POLITICIANS THE PROBLEM BUT KENYANS ARE ALSO TO BLAME
By : Charles Ombima: Eldoret, Kenya.
Email : charlesombima@gmail.com or charlesombima@yahoo.com
Website : charlesombima.blogspot.com
When we voted overwhelmingly for National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) in 2002, we thought we had finally liberated ourselves from the vices of endemic corruption, insecurity, tribalism and persistent poverty that brought this country to its knees in the past. The expectations were phenomenal, may be unrealistic because the irate inaugural speech during the swearing in at Uhuru Park persuaded Kenyans to believe that they had seen an end to years of misrule and ineptitude.
Pledges were made; and we were promised sweeping reforms as follows:
• A new Constitution within 100 days of ascending to power and accelerate reforms;
• Run a lean, professional and corruption-free government;
• Exercise zero-tolerance to corruption, right from the top;
• Attain annual economic growth rate of at least six per cent per annum;
• Provide free primary education for all children;
• Provide quality, affordable and accessible healthcare;
• Respect, uphold and protect civil liberties and press freedom;
• Maintain unfaltering fidelity to the rule of law, and protect integrity of the Constitution;
• Guarantee and ensure the security of every Kenyan;
• Exercise utmost fiscal discipline by reining in on extravagance;
• Nurture constitutional democracy as the central unifying public philosophy for the people of Kenya by promoting good governance;
• Ensure transitional justice by holding past perpetrators of injustices against the people of Kenya accountable for their actions;
• Construct 150,000 low-cost housing units per annum;
• Create 500,000 jobs per annum;
• Transform Kenya into a competitive environment for investment; and
• Ensure equitable and fair distribution of national resources.
We were also told that, “We had embarked on a journey to a promising future with unbwogable determination.” we monotonously resonated in song and dance, chanting, ‘yote yawezekana bila Moi’.
But no sooner had the celebratory dust began to settle than we started to experience a choking episode from the settling dust. What could have happened? I guess your answer is as good as mine: nobody seems to know and it is now clear the government has no real intention of nailing corruption. It is rather bent upon burying the evidence, perpetuating graft and the culture of impunity, which renders that maiden address a sheer mockery to the people of Kenya.
As we continue to regret bitterly about the mistakes of the 2002 general election, another electioneering time is just around the corner. Politicians are emerging from their hibernation, flocking towns and villages confusing the gullible electorate to secure their re-election. With over ten declared presidential candidates, politics is at boiling point!
Leaders are oscillating from one party to another looking for the highest bidder and in the course of all this; we are witnessing politics of rage between the incumbent government and the opposition. Their campaigns are characterized by disreputable personal attacks rather than issues affecting the majority of Kenyans; they engage in politics of slander, mudslinging and other irrelevant issues that could only help them win the elections. There is concern that the status quo of the Kenyan power politics will prevail, at least, for a while, and unless there is divine intervention, we are surely headed for a tragedy!
The promise of the second liberation has become a contentious nightmare. The Government seems to be efficient in rewarding sycophancy, subverting the opposition and strangling integrity. The Opposition is excelling in only coveting the presidency.
It was once said, that politics is quite a game where there are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests. With corruption suspects straddling both sides of the political divide, it is clear Kenyans are not about to see an end to their predicament. We have been held to ransom by a network of tribal and corrupt leaders who use their wealth to dominate politics.
Most of the current and past leaders, to say the least, are direct beneficiaries of the grand corruption of the past years. They grew up in an era when grabbing everything in sight was the order of the day! The good and the loyal politicians were rewarded with goodies including public toilets and rubbish dumps. They are the same people who looted with impunity in the past but today are pretending to shout from roof tops having turned themselves into champions of our rights.
We are being treated to blatant pretense by politicians in our quest to find a new constitution ahead of this year’s general elections. The work of the constitutional review committee was one of the icons of hope for reforms. The review committee had clearly articulated goals and willingness to listen to ideas not often expressed by the Kenyan political class. The review team seemed to be on track to serve, at least, as a pillar of necessary reforms.
