Bishop Cornelius Korir: The Peacemaker.

The departed Bishop Cornelius Korir has been described by many as the epitome of peace building in the North Rift region. He helped broker peace deals in ethnic conflicts pitting Kalenjins vs Kikuyus in Burn Forest, Yamumbi, Kapteldon, Kimumu, Kabiemit, Ilula, Munyaka, Kimuri and Kiambaa in Uasingishu most of which were a result of build up political tensions in 1992,1994, 1997 and the 2007 PEV. He also helped ease tensions between the Pokots and Marakwet in Keiyo, conflicts arising from primitive entitlement to cattle, grazing fields, water points and cattle rustling. The celebrated Bishop developed a peace building model documented in an 84-page book titled; Amani Mashinani: Experiences of Community Peacebuilding in The North Rift Region of Kenya. It's a great peace outlining 12 steps of peace building and the desired qualities of a peacemaker. Rich in content, illustrations and field experiences I find the model apt in establishing sustainable and lasting peace solutions at our borders of Maasai/Kipsigis in Transmara.

Attached herein for persons interested. https://www.crs.org/sites/default/files/tools-research/amani-mashinani.pdf

May the good Bishop find peace in his rest as he always aspired to establish in this world.

The Mordecai Story

DISCLAIMER: LONG STORY!
A man called Mordecai was introduced in the bible, the book of Esther as a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin. He lived in Susa, the capital of Persia. He had been carried into exile from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, among those taken captive with Jehoiachin king of Judah. Mordecai had a cousin named Hadassah(Esther), whom he had brought up because she had neither father nor mother. This young woman, who was also known as Esther, had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Mordecai had taken her as his own daughter when her father and mother died. When Esther was selected as one of the virgins, possibly next queen of King Xerxes, Mordecai advised her never to reveal her jewish background and Esther was later crowned as queen.
Mordecai, who worked at the palace gate, heard of an assassination plot against the king and reported the plot to Esther who passed the intelligence on to King Xerxes. The would-be assassins were stopped, and Mordecai’s name was recorded in the king’s chronicles as the one who took action to preserve the king’s life.
However, Mordecai was hated by a man called Haman, an Agagite who held a prominent office in the kingdom. Haman’s hatred was due to Mordecai’s REFUSAL TO BOW IN HONOR TO HIM. As a Jew, Mordecai would only bow to the Lord God of Israel. Haman was not happy and he plotted to do away with Mordecai. However, when he learned that Mordecai was a jewe, Haman looked for a way to destroy all the Jews throughout the whole kingdom of Xerxes. He spoke to the king and secured the king’s permission to annihilate the Jewish people on a select date in the future. When Mordecai heard of the decree, he tore his clothing, put on sackcloth, and sat in ashes. He had to mourn.
Mordecai had been checking on Esther each day and when she discovered that he was mourning, she inquired of the cause. Mordecai informed Esther of Haman’s plot against the Jews and told her to go before the king and plead for the Jews’ lives. Esther balked saying she did not have freedom to enter the king’s presence without a summon and that to approach the king without invitation was punishable by death Mordecai responded with logic: If you do not go before the king, you are dead anyway, for you herself are endangered by the king’s decree. Do not imagine that you are safer than any other Jew just because you are in the royal palace". And then he ended by saying: "May be it was for a time like this that you were made queen".
Esther agreed to break the Persian law that forbade access to the king, saying, "If I perish, I perish". She fasted for three days and then entered the king’s presence uninvited. Xerxes received her graciously, however, and Esther took the opportunity to invite the king and Haman to a banquet. At the meal, the king asked Esther if she had a request, and Esther asked for their presence at another banquet the next night.
Haman, the Agitite, who was ignorant of the queen’s ethnicity, was pleased to be honored with not one banquet but two. On the way home, he was happy and in high spirits. But when he saw Mordecai at the king’s gate and observed that he NEITHER ROSE NOR SHOWED FEAR IN HIS PRESENCE, he was filled with rage against Mordecai. Once he arrived home, he issued an order for a 75-foot-high gallows upon which Mordecai would be hung.
That night after Esther’s first meal, King Xerxes couldn’t sleep. To help him sleep, he ordered his chronicles to be read to him and it just so happened that the account of Mordecai thwarting the assassination was read. The king then discovered that nothing had been done to repay Mordecai for his good deed. At that very moment, Haman entered the palace in order to obtain the king’s permission to hang Mordecai and he never got the chance to ask because the king ordered him to immediately take Mordecai through the streets of Susa and pay him homage. Haman was thus humbled before his enemy, and Mordecai received due honor.
After the humiliating experience of honoring Mordecai, Haman returned to the palace for Esther’s second banquet. During the meal, the king again asked Esther if she had a request. This time, she pleaded for the king to rescue her and her people from destruction and pointed out that Haman was the one wanting to kill the Jews.
Haman was summarily put to death on the very gallows he had erected for Mordecai, and the Jews were given permission to defend themselves. The Jews successfully overcame Haman’s evil plot, and Mordecai was rewarded with a promotion. He became the second in rank to King Xerxes, preeminent among the Jews, and held in high esteem by his many fellow Jews, BECAUSE HE WORKED FOR THE GOOD OF HIS PEOPLE AND SPOKE FOR THE WELFARE OF ALL THE JEWS.

