Be humble friends, be humble!
Live and please let live
Serve with good heart, my friends
The alternative is never worth it.
I honour them, these three men
Not 'cause I agreed with all
They said and did in Kenya
But 'cause they served with vigour
Ev'n when the train derailed.
I recall their battles for power
I remember Kenya, my Kenya
When each one walked on water
And wrestled down the lions
To claim the throne of Jomo.
The Change the Constitution
Movement against one Moi
Was nipped in the bud
And changed the fate of Kenya
With language so poetic.
Njonjo to the rescue!
“It is a criminal offence
For anyone to encompass
Imagine, devise, intend
The death or deposition
Of the President of the Land.”
The thought that Mzee Jomo
Was mortal like all flesh
Was punishable by death
Of him that harboured such.
When the moment came
And Kenya lost its eyes
Mwai, Mugane and Moi
Were firmly in control.
Nyayo lost no time
A king must rule alone
Thank you for your work
Kingmaker must be tamed
They turned the guns on Charles
The son of Josiah Njonjo
He wanted power himself
A crime he had created
When others wanted the same.
Then Daniel arap Moi
The great professor of politics
Dispatched his friend from Nyeri
With ease that shocked the people.
Kibaki son of Githinji
From the womb of Lady Wanjiku
The youngest of the three
Knew time was on his side.
Unlike Sir Charles the Great
No threat to Moi, he thought
Kibaki became the voice
The centre of dissent.
To power he rose at last
Succeeding arap Moi
Forgiving all the pain
Betrayal not to blame
T'was Kenya's greatest game.
They're now together again
In the late evening of life
Their battles of the past
Flicker in cloudy memory.
To have them sit together!
Record their triumphs and failures
And listen to them reveal
The secrets so deeply buried!
So many dead and buried
Forever silent witness
To crimes of greed and power
Liberators turned destroyers.
Our hope that still remains
Invested in these three men
They saw it all and more
Their ears heard it all.
Don't go, please just don't go
Without a wink and nod
To questions unanswered still
About my friend who died
His name Pio Gama Pinto.
Who killed my friend that day
February twenty fifth
The year of sixty five
The day that Kenya died.
I knew him not, of course
My father wept like child
And I along with him
Forever tied to Pinto
Great martyr of the age.
Much honour and praise to you
For now is not the time
To break with my tradition
Of respect for age and stature
By right is yours my elders.
The lesson I have learned
From you most honoured men
Be humble, please, be humble
Time is not your friend!
Emilio Mwai Kibaki, Minister of Finance & Economic Planning 1969-1978; Vice President of Kenya 1978-1988
President Emilio Mwai Kibaki of Kenya (2002-2013)
Charles Mugane Njonjo, Attorney General of Kenya 1963-78
Charles Mugane Njonjo, Minister of Constitutional Affairs 1980-83
Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, Vice President of Kenya 1967-78
Daniel Toroitich arap Moi, President of Kenya 1978-2002