There was the constitution melee! Competing constitutions were brought forth for debate such as the Bomas draft, Wako draft, Kilifi draft, Naivasha accord among many others. The whole review process soon turned into a blame game! It all started with suspicion of how the Bomas delegates list was stacked; then followed the short-term expediencies by the political class and belatedly the irrational paranoia among the delegates. One side painted the other as hypocritical and tribal while the other accused opponents as insincere and power hungry lot et cetera.
The process was incurably and fatally flawed. The unprecedented referendum campaigns and the toxic rivalry between the Banana and Orange factions was enough testimony of how the politicians wanted to scuttle the process by all means. It was bound to fail! And the failure happened with the referendum of November last year.
Honestly speaking, the draft constitution that the Kenyans rejected was a far much better constitution than the current one; but it was rejected because people perceived some sort of abrasiveness in the manner which their voices and concerns were ignored.
Thus continues the campaign of deceit, anti-reform, hateful lies and propaganda! Our political class has now shifted their demands; one camp is pushing for minimum reforms while the other is pressing for comprehensive reforms. The only problem is that on both sides of the political divide lie reactionaries who have age-old anti-reform credentials.
The mistrust and suspicion that culminated in the defeat of the process has persistently dogged every attempt to jumpstart the constitutional review process. An effort to restart the constitutional process has yet again collapsed; the talks were rudely shattered on Thursday, 16th November 2006.
It was clear from the beginning that all parties involved – both government and opposition – did not come to the round table cross-party negotiations with clean hearts and open hands. Once again, selfish partisan considerations prevailed, and one group walked away.
What is most disappointing is that false hopes were raised when the latest talks were convened under inter-parties committee – that eventually became to be known as Multi-Sectoral Review Forum. The talk about minimum and comprehensive reforms gave the impression that we are making progress and assumed that all parties had learnt a big lesson from the previous failures to write a new constitution, particularly the outcome of the referendum.
But be it as it may, the elaborate controversy between the political elite involved in the constitution making is a ridiculous farce on the people of Kenya. This poisonous clique seems to read from the same script with the devil and is in agony to suffocate the Kenyans demands for a new constitution. It does not matter how much fault they want to find with one another and /or how much they want to blame one another – there is only one danger - we run the risk of losing the future!
We badly need constitutional reforms that will place institutions above individuals, and a dispensation, that provides checks and balances in our system of governance. For example, the presidency in this country has never been perceived as a national institution. It belongs to the ‘ruling community’ who arrogate themselves the right to determine how the national cake should be distributed. And indeed, history has it that they end up with most it!
As we wallow in despair, we seem to have a permanent political class whose only fear is loss of power and domination. They are in a state of convulsion and united in their cause against the divided majority of Kenyans. They are determined to remain in power just to protect their wealth using all means at their disposal. Some of them have been around for too long and this is probably the reason why attempts to free the country of corruption has met such a strong resistance.
Politics is also said to be regenerative and vegetative and it has a tendency of attracting its kind! The political class has shown remarkable ability and capacity to reproduce itself, either through successive generation of lineage or sycophantic mentorship. As things stands now, we are falling over ourselves looking among the same elite for a better shepherd to lead us into prosperity.
The end of our misgivings seems far from sight, given the Kenyans worrisome response to emerging political groupings. It is no wonder familiar problems have persisted for years. Things have also remained the same, election after election – and in a surprising way, with a few exceptions, we elect the same people. I don’t understand how we expect to achieve the changes we dream for by electing the same leaders time and again.
We know better, but we don’t want to change things! Our poor scrutiny of leader’s track records explains the buffoonery that is our political leadership. We employ selfish and lopsided parameters to pick leaders and that is why we have ended up with charlatans, torturers and looters in the management of sensitive institutions and public resources.
