In our edition of 25 November 2005 we carried a poem by Kioi Wa Mbugua in response to an article by Tajudeen Abdul Raheem. You can read the poem by visiting http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=25797. Below Tajudeen Abdul Raheem responds with his own poem.

Nkrumah and Nyerere did not fail
One was born too early and the other grew up too late
I cannot forget why and how Lumuba died because his ghost still haunts us
How can I forget Okot's song of Lawino for as long as the lament of Africa continues to echo in our ears?
WEB Du Bois would not mind lying unsung and unmourned if we can produce the Du Bois of our times to continue the struggle
The African Socialist Intellectual is not dead many of them just became consultants on the misery of Africa while others are either in MONGOs (my own ngo) or have become NGIs (Non Governmental Individuals)
Ngugi stoped being James but the many Jamesses of Africa will not let him be So the bigger Jameses claimed him .
Soyinka and Achebe: heroes without clout in their motherland: One a multiple exile by force and the other by circumstances but both of them victim of the Judases in power.
Because without those Dreams, the nightmares will reign. Have we not had enough nightmares?
Those dreams should inspire us to:
Stop agonising and start organising
The Sun will rise, Afrika shall be free
Therefore I cannot ask Kioi to join the dream because he is already part of it.
Where we need to link up is in organising
As Nkrumah used to say: Organisation decides every thing.