Letter from America

Wanjiru's death: Could it have been avoided?

BY NJAGI NDERITU

It is considered disrespectful to speak or to write sensitive matters about a deceased person too soon after death and especially before (s)he is buried.  It is in that spirit that I restrained myself from writing on "controversial" matters on Samuel Wanjiru (Wanjiru) in my last letter. 

  While trying to avoid anything that may be prejudicial to the investigations and the intended inquest, I feel that it is now time to start asking a few hard questions.

   In any event the most relevant question that the inquest is intended to resolve is on the circumstances under which the young man died.  In other words, was there foul play in his death?  I will avoid that issue like plague in this letter.

    There are a few facts that may not be disputed concerning the deceased young champion.  One such fact is that he had genuinely made huge sums of money through hard work by exploiting his natural talent.  In a country known for corruption and other forms of theft, Wanjiru is truly special. 

   There are very few rich Kenyans who can legally and authoritatively point at the sources of their wealth.  If the reports from the media are true, Wanjiru appears to have invested quite well especially in real estate.  He apparently owned properties in Nairobi, Nakuru, and Nyahururu among other places.  That is very commendable for a young man in his twenties.

    However, the positive side of Wanjiru's life appears to end there.  Formal education is not all that matters in life.  We have seen doctorate degree holders who are more "stupid and foolish" than primary school drop-outs.  Yes, especially when we consider the conduct of some of our educated politicians.

    Wisdom is probably more valuable than formal education in real life.  That is the wisdom that King Solomon asked for from his God.  However, formal education is good if properly utilized as it changes and broadens ones horizons in reasoning and "world views".  I still believe in education as the key to fighting ignorance and other social evils.

     But I also pray for more wisdom.  Coincidentally, as Wanjiru was buried on June 11th, I received my masters degree on the same day!  Shortly after Wanjiru died, one of the organizers of Ndakaini Dam Marathon lamented the deceased's lack of formal education and stated that he had approached one of the local universities with a request to admit Wanjiru on special qualification category.  Apparently, Wanjiru did not buy into the idea. 

    The question here then is, did Wanjiru's short academic standing affect his decisions in life culminating in his untimely death?  In other words, does education play a role in the way people live and the decisions and the choices that they make in life?  Please consider and decide on this as I move onto my next point.

    In the foregoing paragraphs, I have alluded to three issues, wealth (money), wisdom, and education.  The three are rarely found in the same individual.  I would rather have wisdom than the other two.  And that is where my quarrel with the society that we live in today begins.  Gone are the days when we valued wisdom.  Gone are the days when we valued good education.

     In Kenya today, what counts is the money regardless of the manner in which it is obtained.  As stated above, no one may argue that Wanjiru's money was genuinely earned.  My irritation comes from the way that our society treats those who have money or wealth with special reference to Wanjiru.

    It is the high time that we stopped calling a young man "Mzee" just because he has money.  Mzee is a Swahili word that should be reserved for mature men (and women) who possess wisdom in themselves.  Those are the men and women to whom the society look up to for directions and consultation in times of war and peace.

     Those are mature wise men and women who have seen it all.  They carry themselves with decorum and dignity.  They do not drink themselves silly and use vulgar language in local pubs.  They are full of wisdom and charisma. 

   In most cases they are beyond reproach and they may only be castigated by those of that class.  Do not ask me how many there are in Nyahururu.  Look around and think if you can get a candidate for this special class.  They are far and apart!

    The problem is that our society is unable to tell and to castigate rich people when they go wrong.  Since we have few or no "Wazee" left standing no one is available to advice or to castigate the moneyed young men.  They thus become law unto themselves and no one can "stop" them.  Wanjiru had problems with his wife and the law in the last years of his life.  The question is, how many "wazee" talked to him? 

    How many of his friends or age mates told him to sort out his fights with his wife?  How many told him to stop drinking silly?  How many told him to stop driving while drunk?  How many told him to respect his wife as the mother to their two children? How many suggested to him to divorce her if the marriage was unworkable?  How many told him that it was wrong to have multiple sexual partners in this error of aids?                How many told him that it was very wrong for him to take women other than his wife to their matrimonial bedroom or home?  I ask those questions because I am annoyed with the hypocritical society in which we live today.  Wanjiru is truly dead, but the question is, couldn't the society have avoided this untimely death?

    Since the society has abdicated in its duties, the other source of counsel should be parents, relatives, and friends.  It is a very opportune moment for Wanjiru's mother, uncles, aunts, other relatives, and friends to take stock and ask, did you people play your role in advising him on living a responsible life and to avoid trouble with the society, the law, and his wife? 

   Or did you just sit back and watched because he had money?  Did you cheer on Wanjiru as he indulged in a path of self-destruction?  Did you fail to tell him the truth because if you did so you thought you could have ruined your one-way flow of resources relationship with him?  Did you fail to tell him the truth so as to continue receiving hand-outs and those never to be repaid soft "loans" from him?

    I take solace in that I wrote a lengthy letter to Wanjiru via this column advising him to stay out of trouble.  I told him several things that many of his relatives and "friends" may not have told him.  That letter has appeared on The Home News at least twice.  As I have said before, I am not a prophet but at the time of writing that letter I for sure knew that Wanjiru's life was in danger.  He was not super-human.  He was a rich young man in dire need of directions, counsel, and advice.  Had many other people seen the same thing and spoken out, we could surely have avoided his premature death.  I am not one of those who believe that death cannot be avoided.  Just like you can avoid an accident, you can avoid death.  Try to stand in the way of a fast moving car or a train and you will surely die.  Couldn't that be avoided?  Unless for natural causes, death like all other calamities can and should be avoided.

    What I am saying is that our society has failed in many ways.  However, one area in which we have failed flat is in our misconceived worship for money and wealth.  Money does not and can never take the place of wisdom.  A wrong or conduct-unbecoming behavior is bad whether committed by a billionaire, a millionaire, or a peasant.  We must be ready to stand up and tell anyone who goes wrong that they are in the wrong and take the necessary remedial measures.  One thing for which I will forever be indebted to my aging mother is that even as "learned/educated" as I am she does not hesitate to tell me whenever I go wrong.  She is full of grace and wisdom which I may never earn no matter how many academic degrees that I get.  That is the wisdom that I am talking about. WatuwaNyahururu, Wazeewakowapi?

njaginderitu.