By Odero Solo
The late Christopher Owiro alias Karl Marx was an over-rated student.
I think the sole reason why people attached and still attach so much relevance to him,in as far as student activism is concerned,is the fact that they didn’t and still don’t understand him. Most comrades who shower the departed soul with praises probably do not understand him.
They rely on history as eulogised of every departed soul. The dead are always holy or made to appear so. They are always angels,they never made mistakes in their lives.
I think Karl Marx was an alcoholic who couldn’t think beyond cheap liquor. He acted under the influence of alcohol all the time. His course was noble but his expression was fibble. He lost touch with his soul but kept the spirit of comradeship burning.
He was then(during his days in campus) seen as a heckler,a hooligan,a drunkard who couldn’t find his purpose on earth. This explains why even his close friends couldn’t help him at his time of need.
He could not make a meaningful life out of himself. He had a very big problem but couldn’t accept it thus helping him out of the problem was a pipe dream.
We all know that the first step towards solving a problem is accepting that the problem do exist;that’s the bold step that this fallen ‘hero’ couldn’t dare take.
If Karl Marx existed today,who would take him any serious?! How many comrades have we seen wasting away in campus in the name of student activism?! How many of them are taken serious?!
This is just the other side of the same coin. Just that this other side has more paint and weight than the first side that you’re used to reading everywhere.
RIP Karl Marx.
WHAT OTHER COMRADES SAID OF HIS DEATH A YEAR AGO
KINGWA KAMENCU-Poet, Writer, Politician, Former student, UoN:Â My heart is pierced this evening. Comrade Otieno Kenyatta has just informed me of the passing on of Christopher Owiro aka Karl Marx. Apparently he was found dead this morning in his village market place. Details on burial arrangements and the like have not been given but will and if anyone else has more info, please share.
For some reason, even before receiving the news, i had been thinking about how our politics dehumanizes us- both the leaders and the led- and was tracing various patterns of this that i have witnessed. Marx is one of these; politics reduced him from a genius to an alcoholic wreck (with all due respect).
The question thus playing on my mind is can we with all honesty expect politics, which has been the bearer of death, corruption, division, plunder and destruction in this country, to also be its salvation? Can we? Well, i don’t have the answer to that right now, but i pray for the strength to get out when i feel that it has started to rob me off my own soul. I am not in this life to be anyone’s martyr. We all style up and pull our weight together as a country, or we perish. It’s not one person that’s going to change things.
Rest in Peace (if it is possible) Chris Owiro. You will not be forgotten
Lydia Lee Nyawira- STUDENT, UoN:Â I wonder where all those praising Karl Marx (RIP) were when he was on a path leading to self destruction with alcohol and disillusionment at the helm.
the current crop of student leader and fellow comrades need to learn a lesson. Karl Marx was hated and loved in equal measures …
he was seen as a hero and as a hooligan in equal measures depending on who was judging him…
a bright student and a visionary leader “who was used and dumped by politicians “I quote …
where were those politicians who used him? Where were those comrades that he fought for? Why couldn’t thy help him as he tried to reconstruct his life??
we will remember you bt we should learn!! as much as we should fight for comrades right, at the end of the day it’s comrades power for us all and our papers for oneself! Never lose focus for your purpose of being in campus.
Rip in peace Karl…
Ndege Serikal-Comrade, UoN:Â MY TRIBUTE TO KARL MARX-Christopher Owiro (R.I.P):Â The UON will never have another mercurial and charismatic student leader in the magnitude of Karl marx..When he spoke the administration trembled, the govt freckled and the students followed..he redefined COMRADES POWER and defended the comrade beyond the realms of anyone’s imagination…KARL MARX was always on he frontline fighting injustices and leading by example…HE WAS A LEARNED MAN AMONG LEADERS AND A LEADER AMONG LEARNED MEN…a man who shook even the torturous Kanu regime and president moi fondly called him the “CAMPUS COLOSSUS”…a man of the people,a man with a big heart…we’ve lost not only a comrade,but also a great soul….NO WORDS ARE ENOUGH TO DESCRIBE YOUR ACADEMIC GENIUS AND POLITICAL PROWESS..I CAN ONLY PRAY THAT GOD PLACES HIS SOUL IN HEAVENLY GREATNESS for he paid the price for earthly greatness…i still remember a quote from him in kamukunji ‘THE PRICE OF GREATNESS IS THE GREATNESS OF THE PRICE”….ALUTA CONTINUA..R.I.P
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