“Accept and Move On” Mentality will be death of us Kenyans.

In March 2013 following the announcement of the  Presidential poll results  for the General Election, a new phrase was coined. The catchphrase “accept and move on” became sweet like honey to the lips of many; mostly supporters of the Jubilee coalition who were declared the winning coalition that would form the next Government of Kenya.This phrase was meant to put off dissenting voices from the losing coalition-CORD, who had claimed that the whole electoral process was flawed amidst a myriad of demands among them nullification of the vote which they later on pursued to the corridors of justice but lost through a Supreme Court ruling which upheld the election into office of Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta as the 4^th President of Kenya. 

Pres.Uhuru Kenyatta's Inauguration

Peculiarly, “accept and move on” has caught on like a case of a persistent bad flu in every basic framework of our existence as Kenyans. It is sad when you think about it that we have been relegated into a cosmetic society that is resigned to admitting to and swallowing lies and innuendos as gospel truths. We have become accustomed to a way of thinking fanned by fallacies and perceptions. In essence, we have created a society where human relations have been cosmeticised to the extent that we hide behind the veil of false pretenses when in real sense we are an oppressed society.

The current generation of Kenyans is living in cosmetic peace as injustices are perpetuated left right and centre by powers that be. Civil Society groups and individuals who question the status quo are more often than not deemed rebellious since they do not want to ‘tow the line’. It is such a shame that when one is considered to be going against the grain of what clearly is not just they instantly become the black sheep of society. This is because the expected end result is always “accept and move on” and nothing less.

Humor-Kenyan Style

It is an open secret that Kenya is a tribal nation. Consider this; every week we sit down in our living rooms and laugh our heads off watching ‘rib cracking’ comedy shows on TV whose skits are predominantly tribal. Our comics more often than not base their material on voice distortions and cliché tribal stereotypes that we find funny though in a condescending kind of way. Beneath the hearty laughter, we (some of us)consider ‘our tribe’ superior and harbor ill feelings towards ‘other’ tribes .This  always comes to the fore during politically charged environments where we recline into our tribal cocoons for ‘security’. When put to task to explain why this is so, we become defensive and ask those questioning our intent to “accept and move on”.

Recent happenings have seen our women humiliated by being undressed in public in broad daylight by barbaric male chauvinists who believe they can do as they wish since they consider their morality as being beyond reproach. Despite the succeeding street demos and parliamentary debates on appropriate punitive laws, the stripping never ceased as these criminals forged ahead by gaining support from other likeminded, morally corrupt foes to perpetuate the crime. Women (and men) who raised their voices were told to shut up and ‘dress up’ if they did not want to meet the same fate. A hawk eyed walk down the streets of Nairobi will reveal to you that most womenfolk have “accept(ed) and move(d) on” adorning below the knee skirts and less revealing clothing to the satisfaction of the oppressors.SMH!

Fmr.Internal Security CS Joseph Ole Lenku

The spate of killings in the country fanned by extremists and radicalized youths has seen the country lose hard working Kenyans who in one way or the other were the fulcrums of their families existence. Notwithstanding the grief by their families, the Government in its pursuit of these criminals has fed the public a lot of hog wash (remember the WestGate ‘burning mattresses’ explanation?SMH).It has become a norm that in times of crisis, the public craving information will look for plausible cause and direction from the Government.Sadly,the information from the state has been wanting in most occasions. The Government PR machinery has let Kenyans down a great deal as they ridicule and play with the intellect of the nation on matters of National concern. The PResident himself in his well written speeches has fallen short of telling Kenyans “accept and move on” when questioned on very mundane issues to do with security.


Shut up! "Accept & Move on?"

The Kenyan media has also failed us as a nation by misreporting facts and playing to the pipers tune. Many are the times that we are given lop sided news stories and features. Gone are the days when journalists presented facts and sought truths beyond the second side of the story. It is common place for journalists to shift from a prevailing/developing story to a Breaking News which in essence relegates the former into oblivion most of the time.Peculiary,Kenyans forget an incident so long as it is out of the media(public discourse).We suffer a serious case of selective amnesia?Once again>>> “accept and move on”!!

I could go on and on with this but what is clear is that we are a volatile nation on the brink of repulsive eruption IF we do not change the “accept and move on” mentality. Sweeping our ‘rubbish’ beneath the carpet only serves to procrastinate our woes. One day, the stench from the carpet will come back to haunt us. The buck stops with me and you .It takes individual and collective effort to seek conclusive redress on issues within our control. It would be sad for a beautiful country like Kenya to go back to scenes akin to 2007 PEV.Let us shun mediocrity and say no to “accept and move on”

 

The Scribe Rests his Pen.