THE STORIES UNTOLD

"No! I say that the cockerel must be slaughtered. It shall not live to see the sun of tomorrow. My house is the guardian of culture and tradition, and as the headman, I decree here and now, that the cock must go! It is profoundly insane and unheard of in our land that a cock crows in the hours of nyachieni  [the devil] and it is let free to see the beige rays of the morning sun. May our fore fathers unleash tenfold of dry thunder upon they that do not heed the customary way of life that they set!" That was my old man on the Christmas eve of 2005. Simple and casual as he was, with a long Africa shuka strewn all through his frail-looking but yet strong body stature and an oversize pair of traditional flip flops, Mzee Yimbo was still the de jure leader of the household. He was the head. And so as such, his word was law. Any deterrence from his decree was bound to attract an inevitable terrible punishment, or even banishment from his home; at least according to the inform...

We all have reasons or things or people for whom we are grateful for. Personal,social or intellectual gifts to us by the most high God are most appreciated. Now, I have this one gift for which I will forever be thankful. That happens to be the spirit of liberalism. It is queer and I’m absolutely privy to that. But better still, I don’t shy away from admitting such. I regard this gift of nature so uniquely because in a myriad of ways, it has saved the human race from extinction for so many times. Human trade and slavery in the medieval times for instance, was brought to an end courtesy of the liberalism of people like William Wilberforce who at the time, was a leading economist in Britain. It is also that same spirit of liberalism in the icons of African independence like Mwalimu Nyerere, Dr Kwame Nkrumah and such like them which prompted the many colonialists of our vast continent to let go off the archaic, shameful and uncouth practice of over dominance. Also not forgetting t...