If you watch a tennis ball playing, it makes movements up and down. There are times for it to head south. but this does not last long. It hits the bottom and within no time it is on its way up.
Today you may be headed south, but it is not your destiny. You are headed up. What you are doing is gathering the momentum to push you up. Thou shall not give up or feel as though you are on a free fall. It is the consequent force that will take you high and high up.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Little ‘Sacks Of Maize And Cans Of Petrol’
Little ‘Sacks Of Maize And Cans Of Petrol’
I was just thinking about the latest scandals to rock our nation in the latest months. First there was the maize scam. The nation lost integrity in the face of the international community. Even help that would have been forth coming in a genuine situation was laced with doubt and lack of goodwill.
Parliament took up the acclaim and debated though it did not pass the motion of no confidence against the Minister for Agriculture, one Hon. William Ruto. Bitter words were exchanged and the nation divided once again. Trust faded and much more than we may not have an idea about.
We forgot that and the nation awoke to yet another scandal; The Triton oil scandal. Yet again, the prices of fuel went up. People were bitter right left and centre. The nation was grinding to a halt at the festive season when they should have been going for holidays.
Rage met the mention of a politician and the media splashed images of a man who should have been behind bars in lavish parties.
Yet again, trust faded, bitter words flew from lips to ears and bounced back equally distasteful and in the confusion the storm died down and we picked up another subject to drive us on.
Evidently these two scandals caught our eye because they involved the ‘Big Fish.’ The other similarity about these scandals is the fact that the said culprits were caught in their areas of operation. Hon. Ruto was caught in agriculture- maize, while Hon. Kiraitu was caught in energy- Oil. Should I draw your attention to other scandals in the past this has been the trend. Amos Kimunya was implicated in a finance related scandal. So was Mwiraria and the list is endless.
Is this then, a common feature where people are involved in areas where it is within their reach? Can we trace the same infection beyond the net of the big fish? Is it possible that there is a cleaner who has a brush or a broom at home because this is the much he or she can access. Is there a cook who takes home some salt or half a bowl of Unga? Or a teacher who has a book or a biro pen that he should not be having at home. A driver who carries unauthorized passengers to make an extra cent because this is the much he can access. Personnel who take a few hours from his work and does not account for it. Or even a photocopy administrator who has two or three photocopy papers unaccounted for. Funny yet unfortunate enough, every one is pinching where he can reach.
One can then say that in more than the two ‘homes’ of one Ruto and Kiraitu lies other smaller ‘sacks of maize and cans of oil’ that we have no idea of. What then would we call that pen on your desk that you are not entitled to, or that photocopy you made using company machine, or that trip you made with the company vehicle, or the few hours away from work not recorded? Simply ‘small sacks of maize and cans of oil’
Let us put you in charge of a nation that produces and consumes millions of tones of maize and oil. Will a few thousand of them matter? When you will have access bigger things, won’t you enlarge the photocopy, company hour, broom, pen etc to become a few billions worth of oil or a few hundred million worth of maize?
For us to be genuine and authentic to admonishing our leaders and pushing them to accountability with the nation’s resources we have to reflect the same in our own small ways. We have to be irreproachable with the little that is in our hands. This will give us the moral push and irreprehensible command and power to hold others accountable. Corruption and other vices will be a demon gone with the wind never to return.
Julius Wango
I was just thinking about the latest scandals to rock our nation in the latest months. First there was the maize scam. The nation lost integrity in the face of the international community. Even help that would have been forth coming in a genuine situation was laced with doubt and lack of goodwill.
Parliament took up the acclaim and debated though it did not pass the motion of no confidence against the Minister for Agriculture, one Hon. William Ruto. Bitter words were exchanged and the nation divided once again. Trust faded and much more than we may not have an idea about.
We forgot that and the nation awoke to yet another scandal; The Triton oil scandal. Yet again, the prices of fuel went up. People were bitter right left and centre. The nation was grinding to a halt at the festive season when they should have been going for holidays.
Rage met the mention of a politician and the media splashed images of a man who should have been behind bars in lavish parties.
Yet again, trust faded, bitter words flew from lips to ears and bounced back equally distasteful and in the confusion the storm died down and we picked up another subject to drive us on.
Evidently these two scandals caught our eye because they involved the ‘Big Fish.’ The other similarity about these scandals is the fact that the said culprits were caught in their areas of operation. Hon. Ruto was caught in agriculture- maize, while Hon. Kiraitu was caught in energy- Oil. Should I draw your attention to other scandals in the past this has been the trend. Amos Kimunya was implicated in a finance related scandal. So was Mwiraria and the list is endless.
Is this then, a common feature where people are involved in areas where it is within their reach? Can we trace the same infection beyond the net of the big fish? Is it possible that there is a cleaner who has a brush or a broom at home because this is the much he or she can access. Is there a cook who takes home some salt or half a bowl of Unga? Or a teacher who has a book or a biro pen that he should not be having at home. A driver who carries unauthorized passengers to make an extra cent because this is the much he can access. Personnel who take a few hours from his work and does not account for it. Or even a photocopy administrator who has two or three photocopy papers unaccounted for. Funny yet unfortunate enough, every one is pinching where he can reach.
