By Francis Kimanene
As we know it now, globalisation dissolves borders and homogenises cultures forcing nations to grapple with preserving their unique identities while embracing modernity subscribed to across multiple jurisdictions. A country with 45 people-groups and a colonial past with an obstinate footprint, Kenya exemplifies this state of affairs. Whatever we find ourselves contending with at any one time, pursuing a deeper and more meaningful sense of patriotism is a duty we must never abdicate.
The greatness of nations across history feeds off the wilful resolve of citizens to defend their identity and take pride in what they consider themselves to amount to in the eyes of humanity. That said, a society that views patriotism as a burden is eternally bound to the shallows of existence. When you find yourself repulsed by a fellow citizen who litters open spaces with no qualms, then just know you are beginning to define the fundamentals of what it takes to love your country.
That is where it all starts. Patriotism, plainly put, is devotion and commitment to one’s country. It is more than subscribing to chauvinism even when circumstances dictate so. Allow me to submit that it is utterly narrow-minded to regard patriotism as an imperative that works only when a political axis one supports is in power. That is jaundice of the most extreme and detestable form.
Kenya’s understanding of patriotism ought to transcend beyond flag-waving or other cheap gestures. We must root love for nation in tangible actions that have a bearing to national progress. Leadership epochs come and go but nations remain. The nations that end up carving a lasting legacy are those that obsess about the future.
True patriotism thrives when there is commitment to do things that outlive generations. The foregoing reminds me of Voltaire’s evergreen wisdom when he declared that, “it is more lamentable, that to be a good patriot one must become the enemy of the rest of mankind.”
Such an eventuality manifests most when patriotism is mistaken for sycophancy. Still on patriotism, cultural erosion normally accelerated by globalisation, is a pressing concern in many social spaces across the world and Kenya is no exception. Kenya’s National Policy on Culture and Heritage (2009) and institutions like the National Museum of Kenya (NMK) aim to protect traditions, languages, and art. While that is commendable, it is hardly enough.
What we need is to inculcate an abiding instinct that leads to jealous guarding of the soul of our nation. Countries like Japan with all their technological breakthroughs still manage to maintain a healthy balance between traditional rituals such as Shinto with hyper-modernity.
In Canada, indigenous communities use digital archives to revive endangered languages just to ensure that modernity does not obscure identities that are the lifeblood of patriotism. To this end, Kenya’s Protection of Traditional Knowledge Act (2016) offers a template that if enforced could count for a key contour in draping our people with a sense of pride in a world overtaken by unquestioned influences from across yonder.
Globalisation fuels cultural exchange but also bears the risk of defacing a peoples’ sense of selfhood. Sometimes I wonder whether Kenya’s athletic prowess hardly translates to a source of pride and national brand beyond by commercial sponsorships.
Other nations around the world offer instructive examples of how we can turn our national brand into a reason to embrace a prouder sense of who we are. Indigenous communities in Australia and New Zealand leverage digital platforms to teach ancestral languages, mirroring Kenya’s push to integrate traditional knowledge into school curricula.
Kenya’s journey in encouraging greater love for our motherland is certainly not static but it is nowhere near robust. My problem, however, is that we are yet to have a movement that demands that we love ourselves as a people more by doing the right things even when there is no direct reward in sight for doing so.
If we wait for a multitude of believers to shape Project Kenya, we are likely to wait forever. What we need is a handful of brave men and women, courageous enough to sidestep constant whining and start a new journey to a new Kenya rid of the baggage of self-loathing and devil-take-it attitude, no matter what.
Time is now!
Kimanene is a conservation expert based in Geneva, Switzerland