We are actually perfecting the culture of rejecting one group of leaders and replacing them with re-packaged leaders of the past years. Ask them what they would do for this country if they attain power and the answer will be twisted - out of any semblance with reality - Hawana mpango! Hawana plan, as the kids would say in sheng.
The capacity of Kenyans to express their anger on those things that really matter is simply non-existent. Most Kenyans are like the proverbial Ostrich who when faced with a forest fire prefers to bury its head in the sand hoping that the fire will just go away. We seem to have resigned to fate by imagining that the anti-progress and static leaders would just go away. We are firmly in their grip! We have given ourselves to be held hostage while we watch mournfully!
Regrettably, we are grappling with extreme levels of corruption, unemployment, landlessness, marginalization, tribalism and inequality among many other ills. We have offered politicians a chance to balkanize us into tribal groupings; we have also allowed ourselves to be robbed, oppressed and exploited. No wonder they can appoint their spouses, mistresses, kinsmen and protégés to rewarding jobs instead of the relatively well-educated and knowledgeable – the most competent among us.
The trouble is that the public opinion is often ignorant, confused and contradictory. We must stop crying and cursing! We are to blame for vacillation and contradiction. Sometimes we don’t even know what we want or the kind of leaders we are looking for. We need to examine ourselves and ask the question: are we part of the problem that has persistently haunted Kenya for years?
Recently, it was reported that Kamlesh Mansukh Pattni has launched a political party intended to be the ultimate saviour of Kenyans from their current misery. And just in case Kenyans have forgotten, the re-invented Pattni is the person who admitted that he created Goldenberg in order to catapult Kenya into the realm of middle-income countries.
In his own warped sense of values, he succeeded in creating a fair number of millionaires, but in the process, did much damage to this country. Recall the facts of this sordid tragedy? Kenya suffered a severe foreign currency shortage due to the suppression of financial support by our foreign masters. The long and short of it is that, the utter devastation caused by this scandal can only be comparable to a nuclear explosion hitting the entire country – and we are living with its collateral damage up to this day.
Far worse than those manifestations, the dreadful outcome is the severely dented national psyche that has pervaded the Kenyan society. What does one have to say of the fact that we have a Vice-president - a man under whose nose the scandalous Anglo-leasing passport contracts blossomed? Many other dignitaries have also been subjected to investigation in scams of some sort but have continued to sit pretty on their perch even if we shout ourselves silly for their removal.
Instead of letting the law take its course, they run to their communities seeking protection for their crimes. They pretentiously influence the community’s supportive solidarity to blow their opponents away. The community - with all the childlike innocence - circles to defend them and continually works to cover their tracks. They would shamelessly and arrogantly dismiss their pursuers as tribalistic and witch-hunters. Then to prove those who are witch-hunting wrong, the community would vote the corrupt leader back to power.
Our leaders have on the other hand taken such ethnic support as “shields” and have continued do things with impunity. They perpetuate corruption by treating it as a top secret with clandestine like intelligence operations. They also manipulate the economy and the justice system. They can trample on wananchi and get away with it using the systems they control - systems they have perfected in protecting and mystifying themselves to frighten us.
I beg to ask the question: do we have the capacity to compel this corrupt lot to step down to allow investigation into their deeds? May be not! Ask the good son of Kenya Mr. John Githongo who gallantly tried to expose the high-level corruption in the government. He collated his evidence diligently, documented it and presented it to his boss for direction only to be met with some loud silence.
While it remains an undisputable fact that government ministers signed contracts with non-existent companies worth some Ksh. 50 billion mostly for the supply of non-existent goods and services, a statement by the director of the Kenya Anti-corruption Authority exonerated two senior government officials and a former finance minister of any wrong-doing amid condemnation from a cross section of Kenyans.
And that is about as far as it went! We are back to business as usual; the business of despicable pettiness, corruption, patronage, tribalism, cronyism and politics of isolation.
