The Voice of Tom Mboya

Of all the Kenyan Post Colonial Heroes, Tom Mboya is the greatest.

Tom did absorb a few ideas: the American revolutionary slogan, "No Taxation Without Representation," echoed in his mind, and he wrote an enthusiastic paper on Napoleon—"Here was a man who defied the whole world." Later, at the Holy Ghost College (high school) at Mangu, the missionaries discouraged his political questions and, irritated, he abandoned his plans to enter a seminary, forming a bitterness toward the church that he retains to this day, though he still considers himself Catholic ("My disagreements are not with the faith, but the church has been very weak in its position on the colonial question; it has tended to defend the status quo").

This guy was legendary. It is a pity that nobody ever told us how young he was when he joined politics only at 20. By the time he was 29, he assisted many people secure scholarships abroad. He was a child at heart, brave yet very noble at heart.

If ever Tom Mboya would have arisen today, he would tell Kenyans, "Democracy has a chance in Kenya. Forgiveness has a chance in Kenya and past wrongs have a chance for correction in Kenya. Kenya and its citizens are much greater than political pundits who care less for people's lives. Kenya has no place for political dictators. Kenya is a country of lovers and peace makers."

And it is true we have shared this peace with our friends in Sudan, Somalia and countries around us. Despite the problems of the moment WE ARE STILL AN ICON OF PEACE!

Read more about this great youthful spirit of post colonial kenya in the following link
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,894716-1,00.html
and
http://www.knchr.org/dmdocuments/evnin_with_tom_mboya.pdf