A True African

Today, I woke up in a happy mood and engaged in my research as usual. Then I stumbled on to a speech that I am sure will inspire me to work harder today. I read the opening statement of one Mr Amara Essy who was the Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity just before it was transformed into the new African Union on 9th July 2002. On the eve of the launch of the African Union, and to a powerful audience that included the Secretary General of the United Nations Mr. Kofi Annan, South African president Thambo Mbeki amongst others, Mr Amara stated that for:

‘[T]he people of Africa of today and tomorrow, a new era will dawn on Africa and for Africa. This sun will brighten all the cities, villages and hamlets of our Continent. The message is that of hope and the rejection of fatality. This new day which symbolizes the future victorious conquests on all social, economic and political fronts, ushers in also the new pages of the history of our Continent which we are going to write’.

I remember the period that the African Union was established as if it were only yesterday, particularly those morning that I would sit in the kitchen reading about the eventful celebration across Africa, on the Nation and Standard newspapers, whilst having my traditional breakfast of Kenyan tea and bread with blueband. I recall the attention that Muammar Al-Gaddafi received in Durban especially in regard to his massive tent and the applause which Nelson Mandela, who is probably the personification of all that Africans would like their leaders to be, received.

Who would have known that just four years later I would be sitting here engaged in research on the important topic of African Regional Security under the African Union’s Constitutional Framework? And how proud I am to be an African analysing Africa from an African perspective and its interaction with the world,including its capability of offering valuable lessons to the international community.

But to me, there is something else that was special about what Mr Amara Essy had to say, and one that is to be looked upon in the context of Africa’s history of slavery, colonialism and imperialism. In establishing the African Union,

‘We are on the road to guarantee that never again no other non-African will define Africa’

Mangu High School

High school, there is nothing like it! I was fortunate to be in one of the greatest High Schools in Kenya. Mangu High School, P.O Box 314 Thika.My own Father had attended this presitigious institution 32 years prior to my entry.My high school days were turbulent. Yet in them I found direction. Still,I have to confess that I never learnt much in class but I am glad not to have taken interest in the Chemistry, Biology and Power Mechanics of those days. Instead I loved to play Basketball. I still believe that I am the best power-forward that ever played in the court. Most of all, I met a mentor, the Basketball coach Paul Otula Agal whose belief in my abilities further led me to later in life, transform my basketball abilities into success on the academic field.

I did not perform well academically whilst in Mangu High. In fact when I went to collect my results alongside intellectual giant friends, the teachers would greet them by saying 'Well done' , 'Congratulations' etc while they would simply say 'Hi James' and move to the next 'bright' student and continue with their praises. In particular, my maths teacher during my time in Mangu approached me with a distinct level of indifference and I could tell he viewed me as a hopeless boy in Mangu brought to the centre of academic excellence, not by honour, but by the sheer strength of money.

Mangu was indeed an invaluable experience for everyone with differing degrees of touch that continues to shape the way we, the former students of that great school, think and interact with the world. The basketball court became the only platform through which I could unleash my venom on those A-students. Well, even though those days are gone, I can still hear the school coach persistently reminding me that I can go on and be the best in other areas of human influence, and it is on that track that I know I am on.

I hope Tomorrow Comes

TODAY is my mother's birthday.

WHEN I was a little child, I would open my eyes wide and look at the beauty that surrounded me in Ngethu. I would then block my eyes from seeing any part of my body in a way that I would imagine that I am not physically present in the world and that my eyes, which are the windows of the soul, were the only ones that connected me to this earth.

I THEN would look around and wonder at the serenity surrounding me. Is the world more beautiful with me in it, or is it better to watch it from here [amidst my soul]? Should I stand here and stamp my feet in amazement at God's creation or would I rather be the invisible as the wind walking across the wide world? I used to ask myself.

AFTER a long thought, I would say to myself that the world is more beautiful and better off with me in it. The more I have grown, the more the world has become more important to me in a personal and profound way. The more breaths I take, the more I feel important to the world. Today, I am 26 years old. I ask myself, what if I was to lose the world? What if the world was to lose me?? Would I remember the world? Would the world remember me??

I KNOW that I would remember the world. Does that mean that the world is more important to me than I am to the world? I know that to be remembered by the world, I have to stand for something. I want to live and die for a principle. I know that I have not reached my zenith yet and it is why everyday that I lie on my bed, I HOPE THAT TOMORROW COMES.

My Letter to a Young African Sister

Never think that age will ever be an excuse. Never think that because you are young, you are allowed to mess once or twice. Never knowingly make a mistake unless its furthers a more important idea.

Plan your life from now, think of ten years, see where you want to go, capture those moments in your dreams that make you think of yourself as the best thing that could ever have happened to this world. Be broad and flexible enought to adapt to changing circumstances. Most of all, keep your best thoughts to yourself, they are your jewels which will play their rightful role at the right time of this life.

Think of high ideals, think of children's dreams, think of trees and waters flowing down the stream, think of the poor and look at the grass and wonder at how you fit so neatly in nature its best.This is a journey, some of us are chosen..start your life by realising this, that as much as your are your parent's child, you are very much a child of this world with parents that are blessed to bring you into this life.

Think very widely, when you see someone, look deep into their eyes, see what their body language tells you. Never..and I repeat, never take anyone for granted. The best thing in life is faith. Trust God, love him praise him and adore him. I need not tell you hi or how I am doing, I need not ask you how you are or what your plans are. BUT I give you these words from my heart. They are nothing new but they are said by me to you, its all you need. Do not get lost in this world, never sell your soul and do not act, just be yourself. Do not worry because you are made you for very defined reasons which you shall know by the time you are 27 years old.

For now, you are your own person. Be on your own around everyone. Talk to people, be positive and know that everything will work out. You have to believe

A PhD For What?

There is a lot of work to be done and I am now fully re-engaged with my PhD. It involves a lot of thinking, reflecting and then placing a lot of information in a coherent manner. So once you do this for three years, you acquire a culture of thinking and become a Doctor of Philosophy which is of Greek origin meaning "Teacher of Philosophy.

The most interesting this is that anyone can do it [even for one that got at E in Maths like me]and let me tell you, all it does is give you confidence because society is arranged to think of it in that way. I do believe that everyone has their own legitimacy to act and think as they think fit, for so long as those acts and thoughts do not cause harm to the society.

I strongly believe that people should aspire to make everyone happy and content in order to acquire freedom from want. It is this hunger and inequality, brought about by education and lack of it that makes this world full of pain and danger. These are all natural thoughts and which everyone is born with. There is nothing special to it so trust me I only study all this in order to achieve that legitimacy that the world expects and so that I can stand on that podium and say these very things.

Look at the dog on the right, [ or imagine a dog in red shades]we call this a 'Gui' in our language. The PhD is just like the shades on the Gui, very funky but an imposition of western values and an extension of colonialism. Still some of us seem to do only what is expected of us but when the eagle lands it shall be true indeed that the weapons we collect in this journey will bite and terrorise their minds.