Matiba of Kenya
Kenneth Matiba, once a prominent politician associated with the struggle for the re-introduction of multi-party democracy in Kenya, is now an ailing old man in a wheelchair. He has sued the government for illegal detention, which caused his present illness. A tribute.
I will NOT forget
no court can that make
I need no photos
You can take
many selfies with him
and your ego
but I will not forget
what we know..
We all knew
Matiba's brain bled
He bled in his heart
in his soul and the
State did not quake
It threw up his life...
You were the KANU
YOUTH
that could not speak
You wrote on....
We all marked that
he dared for us
at a time with Rubia
when your candles were out
What I do not know is why
Why we are still quiet
and hushed when victory is
reduced to so little
and why we suddenly sing praise
to state, state And State
vote and quote, vote and quote
those who were mum then...
because their power then, was
killing....
Matiba is the struggle...
And the struggle shall not die!
* Philo Ikonya is a Kenyan poet and political activist.