Lucy Kibaki was announced dead on Tuesday morning after undertaking specialized treatment at the Bupa Cromwell Hospital in London. Headlines throughout several news platforms worldwide since the event, have captured the shocking incident. Being human, most of us tend to recall the best and worst moments of a person’s life in their death, and Lucy had her fair share of contributions and scandals, one positive impact being that she organized the First International Aids Run in 2003. Despite that, there’s a lot to gauge from Lucy’s public life, and here are few that may apply and relate to everyone.
Deal with your anger/ be slow to anger – one of the reasons as to why Lucy made headlines was due her incredible temper. She had at one point burst into the offices of the influential Nation Media Group with her bodyguards and demanded that the reporter who had written about her confrontation with Mr Diop be arrested. She slapped a cameraman, Clifford Derrick, who was filming her and refused to leave the offices until 05:30 the next day. Again, in 2007, Mrs Kibaki was filmed by Nation TV slapping an official during an Independence Day celebration at State House. While feeling entitled to respect, she should’ve considered other methods to deal with those she disagreed with, instead of resorting to violence and assault. In this way, she could have avoided both scandals with Mr. Diop and Nation Media.
The world doesn’t revolve around you – Despite how important you may be, it’s imperative that you respect others around you. As the bible says, ‘treat others the way you would like to be treated’. You can’t expect respect where you do not show respect in return. As provided above, resolve any issues as calmly and peacefully as possible, this way you can discuss carefully and understand the other party’s point of view or perspective. In 2005, she stormed into the house of her neighbor, the World Bank’s then-country director Makhtar Diop, at midnight and demanded he turn his music down at a private party to mark the end of his posting in Kenya. She also went to the local police station in shorts to demand that Mr Diop and his guests be arrested for disturbing the peace. This then lead to the Nation Media issue.
You can’t prevent university students from having sex – Lucy had also provoked condemnation when she said unmarried young people had “no business” using condoms, calling on students to abstain from sex in order to avoid infection with HIV. While this message was probably coming from a good intentioned heart, it’s hardly that simple, and it clearly wasn’t going to be received well.
This is a bigger, more socially oriented issue, that’s not exactly under any one’s control. Whether you have a child in university or one who is even 13 years and older, you can’t always be certain what they are up to, or if they are already sexually active. What you can do is guide them against this, highlight areas in their lives that they should prioritize (such as education and career) and attempt to instill in them a sense of ambition to the best of your ability. Even while doing so, always emphasize on safe sex habits and consequences of not practicing them, this way you can ensure your child understands the risks, and is protected.
Fight for your pride; Lucy was never afraid to confront those who did her wrong. Self-defense is a skill you should master, especially if you plan to succeed. Women in particular, are underrated and we need to fight harder to be heard in male dominated industries. Then there are the stereotypes each gender supposedly has to live by, when ThisIsEss’s fiancé proposed, everyone thought he was prince charming, but when Laura Akunga bought her husband a new car, she faced wrath from left, right and center. We need to fight and stand our ground, not swayed by the status quo.
Marry a man who will support you no matter what – while everyone had a negative opinion about Lucy, her husband didn’t do much to stand by her. A strong woman needs an equally strong man to support her, despite how wrong she may be.