A story from Chebarbar Primary School

Disclaimer: True story, but a bit long.
A friend just told me a story from his form one days. He studied in a mixed school. To be brief, he says he was a very behaved boy, dressing smartly and always sort the attention of the teachers and especially the deputy principal because he wanted to be chosen as one of the school prefects. Having come from a remote area, he still had the hangovers of village primary schools where teachers handpicked the prefects. But here was a secondary school entrenching juvenile democracy. He says the school had established a tradition of choosing prefects through election by the students themselves.
My friend says he would leak intelligence about the 'bad guys' to the deputy and always acted so close to the administration as to appear the defacto ideal prefect. He says he would actually work around bossing and harassing his colleagues, a habit which the girls loathed so much. He says the deputy used his information to punish the 'bad guys', suspended them from school and even painted them negatively before the other students. My friend would smile at such situations knowing he was inching closer to being a prefect. He says he would at times request the deputy principal to give them the school music system and some free time to watch Nollywood as a way of enticing fellow students. The problem with this guy is that he was always last in class. So dump that he never opened his mouth in class except when yawning. And sadly, the crooks were the school's creme de la creme.
When the time to choose new prefects came, except for a few fellows whom the other students had branded as 'moles of the administration', all the students surprisingly chose many of the 'bad guys' and left my friend. So ungrateful were they that 67 out of the 71 girls in his class actually scoffed at him on that day and told him to his face, "wewe snob, utakula na macho". My friend says this was so frustrating that he even contemplated quitting altogether.
Now these 'bad guys' being the student's favourite had to be boxed in by the administration lest they made running the school difficult. The administration forgot about the antics of my friend and even went ahead to orient the new guys as prefects to take up their duties. A few days later as the crooks were crowned at the assembly podium, my friend was with the other students watching and clapping. The school deputy used to whip the boys at the assembly grounds using thorns. So painful was it that the students nicknamed the ground Kapkatet. He says when the naughty boys(now prefects) were each given a chance to say a word during their coronation at the assembly, the feeling was so severe he almost puked.

I simply told him to take heart. Such is the irony of life.
What am I saying?

Raila, The Present day Saul.

The book of I samuel chapter 15 chronicles a story of a man called Saul, the first King of Israel and Judah who is said to have lived for around 40 years. The Lord had sent Samuel to King Saul to pass the message thus:
"Go and attack the Amalekites! Destroy them and all their possessions. Don’t have any pity. Kill their men, women, children, and even their babies. Slaughter their cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys."
Having received the message, King Saul sent messengers to every town and village in his territory to get men to join the army. He got 210 thousand troops, organized them and led them to a valley near one of the towns in Amalek, where they got ready to make a surprise attack. Some people called Kenites lived nearby, and Saul told them, "Your people were kind to our nation when we left Egypt, and I don’t want you to get killed when I wipe out the Amalekites. Leave here and stay away from them.” The Kenites left and Saul launched the attack. They killed all the Amalekites; men, women and children They also destroyed everything but spared the BEST sheep and cattle. I suspect they also spared the beautiful yellow yellows becoz they didn’t want to destroy anything of VALUE. They only killed the animals that were worthless or weak.

