Karl Marx (Owiro C.) is a Product of Our Social Systems

For the past one week I have engaged in a public relation exercise on the person of Karl Marx aka Christopher Owiro. Some people on social media did not have kind words for the man who was a hero to many, others chose to keep their views to themselves. To me, Marx was a human being, a person with friends, family, dreams, desires and above all a deep lying hope that this society will change for the better. That is the person I choose to honour; but why is this man spoken with disdain and admiration in one breath?

Karl Marx is a product of our broken and warped social system. When we shun Karl Marx in life or in death and embrace the systems that keep creating other ‘Karl Marxs’ is like hating the calf and loving the cow.

He beat all odds to make it to The University of Nairobi. He went to a day secondary school where he would walk for about 20 kilometres to and from school. When he received his admission letter, the Joint Admission Board (JAB) must have called him for a course he did not want to do. You can argue that yes, that happens to everyone, but why should it be so either?

In the year 2000, the Executive Committee of SONU was sent on a compulsory academic leave, or let me say suspension. After one thousand days, it hit me that many had tried to change courses on admission but failed to do so. The bulk of this lot was the KCSE class of 1996 when JAB decided to admit students with C+. It is romoured that the then JAB chairman, Prof. Eshiwani’s (George) child had scored a C+ and he had to join campus. This could have increased competition thus making it hard to change courses.

When Marx was in first year, word went out that there was a special class of people coming in to take courses of their choice and the core qualification is they can pay for it. Many people could have chosen to keep quiet and complete their studies and join the next level of life. But with examples across the world and even across the border in Uganda, this could have been handled in a better way. To the timid, speaking against such is madness, and so I say, the system created Karl Marx.

In a society where people, especially young people are not allowed to speak, let alone disagree with authority, Karl Marx was a marked man from the word go. You may have been shocked by post election violence (PEV) in 2008 but that is what comes of a society where holding divergent views is criminal. The opportunity many people will wait for is an excuse to ‘solve’ the problem in the easiest way possible. Again, the person who speaks is a villain, he who burns and murders is a hero. The system created Karl Marx.

The world over (and some African countries in particular) student activists are absorbed in socio-political systems that suit their ideological leanings. In Kenya, student activists who chose to hold views viewed as anti-establishment should be prepared for a life of squalor. Look at this, Wafula Buke was William Ruto’s student leader, now Ruto can afford to give Buke a salary for a non-existent job. Does it mean Ruto is more sharp or aggressive than Buke? NO, Ruto got into the KANU system and rose up the ranks, the same system that made sure Buke never rose to be a role model. If Buke is not a role model, where did Karl Marx come from? The system created Karl Marx.

The Universities are obsessed with one thousand day suspensions, but have they ever done an audit to see if it builds talent or kills creativity? The security agencies spend huge amounts of money to trail students and student activists and much more to influence elections in student unions. Can this money be used to nurture student leaders and prepare them for constructive social engagements? Karl Marx could have been of great contribution to the well being of this country, again, the system made sure he did not make it past activism then we curse Karl Marx and leave the system that created him.

There is an unwritten rule that a student convicted of any crime forfeits his place at the University of Nairobi. I was happy to find the student who had served time in jail for handling guns in the  Halls of Residence working in a firm in industrial area. I was even more elated when he told me he would soon resume his studies- there is hope. The system is supposed to build, not to destroy.

The black sheep of University life for students and parents is dead, but to the socially conscious, he leaves many questions than answers. One of them is why is it that approximately two-thirds of student activists are from Western Kenya. Why is it that a majority of these activists end up living low quality lives compared to their counterparts from Central and Eastern parts of Kenya? These are questions the University social scientists should be grappling to answer so as to nip the problem in the bud and save many brilliant brains from ruin.

Mentorship is a foreign word to our social leaders. Their main style is to use bright brains for their own selfish ends. There should be a system, formal and private that everybody will seek to nurture someone else to be like them. It is only by lighting the path for the younger generation will we find new ideas and visions to take Kenya to the next level. To quote US first lady Michelle Obama, you don’t lock the door behind you when it comes to opportunities.

