Broken

Enough!
Enough with this silence
It is outright betrayal
Of the unity and oneness we profess
How can we remain silent?
When a lot many now lie
Deep in the earth
Never to be seen or heard again
Just because they did not belong
To a certain political party

I speak for the mothers
Who have lost their sons and daughters
Lactating mothers who’ve lost their babies before they wean
Wives who long to wake up to their husbands beside them
Only to wake up to the reality that they are no more
Parents who receive the news of the demise of their children in the news

I speak for school going children
Who in their tender age
Have been introduced to teargas
A sign of struggle and hardship
In this rough society we’ve created
I’m worried because they,
In the morning while heading to school
Will miss sitting next to them in the van
They will miss their desk mates and classmates
And probably they may never know where their friends went
Because wherever they went
They will never come back
All these in a very short time
A time too important for any country
But for us it’s the most dreaded
A moment that defines the future
Of a so-called democratic state
For us is a moment so dark

Until when shall we remain silent?
Oblivious even of the damage we are doing to this beloved country?
Since when did our unique cultures become the source of our differences?
When did we allow so much bitterness to reign in our hearts?
Why are we making hatred a culture?
And ethnic profiling a norm?

Our silence in the face of these atrocities is our undoing!
That you are not mourning today
That you are not running away
Leaving the very place you call home
That you are not in any form of pain today
Doesn’t mean you cannot fall victim
With lots of ‘stray’ bullets hitting human targets
And clobbering that is going on even meted on children

Imagine just for a moment
How you would receive the news of your relative or friend
Who while taking a patient to hospital
Became collateral damage in a demonstration they knew nothing about
Or worse still,
How would it feel to learn about such a loss though the news?

We live in very perilous times
Where people are shot at anyhow
And looting is cited as the reason why
So that we forget the greater course
That these very people were fighting for
When we have a constitution that justifies demonstrations
Now don’t get me wrong
Looting is not justified
But neither are brutal killings

I speak for the silent majority
Those who wallow in dire poverty
Citizens who lie in hospitals waiting to be served for months on end
Kenyans who just for exercising their democratic right
Still live in camps to date since 2008
All those who suffer in silence
Business persons who cannot run their businesses because of a crippled economy
Students who are uncertain about whether they’ll have their exams
For generations whose future is being gambled with

All is not well!
Remaining silent in the face of all this
Is selling our future to the gallows
Sacrificing the very ideals we stand for
No one is a better citizen than the other
No one owns this country more than the other
We must stop living in fear
We must stop living with uncertainty
All because of the interests of a few, greedy individuals

We are hanging on a precipice
More deaths will but help worsen the situation
It would get worse if we remain silent

It is not well
It is not normal
No one deserves to die because of their political affiliation!
Let’s not break this country from within
At least let’s not break it further
But while we speak out
While we take action
Remember it is not in vain
It is not wrong to be among the minority
The minority that is right
Whose role is to challenge the powerful
It is all for the good of this country called Kenya
Time is nigh for change
A revolution is coming!

News Reporter
My name is Emmanuel Yegon. Trained Communicator, Passionate storyteller with a bias toward smartphone storytelling. I am the Co-Founder and Communications Director at Mobile Journalism Africa. This platform is dedicated for human interest stories and features. Ask me about #MoJo

5 thoughts on “Broken

  1. We ought to rise ,
    Rise and fry the evil,
    Evil so rampant amongst us,
    Us who claim civilization,
    Civilization of thougths actions,
    Actions that court silence,
    Silence the enemy of change

  2. Let this message reach its audience and create an impact….enough is enough,it is high time we shun violence…keep up the splendid work…be the light,lead and you shall be followed….

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