"We are hoping that the (Covid-19) curve will level that in the not so distant future, we are going to open up the country for wider visits and political consultation. They agree with me…that when that time comes there is a need to move with speed and conclude the BBI. I assure them that reggae will soon be back with us here. Nobody can stop reggae," ODM leader Raila Odinga said on Tuesday as quoted by the Standard.
By Ndung'u Wa Gathua
This was as Raila condemned leaders using inflammatory remarks saying their utterances could plunge the country into another round of ethnic violence. As such, he asserted the need to fast-track the BBI process.
In Raila's view, BBI is the antidote to ethnic violence that this country has known since time immemorial. That is why he believes 'nobody can stop reggae (BBI)'. Really?
Derived from the late South African Reggae music legend Lucky Dube's 1989 song, 'Reggae is Strong', the de facto BBI slogan (Nobody Can Stop Reggae) had gained traction before COVID-19 pandemic struck the country in March and ironically stopped 'reggae'.
Five months later, Raila is back on stage with the same empty rhetoric that serious Reggae music fans consider offensive in the context under which the ODM leader uses it.
And indeed, the fans are justified in their opposition of Raila's publicist theatrics. I am doubtful that even Dube would approve the same was he alive today. But why?
1. Reggae is a Tool for Peace, Love and Harmony
While the BBI architects (read UhuRaila) argue that the document is a noble initiative aimed at entrenching lasting peace, love and harmony among Kenyans, nothing could be further from the truth.
BBI is a seed of sowing discord. So far what we have witnessed about it is the exact opposite of what it purports to preach - deep divisions and bitter fallouts in the political arena.
As such, this is a mismatched association with Reggae which preaches among other things peace, love and harmony. Not violence.
2. Reggae is Not a Tool for Babylon (Evil/Oppressor)
Reggae music since its inception in the early 1960s besides preaching peace, harmony and love, also called on its fans to emancipate themselves from their political oppressors and colonizers (Babylon).
BBI on the other hand is a 'dynastic' tool meant to advance the selfish interests of Babylon. It is in this contradiction that makes BBI and Reggae not see eye-to-eye.
3. Reggae is About Positive Change
As noted above, Reggae has been used before to call for positive political change - mental emancipation. In other words, it has often challenged its fans to resist oppression, injustices, corruption, violence, hate among other evil machinations hatched by the political elite (Babylon) across the world.
However, Reggae has never advocated for the above mentioned vices, the reason why Babylon hates its message. It is not about advancing divisions and the elitist rule-of-the-stomach, which the BBI is seemingly about!