“Haiwes mek, this is Kenya”. The gravity of this words go just beyond uttering them , but to affecting us as Kenyans in our everyday life. How many times do we despise Kenya just because its Kenya, from the football league, to our artistes, to our leaders, to our fashion. If you ask a Kenyan what team he or she supports, the most obvious answer will be Man-U, Chelsea or Arsenal. The same person will be busy complaining how Kenyan football is whack. Have you ever stopped for a second to ask yourself, if the same amount of energy, time and loyalty you give to the english premier leagues would be given to the Kenyan leagues, how far we will have gone. The teams of the English premier league have reached where they are because the English support their own.

The same applies to our local artistes, many people if asked to buy an album of a talented Kenyan who has classical music that depicts what good music is, a majority wont buy it, reason being that it’s Kenyan. The same person will be the first one to claim how Kenyan music will never reach international standards and how western music is far much better. How do we expect to reach international standards, if we do not support our own? They can never be great & reach international standards if you do not support them.

Westernisation has changed our way of doing things, to the extent that we have forgotten our identity as Kenyans. Many Kenyans are busy celebrating hallowed but on the flip-side when foreigners go back to their own country, you wont find them wearing a maasai’s shuka. We have to change our way of viewing Kenya if we want to reach far as a nation. We have to condemn corruption, bad leadership & ethnicity as a nation & not just claim them as acceptable because this is Kenya.

America is claimed to be the best country in the world because the Americans have mastered the art of being appreciative to their own. Imagine how far we could go if we change our ways of thinking and be proud to be who we are & support our own. If people were to change, you wont have to go to America to live the American dream, you would live the American dream in Kenya, only if we change our minds.

Bob Marley said, emancipate yourself from mental slavery. If Kenyans were to change their negative ways of thinking and embrace Kenya for the beautiful unique people we are, we will have unlocked ourselves from the deadly vice of mental slavery. We cannot change Kenya, unless we change ourselves. The change begins with you as a person, nobody else but you. Lets have an appreciative state of mind and do away with the pessimistic way of viewing Kenya. Yes we can, only if we change our minds. Lets emancipate ourselves from mental slavery, as the westerners aren’t any different from us. They are just human being like us, what they can do, we can do & maybe even better. The only difference between us and them is our way of thinking. Once again, lets emancipate ourselves from mental slavery.

© Ben Muraguri