One can then say that in more than the two ‘homes’ of one Ruto and Kiraitu lies other smaller ‘sacks of maize and cans of oil’ that we have no idea of. What then would we call that pen on your desk that you are not entitled to, or that photocopy you made using company machine, or that trip you made with the company vehicle, or the few hours away from work not recorded? Simply ‘small sacks of maize and cans of oil’
Let us put you in charge of a nation that produces and consumes millions of tones of maize and oil. Will a few thousand of them matter? When you will have access bigger things, won’t you enlarge the photocopy, company hour, broom, pen etc to become a few billions worth of oil or a few hundred million worth of maize?
For us to be genuine and authentic to admonishing our leaders and pushing them to accountability with the nation’s resources we have to reflect the same in our own small ways. We have to be irreproachable with the little that is in our hands. This will give us the moral push and irreprehensible command and power to hold others accountable. Corruption and other vices will be a demon gone with the wind never to return.
Julius Wango
My Dream Lives On
My Dream Lives On
Floods did rage the land to death
Turning and taking everything on its way
To show her might and strength
Over anything with and out-of breath
But never would it cause to bend
The dream down my heart
The sun arrived on its turn
Blazing like a vengeful foe
To churn and char to ash
All that dare rise
But never would she cause to wither
The dream down my heart
Clouds covered the sky over
Hanging a haze the land over
No light from the horizon
Never again to lead the way
But nothing could chill the dream
Deep down my heart
The night then struck
Dark and dead
Not an inch could I move
Along my laid truck
But this too didn’t choke
A life off my dream
I hold high my heart
And wedge forth to tomorrow
For nothing stands in the way
Of the will of my dream
Floods did rage the land to death
Turning and taking everything on its way
To show her might and strength
Over anything with and out-of breath
But never would it cause to bend
The dream down my heart
The sun arrived on its turn
Blazing like a vengeful foe
To churn and char to ash
All that dare rise
But never would she cause to wither
The dream down my heart
Clouds covered the sky over
Hanging a haze the land over
No light from the horizon
Never again to lead the way
But nothing could chill the dream
Deep down my heart
The night then struck
Dark and dead
Not an inch could I move
Along my laid truck
But this too didn’t choke
A life off my dream
I hold high my heart
And wedge forth to tomorrow
For nothing stands in the way
Of the will of my dream
And Steel Gates Shall Melt In Front Of Your Eyes
One day I was walking along Moi Avenue on a Saturday afternoon. Outside the Safaricom Customer Care Center I found this guard by the door. I was feeling good. I looked him straight in the eyes and smiled. I did not blink.
He escorted me with his eyes across the door. He seemed to wonder within himself. “Where have I seen this guy?” A few steps away from him, he called me back. I was fully aware of what I had done.
I turned back and shook his hand and you can obviously guess his first word, “Where have I seen you?” I can confess with my good memory that I had never met him. I did not even know his name and later came to learn that he came from the Western region of Kenya.
A few minute of wondering and unanswered questions and we had to part. He said that the next time I pass by he would tell me where we had met. For me I knew what I had done. Look at him straight in the eye and everything will look familiar.
This is not an isolated case. Everyday in our lives we are faced with instances that more often than not, are strange. As is common, new is challenging. We do not know what to do. It is unfamiliar to us and therefore are left to wonder our way round it. Then it is time to look it straight in the eye. Give it the concentration of your mind.
How ever strange and new it might have looked to start with, it will start to look familiar. It will start to open up. It will begin to shed the coat of strangeness and become common to your eyes. It will disintegrate in your eyes and be something ‘familiar’.
You will start tracing familiar links and connections. It will be like a crack through which you will have an opportunity to make head way. I did not know the man. He did not know me either but here we were talking. Here we were asking where you come from and where I have seen you. Here we were, making another case for the future. Though we were strangers, we had no tag of newness or strangeness around us. We had dissolved some barrier and prepared the ground for a better day in future.
Go out today and look at you life straight in the eye. Look at your new assignment in the eye. Look at your dream straight in the eye. Look at your future straight. Its about courage and a daring attitude. Do not dare to blink. Look it in the eye until it releases its guards and becomes welcoming. Disarm it.
For you there is a development in your life designed to keep you away. Look it in the eye and instead of keeping you off, it will invite you forth. Though designed to make you stop on your track or like the guard, sieve who goes through and who does not, you will be called instead of being kept away. Look straight in the eye with all the courage and the world will give way.
The interviewer will be disarmed and let you pass. They will not only want to know about your work but about your personal life. They will be asking how they can help you move further than where you are. They will gain an interest more than you ever thought about. They will relax their standards and allow you in to territories you could not have access to otherwise. But there is only one secret; Have the courage to look at the world straight in the eye and nothing will stand in your way.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Start of a Long Journey
Every long journey starts with a step. Today marks the beginning of a long but exiting tour of inspiration and uplifting. Building strength and courage. Welcome and journey with me.
I do this to inspire myself and also seek to inspire others in the process. May love and goodwill prevail in all our endevours.
I do this to inspire myself and also seek to inspire others in the process. May love and goodwill prevail in all our endevours.
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