Monday, March 31, 2008

Kenya, Kenyatta, the Flag is Flying

"Hamjambo wananchi wote pamoja na wageni wetu. Mimi ni Kisoi Munyao ninaozungumza nanyi kutoka kileleni cha Mlima Kenya. Kenya, Kenyatta, bendera imepepea. Kenya popote mwangaza umeenea." (Hello to all citizens and our visitors. I am Kisoi Munyao, speaking to you from the peak of Mt Kenya. Kenyatta, the flag is flying. All over Kenya, the light is shining).

On that day, in December 1963, Kisoi Munyao stood at the highest point of the new nation. He hoisted a brand new flag, at the dawn of independence; the birth of a nation called Kenya. A flag with red, for the blood that was shed that Kenya could be forever free; green for the land, that would forever be bountiful; black for the people, an African race that had finally won self-determination and dominion over their motherland; white for the peace that, after the war of liberation's proud yet painful legacy, would prevail within Kenya's borders. A flag that would forever symbolise national unity in this independent and sovereign state.

Read more from Njoroge Matathia here.