Patrick 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. Lumumba is a staunch Pan-Africanist and has delivered several powerful speeches alluding to or about African solutions to African problems.
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. His main focus has been the moral rot among African leaders who are always focused on personal enrichment through graft and other misdeeds.
Lumumba 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. He served as the Director of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission from September 2010 to August 2011.
Some of the best quotes from PLO Lumumba are listed below.
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “A society that does not pay homage and respect to its youth is a society at adrift – a giant headed to the rocks, so said J. F Kennedy and so say I.” – PLO Lumumba
- “As for accusations even the divine Jesus of Nazareth was accused of many things; even Martin Luther King Junior was accused of many things; even Mahatma Gandhi was accused of many things. But it is our duty to prove our detractors wrong by our actions.” – PLO Lumumba
- “At all times, it should be remembered that our nations are fragile and like an egg, must be dealt with carefully.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “But how can change be realized when our politicians suffer from amnesia and change political parties like they do their shirts. Kenya ‘s problem is tribal chieftaincy and opportunism.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Culture is the celebration of diversity. Let us therefore not deny our origin; but instead celebrate ours as a cultural mosaic not a tower of Babel, but a power of Babel ala Ali Mazrui.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Emotions without the benefit of intellect will only generate heat without producing light.” – PLO Lumumba
- “God has given us lemon, let us not ask for oranges. Let us make lemonade.” – PLO Lumumba
- “‘Harambee’ may have had its positive aspects but today it has become the avenue via which looters of public funds sanitize their ill-gotten wealth.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “I am happy to join members of the Kenyan police who profess the Christian faith. Many Kenyans believe that being a police officer and a Christian are incompatible, very much like water and oil. But have we all not sinned and fallen short of the glory of both man and God and our perpetual cry should be mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.” – PLO Lumumba
- “I am pained that those who as government ministers stood in the way of a new constitution in 2002 now pretend to be its protagonists.” – PLO Lumumba
- “I believe that we have reached a stage in life in the economic development of Africa where moving forward is perilous, moving backwards is cowardice and standing still is suicidal but we must persevere because winners do not quit and quitter never win.” – PLO Lumumba
- “I believe we have something to learn from the Bible. Let us store in times of plenty to cater for lean times. Contributions like we have done today is mere tranquilizing, firefighting which attacks symptoms while leaving causes untouched and unshaken.” – PLO Lumumba
- “I can dine with Kings and eat with commoners alike.” – PLO Lumumba
- “I knew that my mind could think something better than being subjected to believe that violence gives birth to solutions.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “I may not agree with Joseph Momoh of Sierra Leone on many things, but I do on one thing, that a journalist with a pen in hand is like a soldier with a Kalashnikov in hand, he can use it to defend or to destroy.” – PLO Lumumba
- “I refuse to accept that another commission should be created to deliver a new constitution. What you need is a lean, mean team to complete the process. We must not climb trees to look for fish.” – PLO Lumumba
- “I refuse to believe that this country must run on the wheels of negative ethnicity where ones ethnic extraction is the touchstone of ability; that is a veritable tower of Babel. But worry the least – I have a perfect recipe for national cohesion. 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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “If our young man and woman 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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “In matters such as these we cannot but say that it is the dog that wags the tail and not vice versa” – PLO Lumumba
- “In our quest for a new constitution we have swam oceans how can we now drown in ponds.” – PLO Lumumba
- “In the utilization of public resources allocated to us we must emulate the Stoics and Spartans of old.” – PLO Lumumba
- “It is when the boat approaches the shore that it capsizes; we must therefore tread with preternatural circumspection” – PLO Lumumba
- “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 banana’s dies.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Like gold passes through the furnace to gain its lustre, so must you pass through the furnace of schooling to realize your potential.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Man may be a political animal but there comes a time in a person’s life when true service must be the ultimate goal.” – PLO Lumumba In the history of our country this is the time.
