Why we should all dig deep into our pockets for Canaan voyage 'fare'

Speaking during a press conference at Okoa offices, Lavington, Mr Odinga asked NASA supporters to donate money to facilitate campaigns across the country.

Here is why i think we should all contribute whatever little we have as fare so that come October 17th we will begin our Canaan voyage at exactly 0600 hours.

Real change has no price

There is something about true real change; you cannot simply buy it no matter how much money you have. Its impact and transformation on one’s life can never be quantified even by its weight in gold.

Just like there is no currency for paying salvation (Kupanda Mbegu is not salvation, it is daylight robbery) all one is required to do to be saved is to believe, there and then shall they be set free.

And Kenyans too believe in a better tomorrow where fairness and just will reign supreme, where Otieno, Chepkangor, Mwangi and Wafula will not be judged by the pronunciation of their second name but by their character and skills.

And if that Kenya requires us to dip into our pockets and contribute say 10bob, 50bob or even a million shillings, why not?

We all need to make sacrifices for a better tomorrow, voting is sacrificing your time and comfort, reading a party manifesto requires you to sacrifice your limited time just like listening to your favorite politician and defending them requires your energy and time.

Sacrificing financially to support our collective dream is not any different.

The good book is full of accounts of downtrodden and poor as church mouse individuals who readily gave away their last penny, who were ready to strip naked to cloth fellow men and women who were stiff with cold.

True leaders inspire change not buy loyalty

Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King and Malcom X to mention but just a few are legends, celebrated until today years after some departed to the next world.

These leaders are famous not because of their deep pockets but how their rose from humble upbringing to inspire change.

There are countless tales of how Martin Luther King was housed and fed by fellow oppressed blacks, same as Mandela whom economically disfranchised Africans housed and funded to liberate South Africa.

What is my point? A leader should be judged by their ideas and capacity to inspire change and confidence in every one of us to be better Kenyans, to be more patriotic and to be hardworking. That is what being a leader stands for, pure and simple.

Furthermore ‘Canaanites’ must understand that they are dealing with a bottomless well-oiled campaign machinery from Jubilee, and truth be told NASA cannot flex financial muscles with Jubilee.

However that does not mean NASA cannot beat Jubilee hands down, only through the ballot box is a poor voter from kondele slums in Kisumu equal to a filthy rich tycoon at the slopes of Mt. Kenya.

Africa is the richest continent on earth yet it still lagging behind in terms of development and wealth creation, Africa is poor not because it lacks rich ‘thugs and gangs’ to led us and splash our wealth for the entire world to see, no we are behind because we lack visionary leaders who are willing to be accountable.

That is the difference between Africa and the west and it is high time we correct that difference by voting in ‘poor’ leaders who are willing to be accountable to the public by kindly requesting for their assistance through their hard earned taxes to achieve a common shared goal.

Kenyans must be wary of politicians who want to turn them into modern day economic slaves whom they splash billion of unaccountable funds now to entice and even intimidate to vote for them before they come back after elections to demand their pound of flesh.

How do we repay them you ask? By keeping mum when they loot our coffers dry, by cheering them on when they condemn our children to life full of debt and joblessness, by not questioning when they repeatedly auction our future to the highest bidder and indeed nodding and urging them on when they come to rape our mother’s sisters, brothers and fathers.

Jesus had all the power to transform the whole world into one huge palace decorated with all the rare minerals on earth.

But what did he do, he choose to live simply instead sometimes from hand to mount like millions of Kenyans who yearn for a better Kenya which NASA is laying foundation.

When Satan tempted him to change stones into bread just like filthy rich Kenyans can afford to change their Miami sourced wardrobes with a wave of the hand Jesus answered.

“It is written: Man shall not live on bread alone”

And so Kenyans too shall not feed on Jubilee ill-gotten goodies alone, our hunger for a fair Kenya supersedes all that.

Remember money is not a must in an election but we do live in interesting times where resources have to be used to achieve a certain task, that is reality and we cannot escape from it.

The practice of sourcing campaign funds is not unique to Kenya, established democracies like the US and the west all conduct fund raising and are required to account for every penny.

I am not advocating for blind loyalty where one is forced to contribute and no effort is put to explain how the funds were used, BIG NO, Kenyans must demand for accountability, all I am saying is if we all chip in and contribute according to our means we can make the Canaan journey worthwhile and shorter for everyone.

NASA must understand our generosity is not gullibility.