Sadly, history doesn’t always have immediate rewards for liberators

For many years in 1950s and 1960s, US civil rights activist and preacher, Martin Luther King Jnr bore the brunt of American administration, but stoically trudged on in his struggles to liberate Black Americans.

He never wavered in his conviction about the righteousness of his crusade for equal rights for all Americans irrespective of their colour, creed, gender, social or economic status. He also never sought nor was he ever bestowed with an elective political position.

Through out most of his life, Martin Luther King maintained a policy of avoiding to publicly endorse political candidates or parties arguing all candidates and parties had their own strong point inequities and he thus wanted to remain impartial because “I feel someone must be in a position to look objectively at both sides and be the conscience of both – not the servant or master of either…”

Martin Luther King never reaped the fruits of struggle he invested so much of his life in. Neither did he, walk around with a sense of entitlement for battle scars he sustained in the struggle to liberate Black Americans. He won Nobel Peace Prize for advocating non-violence as a means of social change. For many years in 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, Albert Luthuli, Oliver Tambo, Walter Sisulu and Govan Mbeki spearheaded the African National Congress (ANC) battle against the then apartheid regime of South Africa.

These South African nationalists bore the brunt of the apartheid regime and some had to flee to live in exile. In 1960, Chief Albert Luthuli became the first African to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his non-violent campaign against apartheid. He served as ANC president but never lived long enough to see the fruits of his struggle. Walter Sisulu, a former Secretary-General of ANC, Govan Mbeki (ANC leader and father to former President Thabo Mbeki), Ahmed Kathrada and others were caught up in the infamous Rivonia Trial together with Nelson Mandela.

They were given long sentences averaging life imprisonment and dispatched to Robben Island for fighting against social injustice that placed Black South Africans at the sub-human level or below.

After decades of hard labour imprisonment under sub-human conditions, these South African nationalists were released to a changed South Africa.

None of them walked around with a sense of entitlement staking claim to leadership positions for the sacrifices they made for their country. Walter Sisulu reluctantly took up the position of deputy President of ANC upon release from prison. He was a humble nationalist who appreciated that perhaps history may have conspired to have him contribute more for his country’s socio-political development when he was in prison than out.

It was Govan Mbeki’s son, Thabo, who later benefitted from his father’s political investment to become President of South Africa after Mandela. Indeed, even for Mandela, it was the country that pushed him to political leadership and even then, he did just one term and quickly retreated to private life confident that he had contributed more to the liberation of South Africa than possibly anything he might do or say as president.

In Kenya, we had our own freedom fighters in the first liberation struggle against British rule. Dedan Kimathi, Koitalel arap Somoei, Mekatilili wa Menza were some of our earliest freedom fighters. They were never there when the fruits of their struggle ripened.

The second liberation has had many unsung heroes and heroines. Equally, it has had many heroes and heroines whose exploits – real and imagined – have been sung and shouted at rooftops. These heroes have bared their war scars and used them to stake inordinate claim to entitlement.

True, many Kenyans fought for the first, second and many other liberation battles, but as history world over shows over and over again, that alone does not necessarily provide entitlement to political leadership. And to paraphrase the words of the good Book; let those who have ears hear, and those who have eyes see.

The writer is Managing Editor of The Standard On Sunday