Self Rule Poem by LINET SABASTIAN

We celebrate you every first day of the sixth month of the year
Kenya our country, our motherland
We celebrate our freedom, fifty three years of self rule
Freedom from the chains of colonialism
With songs of praise, ululation and dances
Dedicated to our freedom fighters
Our founding fathers, our heroes dead or alive we salute you.

But free as we may be from the colonialists we are still behind bars
We have freely and voluntarily chained ourselves and doing little to be free.
We are tied to the chains of corruption and sycophancy
We are locked up in worshiping empty tribal shrines
Where is our true patriotism and true love to our great nation?

Look how far we have come and how little we have moved
Look how we have only build the country and forgot to build the nation
Look how we have worked hard to remain a third world country
Where is our intellectual and spiritual sobriety?
When are we going to shun sycophancy and embrace patriotism?
When are we going to fight corruption and build our nation?
What legacy do we leave for our children and grandchildren?
When are we going to stop worshiping empty shrines of ethnicity?

I cry for my country, my mother land.
We love you great nation, great people.
How I wish that the elites of this country can stand up and show true patriotism
How I pray that the law enforcers can stand up and do that they were called to do.

Wake up Kenya, wake up Kenyans
Let us build our nation.