Across Africa, student leaders have risen to positions of influence. Kenya must rise and learn to love the soldier even if he fights a war we loath, because at the end of the day, the soldier is a son, a brother, sister and even a father to a responsible Kenyan. Karl Marx death may be a loss to his family, but it is a bigger loss to Kenya as a nation.

When our MPs vote to award themselves hefty send off packages, do not be shocked, another Karl Marx is around the corner, how will you receive him?

Fare thee well Karl Marx aka Owiro Christopher

Yes, aka Christopher because everybody knew Karl Marx, Chris as I always called him- I know he wondered why- was a Science student at Chiromo Campus who was always in a hurry and full of energy. I knew Marx in my first semester and as soon as I became my Class Representative, Marx asked to buy me a drink, a very shrewd man. From there, I had a friendship with him beyond the usual deceit ridden student activism.

Years later Columnist Philip Ochieng’ would write that every market has a mad man and Karl Marx was the University of Nairobi mad man. By this time things had started to change, and for sure my good friend needed a good public relation strategist. To me, he started going down the moment he started getting involved with women who did not mean well and the ladies took advantage. The scandals increased to a point where he claimed on TV camera how he had given a lady KSH. 0.1 Million. That is Marx for you, never lacking words to explain anything.

I love mad men; my respect goes to Robert Alai, Boniface Mwangi, Kajairo and Cartoonist Gado, these are all to me ‘mad’ men forget Hon. Sonko. It is my best columnist Charles Onyango-Obbo who put it clearly one day, that apart from men of honour and integrity, it is mad men like Che Guevara and Fela Kuti who are brave enough to seek brave new worlds for their societies. To me, Karl Marx the ‘mad’ man had no apologies to be mad.

Many people thought this man spent over a decade at the University of Nairobi for an undergraduate course. I don’t blame them, unlike most student activists who spend their first two years building a base, Marx burst into the University and Kenya’s political scene in his first year. The University did not know that they had admitted a man who would redefine the dormant keg that was student activism. He quickly started pushing for the re-introduction of the banned student Union SONU which he managed in 1998 and renamed it SONU98.

The students could trust the radical Marx to push the administration to re-introduce SONU, but never trusted him with leading it. He ended up reviving the Science Students Union and chaired it for one year. Even without a formal position in the student government, he was a force you couldn’t just wish away.

Karl Marx did many things to uplift the welfare of students; he championed the conversion of Stella Awinja Guest House into a hostel. He always argued for students with fees arrears who were kept out of exam rooms to sit for the exams. In short, a student’s problem was Karl Marx’s problem and this is where I have come to appreciate the mantra- pick your battles. He never saw a fight he did not want to jump into.

Outside of that was an intelligent orator with exceptional mobilization skills. Karl Mark to me was a mathematician, unlike me who did mathematics to pass exams, he could explain everything mathematically. He once took the Vice Chancellor, Professor Gichaga through a calculus proof of why the Parallel Programme is flawed. The next time, he used the same formula to predict that the KANU/NDP merger will not work out and for sure it dint. It is great brains that are always prone to self destruction and Marx was no exception.

Another of Marx habits was his weekend morning briefings outside Hall 10. He would wake up at about 10 am and take on students questions which he would answer with a mixture of humour and eerie attitude. He would then watch the 1 o’clock news on TV and disappear from Campus. He made Hall 10 a hub of Nairobi social gossips.

I will cherish the times I spent with Marx, minus the propaganda and side shows, I met a master strategist who could push an agenda to the end. I might have disagreed with him on ‘how to’ several times, but I still remember Chris asking me to keep off student activism, which I tried but the system had absorbed it.

Behind the radical Marx, was a generous man whose heart went out to the suffering of the common man. A lover of nature and a good hockey player; he was a product of Kisumu Day High School when the school ruled national hockey championship.

Rest in Peace Jakorando B; like Martin Luther King Jr and Che Guevara, I know you have died at your time. Great men hardly see their fortieth birthday. Rest in Peace.