THE PRICE WE MUST PAY

THE PRICE

Security is certainity. The assurance that as humanity, our efforts, our investments, our struggles, our sweat, our passions and pursuits can adequately and effectively carry us through life, regardless of the huddles and pitfalls. Unlike hope, security is no gambling business. You are either secure or not. The indicators thereof in a people is comfort, satisfaction, fulfillment and even surplus. Security can be physical. Prevention and protection from physical harm or injustices, it can be fiscal. Having a fat bank account and /or a steady income gives the assurance of being able to handle monetary issues at hand as well as contingencies. You are also able to access opportunities you would otherwise not access incase you're financially incapacitated. And there goes the common notion, money can buy you everything but happiness. Well, happiness is a choice so the 'everything' is good enough, happiness can be found. There's also social security. One's financial security and overall well-being can contribute to social security because given so,  there's no limitation to where you go, when, what you pursue and who you interact with. This, in my opinion, should surpass tribal, national or any other boundaries and limitations. Mental security is the mental peace that one acquires given the knowledge that their life is a smooth sailing or rather less frustrating. In addition therefore,  security can also be a mental state. The assurance that this comfort and satisfaction will last is sustainability. Therefore, sustainability, in whichsoever context, is security. There are physical, psychological, economical and social factors that influence security. It is also noble to consider the price we pay for the same. 

The definition of security (not according to the dictionary of course) may vary on factual or perceptive bases. There could be numerous, more detailed and comprehensive definitions but security is essential for our physical and mental health. Women and children are the most vulnerable, considering past injustices.

Women are the future of security, they must be secure because given their nurturing spirit, when they are secure, our men are secure  and so are our children and future generations. Touch a woman's heart,you  touch the universe, empower her, you empower mother earth. Change her thinking, you revolutionize the entire world.!The pain of the world is felt and it touches the fragile hearts of women all over the world.

Watching her sick son, now at the mercy of the brutal policemen, she went on her knees begging them to let him go but they couldn't, so she threw herself in his place. Her son had been admitted at the county hospital for a while and like any other mother, she must have been glad to be taking him home with her. He still was very weak and could barely support himself. Perhaps, the doctors confirmed he was in better shape and ready for discharge or who knows, maybe the hospital bills were accumulating so fast his family couldn't afford, as is the case with the majority of Kenyans who wallow in abject poverty and even so, the average person sometimes can barely fend for themselves due to inflation and the almost nil interest rates on savings. There's not much to live by. Most people are unemployed, angry and frustrated with no steady income and even the employed complain of miniature wages. They live in uncertainty and when the push comes to a shove, they agitate or just sit back and watch things deteriorate because they cannot access the available alternatives, normally accessible to the upperclassmen. This lack of capacity also limits their ability to access opportunities. 

As the brave bodaboda man(motorcycle) wound the roundabout at the now ghosted city centre, i had a myriad of questions in my mind. Why did he have to, given the incidences of police brutality and the resulting murders? What prompted him? Maybe he was tough, I couldn't tell but such, among others were the questions everyone silently asked. The slightest sound was due to beckon these animals to our hideout, we couldn't dare speak. We were squeezed in a salon car with tinted Windows and that was the hope we were holding onto. The 'tints'. So we watched from the inside as the  bodaboda man approached the gas station and slowly pulled to a stop. He was carrying two - a man and a woman. He must've ran out of gas. The policemen approached and began to manhandle him as he effortlessly tried to explain that he was helping the woman get her sick son home because she had no other means and the patient needed bed rest. "nyinyi ndio watu mnatusumbua apa!"  Said one of them ignorantly as he ordered them to get down. The woman supported her son and lay him on the ground, he Couldn't speak, neither could he move. He lay there lifeless, his mother watching over him. She was hurting to see him this helpless. the bodaboda man tried to plead with the police to allow him get them home then he would return, but they mercilessly rained on him with blows, kicks and 'rungus'... More of them came and battered the patient who was too weak to fight back, too weak to respond to the physical torture, too weak to scream. All he did was twitch and let out a feeble groan. This was exactly the condition of the citizens at the time, Desperate and helpless and unable to act. The claim of democracy was no more than mere utterance because we, the citizens, clearly influenced nothing. The Nation was and still is run by politicians and elitism has set its roots deep enough to disempower the ordinary Kenyan, who is desperate to be heard but can barely speak up for fear of victimization. 

