We might need to ambush Jiji Kubwa

If like me you are a consumer of daily news, then you know it seems like war has dominated the airwaves. And even if current affairs aren’t your cup of tea, you must have noticed the dire state of world peace somewhere in your rounds of social media. From Ukraine to Sudan, Ethiopia to Libya and now Israel, people just seem not to get along.

Of all species on Earth, no other has the tendency to despise its own like man does. From competition over land, religious and tribal conflicts, to nationalism and at times pure bragging rights, man has sought all manner of justifications to eliminate his neighbour. And since a caveman discovered he could use a rock to cause serious harm to the fella from the other cave, man has dedicated serious manpower and resources to devise every conceivable way of annihilating each other en masse.

In 2021, the United States' military budget was $767.8 billion. That’s more than Sh444 trillion at today’s exchange rate. In comparison, Kenya’s total budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 is set at Sh3.7 trillion. In other words, if the US decided not to fund its military as much as it does, it could cater for the needs of 100 countries like Kenya for one full year. That’s 365 days of the entire country’s bills, without touching a cent of our taxes.

Surprisingly, of more than 630,000 homeless people in America, 67,495 (roughly 10 per cent) are war veterans. Yeah, very little of those trillions set aside for war goes into assisting those who fight in it, most of whom leave the front line with serious physical and mental trauma.

But enough with the sad news. This isn’t meant to be a sob piece, but you must agree that it is hard to find something to laugh about in these troubling times. I know someone out there might be asking, “We are at peace. The wars are out there. How are they affecting us?”

With the onset of 24hr-hour news cycles and faster-than-a-bullet social media, the world has become a global village. Even the hardest of hearts will cringe at the hand-held video footage of an Israeli hostage being dragged from the boot of a car or an old man being paraded in public like a war prize. Then one is transported back in time to see Palestinian boys using rocks to fight off tanks in a struggle for their right to be alive.

I am not one to give credence to conspiracy theories, but although I do believe man did step foot on the moon, it’s hard to overlook some global situations that can be solved with a little show of will. Global hunger. Really? 1.3 billion metric tonnes of food go to waste worldwide every year, 30 million tonnes of that from the US alone.

The same goes for wars. Local and international conflicts are manufactured shenanigans benefiting a minority. Our grain and oil prices will rocket up, but the US and her allies would rather fund the Ukraine war because the conflict helps deplete Russia’s war resources. With a weakened former Soviet power, Nato nations can turn their attention on China in an endless cycle of “Mine is bigger than yours”.

So, what am I saying? Not much, really. I don’t have the power to bring peace to the world, but if I can make just one person desire to love his neighbour, maybe I can sleep a little peacefully. If not, I’ll be forced to join popular opinion and lead an attack on our northern neighbour Jiji Kubwa. If they cut our electricity supply one more time…