- “Never lose sight of an antelope for a dashing squirrel.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Our country must morally re-arm. We cannot run a country where virtue is vice and vice is virtue. We cannot live in a country where the looters of yester-years assume they have undergone a Pauline conversion because they are in opposition and oppose the Government of the day. Some of our richest men and women are to be found in politics and their creed is, thou shall reap what thou hath not sown.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Our Country must not have leaders whose greatest claim to fame is ill gotten wealth and bellicose speeches at funerals.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Our policemen and women must be like Boy Scouts and Girl Guides. They must act with the firmness that opens eyes and not with the arrogance that inflames anger.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Our political leaders are fond of saying Kenya is an island of peace in a sea of turmoil. I am not convinced. We are in a state the Portuguese call ‘nom’.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Our political leaders have no sense of occasion. They say at funerals what they ought to say at weddings and at weddings what they ought to say at funerals. Confusion galore is their stock in trade.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Our Universities must have umbilical cords with industry and society otherwise they will remain ivory towers where knowledge is pumped into the minds of our young men and women.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Sometimes our leaders behave like hunters and gatherers. The only difference is that they gather money, land, houses and cars. This spiritual poverty must be cured through moral re-armament.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Sometimes, and those times are many, wisdom demands that we remain silent. This is such a time.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Success is the verdict of history. You cannot claim success before History passes its objective verdict.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Take care, those who shout in support of a new constitution may not mean it. They say with their mouths what they do not believe in their hearts.” – PLO Lumumba
- “That which ripens quickly rots quickly.” – PLO Lumumba
- “The African prison is a death chamber. Let us remember that people are taken to prison as a punishment not for punishment.” – PLO Lumumba
- “The Constitution making process was like a relay race. We ran our leg and in a manner of speaking were like Moses, we parted the Red Sea of political intrigues and internal sabotage, stood on the Mountains and beheld the Promised Land, but now we must hand over to Joshua who must take us to Canaan to confront the walls of Jericho.” – PLO Lumumba
- “The God I worship is not weak. He will not be shaken by the establishment of the Kadhi’s Courts. He fights for me, I do not fight for Him. At least that is what I learn from the experience of the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan.” – PLO Lumumba
- “The journalist is the immediate successor of the town crier; he must not shout fire, in a crowded room when indeed there is no fire.” – PLO Lumumba
- “The Kenyan political party has no ideological foundation. It is a vehicle that opportunistic politicians use to travel to Parliament, nay, it is a mask that he wears to avoid recognition by the electorate.” – PLO Lumumba
- “The press as a player in the field of democracy has a responsibility to convey truthful information about candidates and their policies to enable citizens make informed choices.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “The road ahead is still tricky and will require a lot of patience, tolerance and level headedness. The people must be able to rise above divisions and do what is best for the country and not pander to partisan interests of certain individuals or sections of the society.” – PLO Lumumba The country is bigger than individuals and must always be given its pride of place.
- “The so-called parallel degree may be based on noble ideals but it has also given birth to some students whose interest is the degree certificate without more.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “The tragedy of Africa is that Africans are in the business of canonizing thieves and demonizing its saints.” – PLO Lumumba
- “The tragedy of this country is that one is judged by his ethnic extraction rather than the content of his mind.” – PLO Lumumba
- “The tree of change was watered by blood and sweat of men and women whose relentless crusade for constitutional change gave rise to formation of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission.” – PLO Lumumba
- “The tree of democracy must inevitably be watered with blood. In this case, I am prepared to be the sacrificial lamb.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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!” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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 -we must change this by rolling up our sleeves and working for the growth of our country.” – PLO Lumumba
- “We can adore women as our mothers, cherish them as our daughters, love them as our wives and yet despise them as human beings. I cannot understand this paradox.” – PLO Lumumba
- “We cannot run a country where virtue is vice and vice is a virtue.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “We must not use Christianity as a fig leaf to hide our moral nakedness. Let our words be wedded to our deeds.” – PLO Lumumba
- “We must pay attention to detail, paying regard to the tree to produce the forest. Tell me, can the forest exist inspite of trees?” – PLO Lumumba
- “We must remember that Constitution making is not instant coffee, it is a marathon race. Let us therefore not lose sight of the antelope for the squirrel.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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 a war 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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “When there is a conflict between a decision of a Court of Law and a decision in the Court of Public opinion, I will be guided by the latter. Jail, hospital or cemetery, I am ready for it, I would rather defy a dishonest Court Order than go against the Court of Public Opinion and public good.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “Where there is no truth, there is no peace.” – PLO Lumumba
- “While it is good to be both nice and right, in this case I prefer to be right rather than nice.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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.” – PLO Lumumba
- “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?” – PLO Lumumba
- “Youth for KANU 92’s greatest contribution to Kenyan politics was the creation of a new national creed – thou shall reap what thou hath not sown.” – PLO Lumumba
