40 PLO Lumumba Quotes That Made Headlines

A file image of Patrick Lumumba during a previous speech delivery
A file image of Patrick Lumumba during a previous speech delivery
FILE

Patrice Loch Otieno Lumumba, better known as PLO Lumumba, is one of Kenya's foremost and revered orators. He is also one of the most decorated lawyers and arguably the best orator on the African continent.

His speeches have been recognized globally especially owing to his mastery of the Queen's language and focus on deep-rooted African problems ranging from neocolonialism to poor leadership marred with graft and anarchy.

The staunch Christian, who subscribes to the Catholic faith, has always stood out as a man who defends the truth and has always expressed his disdain for poor leadership in Kenya, and especially among the political class. 

While at the University of Nairobi, PLO Lumumba focused solely on his studies which earned him a First-Class Honors degree in Law. He later joined the Kenya School of Law and graduated with a Diploma in Law before returning to UoN for a Master's degree.

A file image of Patrick Lumumba delivering a speech when he served as Director of Kenya Anti Corruption Commission
A file image of Patrick Lumumba delivering a speech when he served as Director of Kenya Anti Corruption Commission
FILE

Lumumba says that his entire schooling period has never seen him taste alcohol or wear jeans, a thing he is yet to do. 

Despite him not having a rich history in public service, Lumumba was appointed by President Mwai Kibaki in 2010 to serve as the Director of then Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission. His integrity could not allow him stay in the position for long as Parliament passed a vote of no confidence against him for what was largely interpreted as crossing the red line in pursuing the corrupt.

His outers saw him back in trade for his oratory skills in speeches that have not only been logical, but have allowed his audience have an exclusive opportunity to enjoy unmatched eloquence. 

Lumumba's speeches have been so powerful to the extent that change activists have extracted quotes from them and they continue to be relevant to Africa's problem. The quotes, which have largely focused on governance, highlight the rot in the leadership of many African nations. Kenyans.co.ke has compiled some of the most memorable ones that have created ripples across the globe.

1. We live in a country where our young ladies who have recently attained the age of puberty cannot afford sanitary pads, but our men and women in public offices have iPads which they do not even know how to use.

2. We cannot live in a country where the looters of yesteryears assume they have undergone a Pauline-conversion because they are in opposition and oppose the Government of the day.

3. Parliamentarians must always remember that they are the people’s representatives. They must put themselves at the service of their Nation and not their Nation at their service as they often do.

4. A man may be a political animal, but there comes a time in a person’s life when true service must be the ultimate goal. In the history of our country, this is the time.

5. This country is so hypocritical that when Barack Obama is elected, they say he is Kenyan, but I said then that if Barack Obama were to come to this country, he would not even be elected a Councilor. 

6. Sometimes our leaders behave like hunters and gatherers. The only difference is that they gather money, land, houses, and cars.

7. They will not talk about agriculture, about education, about unemployment… the most critical thing is that it is going to be an ethnic census to determine which formation brings together the largest number of tribes.

8. You know one of the things that I find painful is for anybody to tell me to vote an individual because he is from my ethnic group. It is the greatest insult. Why did I go to school?

9. The tragedy of this country is that one is judged by his ethnic extraction rather than the content of his mind.

10. I am always surprised when I hear our so-called political leaders saying they want their tribesmen to enjoy the national cake, yet, I never hear then talking of baking the national cake. Even divine manna was exhausted.

11. Our Country must not have leaders whose greatest claim to fame is ill-gotten wealth and bellicose speeches at funerals. 

12. Behind most of our so-called successful civil servants who have joined politics and business, there is collapsed or collapsing public institution they once served.

13. We cannot run a country where virtue is vice and vice is a virtue. 

14. At all times, it should be remembered that our nations are fragile and like an egg, must be dealt with carefully.

Lumumba, who is regarded as a Pan-Africanist by most African nationalists and foreign dignitaries, has also delivered world-class talks on issues affecting the continent. His main focus has been the moral rot among African leaders who are always focused on personal enrichment through graft and other misdeeds.

The Professor of Law has also shed light on how Africa continues to grapple with the pangs of neocolonialism, where colonizers have followed African countries to their independence to destabilize them for personal gains.

An example is the Democratic Republic of Congo where Lumumba has always decried instability in the country as freedom fighters such as Patrice Lumumba were trailed and eliminated by foreign forces after independence, which became his greatest quote on issues affecting Africans.  

A file image of warriors in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where conflict has lasted for several years.
A file image of warriors in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where conflict has lasted for several years.
FILE

"When I look at Africa, many questions come to mind. Many times I have asked myself what would happen if Dr Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba were to rise up and see what is happening. Many times I have asked myself what would happen if Nelson Madiba Mandela were to rise up and see what is happening because what they will be confronted with is an Africa where the Democratic Republic of Congo is unsettled, there is an unrest going on there, but it's not on the front pages of our newspapers because we don't even control our newspapers and the media," he said. 

