As I disappointedly walked out of a rendezvous of a cancelled event on pondering over the cause of its indefinite postponement, I bumped into a group of journalists cursing over a failed appointment. I was from an event that had aborted for the second time after an adjournment last week due to lack of quorum and here were others expressing similar frustrations. This was not to end there though, my next several assignments failed because there was no one to attend to wananchi in the offices.
I could have dismissed the events as the normal Kenyan style of absenteeism but back to the office our driver slammed me with the vehicle’s ignition key, indirectly announcing that he was headed for holiday. That’s when it dawned on me that we are beyond Mid-December and the festivities have begun. Christmas is a day away and with the booze and buzz, who wants to be interrupted with driving the jalopy to cover events at the expense of
.
While, in these hard economic times the entrepreneurs are strategizing on how to maximize their profits during this festive season many others will spend fortunes in tours and consumption as they have fun even as they relax and enjoy burying the worries of the year. But, going by statistics of yesteryears crime rate rise, road accidents increase and police cells are filled to the brim during this festive season.
The coast is flooding with tourists and the SGR is fully booked making bus companies and airlines reap heavily. Here in Chuka there is little activity in government offices but the open market is filled with new fashion clothes. Queues have already started forming inside supermarkets. Drinking and ‘nyama choma’ joints have not picked but going by past experience more alcohol and roast meat is consumed during this festive season than any other period in the year.
But then what is Christmas? Few understand that there is a great difference between Christmas and X-Mass. Christmas is a combination of two words: Christ and Mass. Before Christ was born 25th December used to be Pagans day for Sacrifices. Later in 533 AD Constantine the head of the Roman Church changed it to Jesus Christ’s birth commemoration and called it the Mass for Christ ie Christmas.
Christ is the Greek translation of Hebrew word Messiah meaning the anointed one or the chosen one. Mass in Greek means a big gathering of people thus Christmas means the Gathering of Christ. As for X-Mass being the very opposite of the intended meaning, that is a story for another day but let’s wish our loved ones Merry Christmas and not X-Mas.
It is very ironical that the festivities cerebrated to commemorate the birth of Christ are accompanied by many evils. Alcohol consumption increases and among a number of Kenyan communities, circumcision ceremonies including the outlawed Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) which is secretly undertaken mainly happen during December holidays. Pre-marital sex tends to rise as is often reflected in early pregnancies in January
I guess there should be more prayers and carol singing as Christians cerebrate to mark the birth of their Messiah Jesus Christ. Talk of preaching water and taking wine! If intoxication leads to evil deeds then this is just the ideal time to shun all forms of alcohol and dedicate the time to prayers and worship songs. However, the devil is very alert to distract Christians from the mission of the messiah and this could be behind the increased accidents as his worshippers shed human blood to appease his appetite.
In the recent past girls from Tharaka-North and Tharaka South sub counties where FGM was rampant opt to undergo an alternative rite of passage conducted by Tharaka Women Welfare Program which is very commendable. Many girls from Tharaka constituency have been secretly undergoing the female ‘cut’ every August and December holidays despite concerted efforts by the government and nongovernmental organizations to discourage the retrogressive cultural practice. Tough measures in line with president Kenyatta’s undertaking to eradicate the vice by 2022 have had an important impact this year though.
Boys’ circumcision though legal is associated with a lot of alcoholic brew consumption and in the recent past some men have been knocked by vehicles and motorcycles to death as they stagger to their homes in the wee hours of the morning from these ceremonies. Generally a lot of traveling and alcohol consumption happens during this period and besides praying that Christians will spend more time in church than in drinking joints we too hope that our friends in blue uniform along the roads will desist from taking bribes and curb road accidents this festive season.
By David Mutwiri
