This is a paraphrase of a line I once read in a certain book: “Hitler seized the moment in Nazi Germany, but he did not create it.” To bring that into our local context, it simply means that the conditions that allowed a man like MustGo to become our president, are the collective responsibility of the nation of Kenya. If this pisses you off that’s good, because it should. But if you spend even as little as two minutes contemplating this, you will see that it is undeniably true. Accepting this realization leads one to another realization that; you playing the game was never a question in the first place, we all became players by virtue of being born in this country. You may run away to another country if you wish, but all that’s going to happen is that you’ll get caught up in that country’s problems. And if that happens, good luck being a foreigner, in a nation going through shit like ours (as they say, you may not fuck with politics, but it won’t stop politics from fucking you).

And so, having no option of opting out, the next best thing that we do have, is the ability to choose. To choose what we’re going to do next, who we want to be, in relation to everything that’s happening right now. Personally, I was happy not being politically engaged. I choose to be honest at the risk of being cancelled, but fuck it, we’re here to have honest conversations are we not? I miss the illusory bubble within which I didn’t have to give a fuck. But the bubble has been popped now. I entered the job market, I started to get paid, and I came to understand what was meant by “gross” and “net”. I saw the gap between the two widen before my very eyes, and I thought to myself, “well, if it’s only for a short time and it ends up benefiting the country, I can live with it.” I naively decided to have faith, and reality showed me its asshole.

In a time when our economy is descending like a sinner on their way to hell, our president decided to have the most expensive midlife crisis in East Africa (ama what did you think all that globe-trotting was about?). Statehouse was getting renovated, again. Governors were buying mansions, as in plural. And the icing on the cake, for me, was hearing about some MP dropping eight Mikes on a belt. Eight. Million. Shillings. My guys, knowing full well that this didn’t come out of his salary, we must come to one conclusion only. This fucking fucker bought a motherfucking belt. WITH! MY! MONEY!!! Oh… forgive me, I meant our money, because I sure as hell don’t have eight million. Chances are, if you’re reading this and living within this regime, you don’t have eight million either. And even if you did, I trust you wouldn’t spend it all on a shitting strap of leather.

Now, many who see this would probably say that this should not have come as a surprise to anyone. I also realize that my motivations as outlined here, are not rooted in things like brotherly love, self-sacrifice and patriotism. But I am fine with this, because that’s what it took. That’s what made the pain stop being something abstract, something on the news, a paper, or a story I heard, and made it personal. A “rude awakening” is what they call it. It’s not necessarily a bad thing that human beings are inherently self-centred. It simply means that in order for mass agitation to happen, your suffering must feel to me like it is mine. In other words; it is necessary for there to be empathy, and the shared experience of personal pain, is exactly where empathy comes from. Whether you think it’s right or wrong, the fact of the matter is that the wallet is only second to the heart, if not first and foremost, for most people. Our “leaders” may not be able to kill everyone’s family members, but they sure can get to everybody’s cash. And that’s what they did. They messed with the money. And when we turned up to ask them about it, to protest it as is our right, they answered us with bullets. In doing so, they also messed with our dignity and our very lives. An entire country said “ow!” at the same time, all at once. It’s not a surprise that this movement has become as big as it has. It was inevitable.

So, to summarise everything I have said, he must go! All of them must go! Emphasis on MUST and GO!!!