We have unsuccessfully seen several commissions of inquiries being constituted in times of crisis to unearth the truths about Political murders, Land & Tribal clashes, Goldenberg Scandal, Anglo-Leasing scams, the questionable Artur brothers’ saga. Other scams such as charterhouse scam, Kenya Reinsurance scam and safaricom share holding mystery are yet to be resolved. Millions of shillings have been drawn from public coffers to pay persons appointed to carry out the investigations, but all this has gone to waste because the findings of those commissions have either never seen the light of the day or has been subjected to judicial review.
I believe with all my being that, commissions of inquiries are never meant to get to the bottom of anything. The idea is to be seen to be doing something while time passes so that people can forget about the thorny issue at hand. This is the reason why we have never been given any feedback on the findings of these investigations. We have been treated to the same old song that, “No stone shall be left unturned”, yet, “No stone has ever been turned!”
As of now, something has clearly gone a miss! Our country seems to be descending into a haven of criminals, lawlessness, and widespread fear. From land clashes in Mt. Elgon, Molo, Tana River, Mungiki, carjackings and kidnappings. It is becoming apparent that we are living in a state of fear.
The story of Mungiki gang that finds perverse pleasure in beheading and dismembering its victims has been gradual, but a deadly transformation. The sect was allowed to arm itself, operate cells across the country and more recently stake claim in businesses under the guise of ‘protection fee’
The sect faults some politicians in the former and the current governments over breach of agreement and their message is crystal clear: It is pay back time. This flirting with the Mungiki by our politicians is unforgivable and brings out the worst of what our leaders are capable of doing with the lives of the electorate.
Before colonialists arrived, different communities lived in designated areas. The pastoralists settled in areas where they could access water and grass for their livestock. People were displaced from their land and herded into the so called native trust lands.
When our post-colonial masters took over power, they made the problem worse by grabbing the same lands, ‘legally they say’, which they dispensed freely to political cronies who already owned land elsewhere. This has now boiled down to land fragmentation, disparities in land ownership, landlessness and increased conflicts. The landless and the pastoralists have been reduced to criminals to be kept away at all costs!
There has also been a deliberate effort in recent times to release positive economic growth figures. The propaganda of the 6.1 per cent economic growth (even if the figure is correct) does not take into account the population increase. Over 57 per cent of Kenyans are living in a vicious cycle of abject poverty – while a very small clique of about 10 per cent control over 42 per cent of the country’s wealth.
They claim that it has come forth due to leaders’ tireless efforts, considering that they have, since gaining power, increased their personal wealth by a much larger margin – some perhaps by more than 100 per cent. It is obvious that the 2030 vision of 10 percent annual economic growth would not help Kenyans if the boom will end up in the hands of the ruling class.
I have to take a swipe at our churches for taking a devious position on matters of national importance. They have forsaken the electorate; they have let Kenyans walk on their own in such delicate, dangerous and competitive politics. The church has a fundamental role to play in ensuring a favourable political destiny for the people of Kenya.
In the Old Testament Daniel, Amos and other men of God spoke on political and social matters in Israel, Judea and the surrounding nations. Both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ spoke on political concerns of their day. In both cases, God’s representatives spoke out against abuse of political power and also sought for just use of power.
The church needs to continue engaging the government on matters of justice, corruption, leadership policies and other matters of moral importance. The church has to observe that politics is a religious matter because it is a moral performance which is about the strengthening of values that determine how people govern themselves and /or exercise power given to them by the people.
We must realize that the fight against these injustices will only bear fruits if we elect good leaders. We want leaders who will inspire, foster collaboration, turn vision into action and make public commitments that could form the yardstick for evaluating their performance once in public office.
Kenyans are hard-pressed on every side but have a unique talent of forgetting the past. We must take a long hard look at the political landscape and become wise to save this country from sinking further into hopelessness. We must be careful in the way we choose our leaders by avoiding euphoria based declarations, politics of emotions and diversionary promises. And anyone who would claim the leadership of this land must understand that we have had enough of this insincere politics.
We desire for issue oriented politics, honour in the conduct of politics and a concrete plan of action that will lead us out of the morass of 43 years of corruption, tribalism and poverty. We should send greedy leaders packing and demand that anyone who aspires to become a leader in this land should tell us why we must elect them!
