Law Society of Kenya President Nelson Havi was on Tuesday, July 13, arrested over allegations of assault raised by his colleague Mercy Wambua.
Photos of the self-declared revolutionary having his fingerprints taken as he was processed at DCI Headquarters, awakened his online nickname - Chai Guevara which a section of Kenyans could barely trace its origins.
Havi is a great admirer of Argentine-born revolutionary Ernesto Che Guevara who played a key role in the Cuban revolution of 1959. This explains his love for military regalia which was won by Guevara and former Cuban President Fidel Castro.
The LSK president earned the nickname, Chai Guevara, after he led a march to Parliament on Monday, October, 12 to register their support for Former Chief Justice David Maraga's order to have Parliament dissolved.
However, his revolution was short-lived as photos would later emerge of Havi and his team enjoying a cup of tea, samosas and sausages, leading the LSK chair to be the butt of the jokes on social media.
COTU secretary general Francis Atwoli and Lurambi MP Titus Khamala joined Kenyans in trolling the LSK president for his failed revolution and poor tactics.
"I was not surprised that the much-touted ‘parliament occupation’ by the LSK Activist-in-Chief Havi was all about taking several cups of tea and being mesmerized by the looks of parliament. Havi should have called the speaker and explained he just wanted to have a tour," Atwoli stated.
MP Khamala teased Havi for what he termed in his native Luhya language as swallowing Mandazis without chewing and abandoning duties that had bought him to Parliament.
In response, however, Havi downplayed the matter and indicated that the Law Society of Kenya was only interested in civil and nonviolent democratic change.
"I don’t know why plebs are making heavy weather out of this picture of us having tea in parliament. In war, the kitchen is the first place occupying forces take over after a conquest," Havi wrote on Twitter.
Havi's admiration for the Cuban guerrilla leader goes beyond his ideologies but also how Che used to dress. It is not uncommon to spot the LSK head donning suits similar to what the late revolutionaries used to wear. Che was very well known for wearing an olive green army jacket from the times when he was the commander of the Cuban guerrilla led by Fidel Castro.
The only difference between Havi and Che was the black beret that the Marxist revolutionary wore and his unkempt beard which was a signature look. Scholars argue that Che Guevara’s image and style came to symbolize counterculture and rebellion.
The Argentine's portrait has become a popular wear symbol around the world and in Kenya - even though many of those who dorn Che wear rarely understand his story.
Born to a wealthy family in Argentina, Guevara trained as a medical doctor before quitting the profession to become a guerilla fighter.
He, alongside the Castro brothers, led one of the most popular revolutions in the world which started with only about 28 soldiers fighting one of the most powerful dictators in the Carribean.
After the Cuban success, Che declared he would extend the revolution’s influence to other nations and felt that his destiny was to lead a guerrilla movement in Africa.
He travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo with other Cuban guerrilla fighters in an attempt to help the Patrice Lumumba Battalion, which was fighting a civil war at the time. Che died in 1967 while fighting what many describe as the good fight in Bolivia.
Havi is not the only African and Kenyan who admired the South Americans for their resilience to liberate their continent.
ODM leader Raila Odinga is an admirer of Fidel Castro and even named his son after Cuban revolutionary and politician Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz.
After learning of Fidel Castro's death, Odinga eulogized the former Cuban President as one of the most outstanding personalities of the 20th century.
“In many ways, Castro was a great friend and true friend of Africa and other parts of the world that had to fight long and bitter wars to attain freedom from colonialism,” Odinga stated.
“Castro stood very firmly on the side of Africans who were fighting for the continent’s liberation from colonialism especially in Congo (now DRC), Angola, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa. In the case of Apartheid South Africa, Castro was one of the very few voices to speak against that system that was founded on a false sense of racial superiority with dire economic consequences for black people,” he added.