There is a political gang in Kenya called NASA that has been instructed by their Saul to boycott and abstain from many things including parliamentary activities. They pretend faithful to the call but secretly sneak into parliament to sign for allowances. They readily lead the 'weak and worthless' to the streets to be killed by the police but cannot imagine 'killing' this valuable thing called allowances. These are the typical modern day Sauls.
By 2022, it will be 40 years since this Saul was jolted into political existence in the 1982 coup. And that will be the end of his reign. Every Saul lives for 40 years only, just like a thief has 40 days.

Politics: Betrayal, Forgiveness & Moving on.

Read the passage below and answer the question that follow.
Disclaimer: Long story but relevant.
Kenya's history is replete with interesting stories of power struggles, defiance, vengeance, bravery, principalities and forgiveness.
One such story is that of GG Kariuki, a man who at 70 is said could easily stand on one foot and raise the other to his face. I will summarize his encounter as read from another source.
So courageous was he that he once told Mzee Kenyatta, "Some of us are young and will live long enough to eat bananas growing on your forgotten grave long after you are dead."
And the Mzee simply told him that he was a tiny tick on an elephant's skin who he could 'siaga siaga' between his fingers until he is forgotten by Kenyans.
GG was once a trusted friend of KANU but later fell out after the 1982 attempted coup on mere suspicion that he supported. They would actually ride in one vehicle with Moi and Charles Njonjo, the Attorney General at that time who had presidential ambitions and saw Moi as a "passing cloud". Njonjo is said to have used his position to sideline those he considered to be standing in his way and this included GG himself.
At one time after GG fell out with KANU, Moi was going to Nyahururu to issue peasant farmers with title deeds. GG wondered whether to attend or not. He finally decided that it was better to attend and be chased away rather than to be viewed as a defiant and rude man who contemptuously snubbed an important function of the President.
While at the function,Yusuf Haji, then the PC for Rift Valley and Provincial police officer told him he was unwanted. So GG went to his house, not far from the grounds, and watched the proceedings from there through binoculars.
Moi arrive, was welcomed and after a few pleasantries he asked where GG was. He was told that GG was around but had left and might be coming back. The Oldman ordered the PC and the PPO to fetch him. A police Mercedes Benz then dashed to GG's house, all the while GG watching and wondering what he had done for president Moi to treat him like an outcast for two decades. GG was convinced that they had come to take him to detention, so he changed to warm clothes then welcomed the gentlemen. The PPO saluted him and said, "The President has asked that you attend his event and sit with him in the VIP pavilion!" GG melted with elation knowing the walls of his political prison were crumbling. He changed his clothes and went to meet a man he respected and whose friendship he cherished, a man he had not met for 17 years! Once at the venue he was escorted to where Moi was sitting. He bowed and shook his hand and Moi simply told him: "Karibu, imekwisha"
After the event he was invited for lunch at the president's ranch, not far from the venue. In a matter of hours, things changed from watching Moi through the binoculars to smelling the President's cologne and after-shave.
Once at the well-kept compound, Moi walked over and greeted him and his family warmly. Then Moi took him by the hand to a corner next to his house away from family and said, "Mimi ni mwanume wa Afrika, siwezi kujumuisha watoto na bibi wa yule mwanaume tunapigana naye. Pia mimi ni Mkalenjin na sisi wanaume wakipigana, huwezi kumpiga yule kama ameanguka. Unashika mkono na kumuinua. Vita itaendelea kama hajakubali ameshindwa. Sisi hapana pigana vita kama wanawake.
All the while, GG held on to the peels of oranges they were eating because he didn't dare drop them in the compound and spoil the day. Moi just told him to throw them towards the fence and proceeded thus, "You are my friend; I could have done worse. It has been a long time and that is in the past now, GG." He was given an appointment at statehouse that sealed the new friendship.
At one time he was attacked at a presidential rally in Nyahururu by Kihika Kimani saying: "We have cursed this man, he will never go back to Parliament even to relieve himself in the VIP toilets." But Kihika died and GG remained active in politics until he died at 81 as a senator.
That was the good president Moi who ruled for a record 24 years.
What am I saying?
Lessons in comments .