May the truth set everyone free this Easter weekend
Outgoing Kenya Rugby Union chairman Odour Gangla votes during the AGM on March 29, 2023 at RFUEA ground.
What you need to know:
- The Kenya Rugby Union held their elections last year, then the process was nullified due to “malpractices”
- Behold the death of truth, and the rise of truthiness.
- Fifa has disbursed money to fund various projects, but clubs in lower tier leagues are being forced to pay referees from their own pockets. Truthiness.
On this day many centuries ago, a prisoner under arrest for treason faced his judge. The judge asked him about his beliefs and his political aspirations. “Are you asking me this because you want to know, or because of what the Jewish people are saying?” the prisoner replied.
“I was born and came into the world to bear witness to the truth.” The judge was deeply scornful. “What is truth?” he asked, then turned on his heels and walked away.
As any alert reader already knows, the above exchange took place between the prisoner Jesus and the governor of Judea, Pontius Pilate, according to the Gospel of John. Today is Good Friday, the day that Christians around the world are reminded of the literary masterpiece that is the Passion of Christ. But notice how issues of truth, “alternative truth”, and political power weave a deadly dance as Jesus’ fate hangs in the balance.
Like Pilate, today would be a good day to ask, what is truth? In the Kenyan sports realm and indeed in every aspect of our lives, how much truth is left? Some will disagree, but I suppose there is very little of it left. Our current reality is governed by what American comedian Stephen Colbert would refer to as “truthiness”.
The Kenya Rugby Union held their elections last year, then the process was nullified due to “malpractices” – Truthiness. Sports Journalists Association of Kenya are feuding over electoral laws, which have delayed their elections by a year.
Meanwhile, those who head the current secretariat continue reaping full benefits, yet their mandate ended a year and a half ago. Truthiness.
Fifa has disbursed money to fund various projects, but clubs in lower tier leagues are being forced to pay referees from their own pockets. Truthiness.
More and more Kenyan athletes are being caught doping, and one of the most salient explanations is that they are innocent, and only victims of rogue agents who sneak performance enhancing drugs into their bodies. Truthiness.
The cost of unga remains unchanged, but “maandamano” has stopped because the two parties are ready to engage in talks “for the greater good of the country”. Truthiness.
Behold the death of truth, and the rise of truthiness.
If we read the scene straight, Jesus was just a pawn in the power game between Pilate and the chief priests. Pilate even reminds the people that Rome is in power and they are not. The high priests incite the crowd and threaten to stage a riot right in front of Pilate’s door. But in all this, nobody is thinking of the innocent prisoner.
How many federation heads can state without contradiction that every one of their decisions is done for the good of sport?
Are those who occupy responsible positions, whether in politics, in education, or judiciary ready to stand up for truth? Are ordinary people like you and I ready to discredit “alternative facts”, no matter from who they hear it from? To excuse leaders who cut selfish deals that exclude the majority?
In 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary added the word “post-truth,” and attached this example for its usage: “In this era of post-truth politics, it is easy to cherry-pick data and come to whatever conclusion you desire.” So, like Pilate, today I ask, what is truth?
