the globe.
So I invite to join the struggle for true democracy, the kind that Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jnr Fought for. I shall continue to exert all my faculties to maintain the just powers of the Constitution and to transmit unimpaired to posterity the blessings of our Kenyan Republic. You cannot fought physically that which is fought by spirit. God grants us the freedom of choice. So if Islamic supremacy is wrong, then latter-day Christians must not compel Muslims to adopt the Christian faith. It is a matter of choice. My familiarity in public concerns and the scrutiny of a life somewhat advanced corroborate the opinions long since imbibed by me, that the obliteration of our State governments or the annihilation of their control over the local concerns of the people would lead directly to revolution and anarchy, and finally to religious intolerance. This is self-evident from the manner in which the church is misleading Kenyans. During the 2007/8 post-election violence, the church adopted tribal and partisan inclination, even when the Kiambaa church in Eldoret was going up in flames, and the children of God died in there like the Ugandan martyrs. When man rose against man, and community against community, innocents lost lives, and the Kenyan church was deaf to the cries of widows and blind to the tears of children. Now I see the church choosing to divide Kenyans again. I say it plain. ENOUGH! A difference of opinion has arisen in regard to the point of time when the people of a country shall decide this question for themselves. The church leadership has long failed. Pedophilia and infidelity has sullied the church so much so that if Christ were to visit today, He would whip all the clergy men and priests.
I hope you can see the merit I am trying to point out. That the church is misleading Kenyans on matters of abortion and misrepresenting the draft constitution on matters of the Kadhis courts. I am willing to debate with the church leaders on these two facts that I shall call immutable points of thought in the Draft laws. Why hasn’t the church said there is something good about the draft? Inasmuch as we need devolution in governance, I am persuaded to assert that we also need devolution in spirit. Though differing opinions linger, I believe that many of the intricacies in the way, which now appear redoubtable, will in a great measure peter out as soon as the adjoining and best course shall have been agreeably established by my fellow citizens from all sectors. So let not all of us purport to be experts. Be kind to note that if rabbits could throw stones, then there would be fewer hunters in the forest. In the end, there shall emerge from this caldron a more mature debate, a spirit of tolerance, and a determination in the spirit of men that progress is ever the mark of destiny.

Sincerely Yours,
JAVAS ARAFAT BIGAMBO

KENYAN CONSTITUTION: LET US ARGUE, NOT SCREAM.

BY: JAVAS ARAFAT BIGAMBO
It remains the object of my prudent philosophy, to construct and foster much of that which I will not live to enjoy in light-years to come. That is why I thank Kenyan politicians for having placed their mark on the constitution making process which is now in its final trimester. I hope the pessimists and a few religious bedfellows will not smuggle the draft through any route. That breed of patriots should ask themselves why kadamnasi ya watu want the new set of laws. I ask those against the draft constitution: Are you willing to trust the people? The aim of all the effort is to save Kenya, not to save the draft constitution. Am told the church gives a negative on the draft laws. Well, I’m part of the church yet I give an affirmative. They say some issues remain contentious. I accept. They say abortion should never be cast in stone. I agree strongly. They declare that abortion object and the kadhis court is the crocodile’s bile in the food. I reject. I think it not sagacious to cut off the body to save a limb than the other way round. Whether our faith is informed by the Bible, the Quran, the Bhaghavad guitar or the Manu smriti, I only believe in ONE JUST GOD who has never been averse to justice.
I am not for solidification of party positions and making effort to rally Kenyans to ratify such positions through the highway of tribal and sectarian partisanship. It would be democratic malaise to think that is the path of liberty. That is why some church fellows will suffer trifling disappointments and chronic self-pity after the referendum. True. Not all of them are right. That is why even the scripture instructs me to “test every spirit” and sift out all the false voices in pious robes.
Let us embrace a thought. Nothing made by the hands of man can ever be perfect. That is why we, the loyal and progressive people, should not allow some human roadblocks to dispose of our constitution making time in the most idle and frivolous manner. Pray, did some politicians and church leaders expect an artistic constitution one akin to the Turning Torso in Sweden, or the Sydney Opera House in Australia and with the sweetness of Beethoven’s composition? Have compassion on my nerves. All we want is, under God, a document that will perpetually propel us further from the tragedies of a state of nature. That is why my interpretation of the draft constitution is different from my rural reverend who quips that if we endorse the constitution, we shall by such mandate be turning into a race of dinosaurs because all fetuses will be aborted. How so? His syllogism fell apart like Muamar Gaddafi’s quest for a United States of Africa. I deem it my sacred duty to recommend this constitution. It is a hard fact that a constitution cannot stop any woman from aborting just as much as no constitution can stop a 21st century rascal from tribalism. But religion can. In fact, if all church men and women did their work as expected, no one would muster the courage to mention that word in the constitution. Much time should be spent harvesting souls than at press conferences. In the end, even every possible politician would be good natured and would ultimately do unto others what he/she wants done unto him/her.
I cannot down play the gravity of this document’s essence. That is why we must not border our anxieties on the probability of anarchy, corruption and bloodshed through the forthcoming plebiscite to the 2012 election. I have never been a tribal jingoist. Not even the constitution can make me one. The more reason I conclude that imagining the new set of laws will drive a wedge of division among my fellow citizens is to attempt to purchase idiocy on the chip. It is such convenient thinking that has disturbed our social peace, our political progress, and the would-be vertical scale of our economic standing as a nation. That is why I accuse the entire 10th parliament of tribal Orientalism. They sat with squamous and in absolute squalor as their subjects perished in the post-election hecatomb that brought forth the coalition of evil christened the Grand Coalition government. During that period when Kenya witnessed the height of tribalism, even the church itself played Russian roulette with the democratic space. They scarcely take the higher road lest they scratch the beck of a fellow tribesman in parliament. That is why the church should incessantly repent and stop driving a wedge between Kenyans. With such faith we shall be a stronger nation. We shall cease praying for lighter burdens and shall instead pray for stronger backs.
I have, times without number, fancied to my person the time when the present century’s men and deeds will be pleasantly vague and mythical through the ordinance of a new Kenyan constitution. Many are hitherto oppresses by anxiety. Let us complete that which we consciously commenced. As we proceed toward this possibility, I hope that in times after the endorsement, we the people shall not grant latitude to legislators to mutilate the constitution through numerous thoughtless amendments, that in the finality, nothing will choose but pity.