Her attempts to save her son were vain because all they did was call more men and beat them both! They dismantled the motorcycle to pieces and left the patient for dead. His now wounded mother lay by her son, his pain touched her heart just as it did mine, but all she did was weep and hope he would live, while the bodaboda man counted his loss and maybe the price he had had to pay for life. He was bruised, with a broken arm and profusely bleeding. They were paying for the crimes they did not commit. The cost for democracy and freedom. The misdeeds of our leaders, the pain of a capitalist system. They were paying for the oath of patriotism that had since dehumanized the police and turned them against the very desperate citizens whose rights they were meant to protect. Here comes the paradox, how patriotic is it when Kenyans, who are the nation, are on the receiving end? No one cares, no one pays attention to their woes. The politicians use them as weapons to battle each other and no justice is given to the victims of violence stirred by them. Kenyans have perished and this loss can't be undone. Neither can compensation bring back those lives.

The cost of living had hiked and people were just getting by, innocent civilians And children had been brutally murdered but no one seemed to be doing anything about it. Businesses had halted and there was no income generation. People had lost their loved ones for lack of medical care following the nationwide doctors and nurses strike.there was also no blood left in the blood banks to save the dying victims. Many women lost their lives and babies during child delivery,  they lost their children to violence and many became widowed. The women who dared go to the market to purchase or sell produce to fend for their families were brutally beaten and raped and in some cases murdered, they never returned home to their families. Children starved, some were orphaned and school was a  gone case lest they get butchered as well. Young girls were abducted, raped, murdered and their bodies disposed of.

This wave of violence was traumatic to most people and These were some of the many reasons for agitation among the civilians.  Well, even men were affected as well women and girls. Most gave themselves up to keep their loved ones safe. The physical and emotional torture touched all with equal measure, it was a horrific experience that was not promising to end soon and as we sat there in silence, I'm sure everyone was whispering a silent prayer of hope for the sake of the mother and her son, as well as their own families and loved ones. More importantly, they must have hoped, as much as I did, that they'd make it from this gas station alive and unharmed. One occasionally turned to check out their neighbor and the mood in this confinement was one, the unspoken message was the same,  the will was one, as well as the desperation. What i didn't know was if anyone was starving like i was because apart from the emerging and pressing issues, there were two more reasons for tears they shed, the uncertainty or the now building pressure of the gas that threatened to suffocate us to death. I had one prayer, to travel home safe and die closer to home if I had to. 

I realized that I didn't need to start big, I do not have to be popular to preach peace and security. I don't need the whole world, i don't need a BIG platform to reach out. All i need is a conviction and that, I have. I start from where I am with those I'm able to reach personally and through my timeline on Facebook. I  believe, that if I am able to preach peace and security to one, I have reached out to many because they will preach the same to others. Every single heart i touch is many hearts touched and with this ripple effect, we can begin a revolution that's going to impact, not only those around us but the world at large. The message will eventually reach multitudes. 

I would love to see us become one big family, regardless of tribe, color, race and narionality. I am hoping that there comes a day when man is not defined by class but by who they are, let's end social segregation by bridging the existing social rifts instead of widening them. I see a nation and a world of equal opportunities for everyone irrespective of their fortune. I am hoping we can work together to build an economically stable nation to relieve our children and generations of debt and inflation. Let's fight for environmental protection and conservation for sustainability because this, in itself is security. Our natural ecosystem need be preserved! Let's create a system that's going to create less problems or end our frustrations completely. Better still, we can do away with it and let people be if there's no hope of liberation from struggles. Life is precious and we must treat it as such!