Other African quotes include; 

15. The tragedy of Africa is that Africans are in the business of canonizing thieves and demonizing its saints.

16. We always wait for the white man to put a dot on the foreheads of the likes of Lupita Nyong’o and Wangari Maathai for us to celebrate them. 

17. We are the third world not because the sun rises on the West and sets in the East, but because we have engaged the reverse gear and we are moving with jet like speed in the wrong direction.

18. I believe that we have reached a stage in life in the economic development of Africa where moving forward is perilous, moving backward is cowardice and standing still is suicidal but we must persevere because winners do not quit and quitter never win.

19. The Third World is a state of the mind and until we change our attitude as Africans, if there is a fourth, fifth and even sixth world, we will be in it.

20. The reason why Africa remains in Third World and a scar on the consciousness of the earth is because of consistently electing the wrong people.

21. Today, I move three hours to Togo, I have a Togolese passport printed in France, written in French asking you about immigration and Yellow Fever certificate. I fly one hour from Nairobi and now I have to grapple with Tanzanian shilling. I go to Burundi I grapple with the Burundian Franc. 50 currencies which are almost useless!

Despite PLO Lumumba's language that has always been seen as negative, he has not forgotten to give hope to the disillusioned through his inspiring quotes. Here are some of his inspirational quotes: 

22. The tiger does not shout about its tigritude, you see the skeleton of an antelope, and you know that some tigritude has emanated. Follow my footsteps and let history be my judge.

23. Women must protect their gains as prescribed in the Bomas Draft but within the context of a comprehensively sound Constitution. They must not seek a golden window in a house with a foundation of sand. 

24. Christians must be the salt of the earth, but before they combine their brigade with organs of the state to quell the billowing fires of socio-economic and political degradation that bedevil our country – they must agree on what will best quell the fire – the water of truth or the oil of political intrigue. 

25. Let us combine the energy of the Luhya with the entrepreneurship of the Kikuyu, with a little dose of the Wakamba and Miji Kenda humility, the Maasai’s zeal and zest and the Luo’s quest for perfection and the beautiful qualities of all Kenyan nations and what looks like the tower of Babel will become the power of Babel. 

26. Today to say, ‘disability is not inability’ is a politically correct cliché. But let me tell you; our level of development will be measured by how we treat our men and women with disability.

27. If Kenya is to be great in fact and not in prospect, then you young men and women must make a resolve today, that you are the young suckers that will take over when the old bananas die.

28. I will not embrace cheap heroism by pretending to be a fire eating pseudo-revolutionary. I prefer to be called names, but I will remain a servant of my conscience and a warrior for truth and justice. 

29. If our country is to realize its full potential, then the girl child must soar in education like the Eagle. It is not for nothing that we Africans say mother is supreme.

30. There is no comparison between that which is lost by trying and that which is lost by not trying. We must therefore not burden God with minutiae. Praying without action is mere superstition. Faith must be accompanied by action.

31. Never lose sight of an antelope for a dashing squirrel.

32. Verily, verily, I tell you; any society that does not pay regard to the girl and her education is built on a foundation of sand.

33. If our young men and women desire to compete with their counterparts from other countries, they must exorcise the ghost of self-doubt and suckle from the breasts of knowledge. Knowledge is the potent antidote against underdevelopment.

34. The youth are the true barometers of the political and economic climate of any country. Therefore, take your pride of place; you are not leaders of tomorrow, start serving today. 

35. Success is failure turned inside out. If you want to graduate from a “Johnny nobody” to a big “Kahuna”, you must obey the divine order to subdue the earth and have dominion over it; otherwise, the earth will subdue you and have dominion over you.

Lastly, Lumumba has always made statements of personal commitments on various causes, which have turned out to become inspirational quotes that leaders borrow from. Here are some of them: 

36. I knew that my mind could think something better than being subjected to believe that violence gives birth to solutions.

37. When you serve your country, you sacrifice personal comfort. Like the man for whom I am named, I prefer to die with my head high above with indestructible faith and profound belief in the destiny of my country, than to live in humility and renounce the principles which I consider sacred.

38. I know we are looking forward to the General Election and metaphorically speaking, from the Egypt of KANU misrule to the Canaan of a new dispensation; but I have my doubts fellow countrymen and women that those who represent change today are graduates of the KANU school of politics whose curriculum has no course on change.

39. Peace has had a flirtatious relationship with this University. I want to be the High Priest who will preside over the marriage between peace and this University.

40. The tree of democracy must inevitably be watered with blood. In this case, I am prepared to be the sacrificial lamb.

A file image of Kenyan lawyer and orator Patrick Lumumba during a past court session
A file image of Kenyan lawyer and orator Patrick Lumumba during a past court session
FILE
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