Randal Smith

6 August 2010

opinion

When Thomas Jefferson wrote the words for his gravestone in the 1800s, he left out the fact that he was a two-term president of the United States.

Other accomplishments were more important to him: He was author of the declaration of American independence and the statute for religious freedom, and the father of the University of Virginia.

As Kenyans evaluate this week's historic election results, Jefferson's epitaph should be on their minds. In other words, our life's achievements are not about the office's we hold or the wealth that we've accumulated.

Our focus must be on the important principles that support our lives.

In this post-referendum period, it's time to truly examine the needs of the country. Do not give into your wants, particularly those natural partisan feelings.

In the last month, I've spent a lot of time travelling in Asia. This summer, China became the world's second largest economy after the United States. Both countries have some lessons worth pondering at this time in Kenya.

China's rise is the result of a combination of initiatives, but the key is a thirst for knowledge and a new willingness to engage the world on every level.

During the initial rise of China almost 2,300 years ago, emperors built ships that were larger than anything ever constructed. The Chinese were seen in distant harbours around the world.

But subsequent Chinese rulers decided that this exploration was too costly, and they withdrew from the world. As a result, the Chinese, who had invented gunpowder, had to import Europeans to show the Chinese army how to fire canons.

Today, China engages the world in new ways. Everywhere I visited, many people speak fluent English.

During the Clinton presidency, former Vice-President Walter Mondale noted that he went into the hut of a Chinese family in a rural province during a visit. The father had a map of America on the dirt wall with pins on the cities where his children were attending college.

There is much to learn from America, too, and much is in the Constitution that Jefferson authored in 1776. When President John F. Kennedy honoured 49 Nobel laureates in the early 1960s, he said the gathering was the greatest collection of genius ever at the White House -- except for one occasion.

And that, said Kennedy, was when Thomas Jefferson dined alone.

Here's what Jefferson said about the press: "Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

Here's what Jefferson said about religion: "I am for freedom of religion, and against all manoeuvres to bring about a legal ascendency of one sect over another."

Keep this in mind: America was formed after some of the worst, most violent religious persecutions ever seen by man.

As Jefferson was thinking about the needs of America, these images were fresh in his mind. He died on July 4, 1826; fifty years exactly after the Declaration of Independence had been signed in Philadelphia.

As Kenyans ponder the aftermath of their constitutional vote, consider what can be done to move the country forward. Do not let selfishness or tribe dominate. Put Kenya first.