The best I can do for my country

A statesman named John F. Kennedy made a statement that continue to resonate long after his death: ask not what your country can do for you, he said, rather ask what you can do for your country. It's on days like this while we celebrate 54 years of independence that I realise the sheer power and timeless relevance of Mr Kennedy's words. Ideally every individual has a role to play in bettering his/her part of the world.

Ugandan musicians Chameleon and Lillian identified with victims of Bududa landslides

When Stephen Kiprotich won us gold at the Olympics, as he stood on the dais to receive his medal and our national flag was hoisted and our national anthem sang, I thought to myself: there's a man who's doing a lot more for his country than all our members of parliament combined!

This country so awesomely gifted that Winston Churchill christened us the Pearl of Africa needs its citizens to rise up with determination and let her not so sink as to become the peril of the continent. There's nothing that staggers more than the knowledge that a population comprising more than 80 percent Christians are so steeped in corruption and mediocrity almost beyond redemption. 

It then goes without saying that the least we can do for our country is to engage the paradigm shift gear and be the change we want. So many people are good yet evil. I mean, a man goes to a hotel and after his meal tips the waitress with an amount almost the total cost of his meal. To the waitress, such a man is an angel yet the man could be a dealer in a ministry who swindles public money without a modicum of shame. 

It's therefore not enough to do good. What matters is the purity of our intentions. Oswald Chambers said, "The only thing that exceeds right-doing is right-being." The best thing you and I can do for our country is to be right not only in our actions but also in our motives and thoughts. Happy Independence celebrations.