Why Do I "Reflect"?

Of late I have been receiving varying comments regarding my writing. One common message that the readers of my reflections have been sending out to me is this: we need to start acting. Some of the comments have even indicated that folks like me with some kind of political "expertise" should go home and take the reign.

Well, appreciate those suggestions, very flattering. Nonetheless, I will have to make some issues clear. I do not perceive myself as a career politician, honestly. I have little patience for run-arounds and a whole lot of blah blah. Being so technical as opposed to political, there is a chance that I might disconnect with the wananchi, especially the majority who have been conditioned to accept emotionally charged empty words as "good" politics. I guess my participation in politics is more on the analytical side than on the hotuba nyingi side. I like to see tangible results and I wonder if that can fare well with the Bongoland mentality, honestly.

So why do I write really? I write because I feel it is my calling for now. I write because that's what I can contribute for now. I write because I believe there is power in information. If I can share an insight with someone and put them in a position to be better educated, then I have fulfilled my duty.

See, this is what I believe. Calling Metty to vie for Ubunge simply because he can point out what the current leaders are missing, is equivalent to calling all movie critics to become actors or actresses. I have never met any movie critic, but I convinced that they have some technical knowledge about cinematrography. They can tell when a script is crap or gold. They can tell whether an actor has superbly delivered on the emotions of the scene. They can give a rating and the public tend to agree with them. Nonetheless, I wonder if the same experts can fill Denzel Washington's shoes.

Similarly, there are TV political analysts. Check out Lou Dobbs of CNN for instance. The dude can tell you what President is doing wrong regarding the immigration policy. He can tell you how Senator Hillary Clinton is not worth the presidency of the United States of America. Sometimes he is on point, sometime he is not. Nonetheless, it would not be fair to tell Lou Dobbs to run for presidency simply because he seems to have incredible insight on some political issues.

I believe also that not all super professors of economics are the best economists. Some are just academicians, period. So yanking professors from hospitals (like Prof. Sarungi) and turning them into politicians is not a guarantee that they would yield the expected results. I could be the best writer and thinker, but the worst implementor due to my personality traits. I could be intellectually mkali, but have the worst public relations skills and hence frustrate everybody around me. Consequently, I could end up failing to deliver due to inability to manage my subordinates, even my superiors.

My point is that we have different roles in trying to bring about change in every society. There are those who have decided to run for office. Some have decided to bring about change through activism. Some have decided to voice their dissastisfaction with the "system" through writing poems and literary books. Yet some maintain editorial columns and weekly columns in newspapers to voice their opinions. Some just watch and go along. Some have stoned buildings and set streets on fire, all in the name of contributing to a "change" course.

So in the meantime I just want to reflect, write, and share my thoughts with the rest of the world. Who knows, may be someday I will PM Metty, may be some Waziri Metty, or Kingunge Metty. Life happens, but I just want to write for now.