The past may be well beyond us, but the future is still in our power. We have another opportunity to change the destiny of this country. We need a contingency plan that will not only restore our national integrity, but reform the political thinking and practice. According to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who once said, and I quote, “we are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. We must move past indecision to action. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.”
In a way, I am also agreeing with James Russell Lowell who eloquently stated:
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth and falsehood, for the good or evil side; some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or bright, and the choice goes by forever.
Just as war is too good to be left to soldiers, so is politics too important to be left to politicians. I believe this struggle is not in vain because the reward for our toil is not what we will get for it, but what we will become by it. Kenyans have proved once before that you can push them only so far and, should not be taken for granted ever again!
I will be launching a progressive people’s forum called SAUTI YA MKENYA with the motto ‘MKENYA AJIKOMBOE’ and I will be convening meetings in the near future to enlighten our fellow Kenyans more on this.
Remember the vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart; this you will build your life by and this you will become. MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL!
Email : charlesombima@gmail.com or charlesombima@yahoo.com
Website : charlesombima.blogspot.com
When we voted overwhelmingly for National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) in 2002, we thought we had finally liberated ourselves from the vices of endemic corruption, insecurity, tribalism and persistent poverty that brought this country to its knees in the past. The expectations were phenomenal, may be unrealistic because the irate inaugural speech during the swearing in at Uhuru Park persuaded Kenyans to believe that they had seen an end to years of misrule and ineptitude.
Pledges were made; and we were promised sweeping reforms as follows:
• A new Constitution within 100 days of ascending to power and accelerate reforms;
• Run a lean, professional and corruption-free government;
• Exercise zero-tolerance to corruption, right from the top;
• Attain annual economic growth rate of at least six per cent per annum;
• Provide free primary education for all children;
• Provide quality, affordable and accessible healthcare;
• Respect, uphold and protect civil liberties and press freedom;
• Maintain unfaltering fidelity to the rule of law, and protect integrity of the Constitution;
• Guarantee and ensure the security of every Kenyan;
• Exercise utmost fiscal discipline by reining in on extravagance;
• Nurture constitutional democracy as the central unifying public philosophy for the people of Kenya by promoting good governance;
• Ensure transitional justice by holding past perpetrators of injustices against the people of Kenya accountable for their actions;
• Construct 150,000 low-cost housing units per annum;
• Create 500,000 jobs per annum;
• Transform Kenya into a competitive environment for investment; and
• Ensure equitable and fair distribution of national resources.
We were also told that, “We had embarked on a journey to a promising future with unbwogable determination.” we monotonously resonated in song and dance, chanting, ‘yote yawezekana bila Moi’.
But no sooner had the celebratory dust began to settle than we started to experience a choking episode from the settling dust. What could have happened? I guess your answer is as good as mine: nobody seems to know and it is now clear the government has no real intention of nailing corruption. It is rather bent upon burying the evidence, perpetuating graft and the culture of impunity, which renders that maiden address a sheer mockery to the people of Kenya.
As we continue to regret bitterly about the mistakes of the 2002 general election, another electioneering time is just around the corner. Politicians are emerging from their hibernation, flocking towns and villages confusing the gullible electorate to secure their re-election. With over ten declared presidential candidates, politics is at boiling point!
Leaders are oscillating from one party to another looking for the highest bidder and in the course of all this; we are witnessing politics of rage between the incumbent government and the opposition. Their campaigns are characterized by disreputable personal attacks rather than issues affecting the majority of Kenyans; they engage in politics of slander, mudslinging and other irrelevant issues that could only help them win the elections. There is concern that the status quo of the Kenyan power politics will prevail, at least, for a while, and unless there is divine intervention, we are surely headed for a tragedy!
The promise of the second liberation has become a contentious nightmare. The Government seems to be efficient in rewarding sycophancy, subverting the opposition and strangling integrity. The Opposition is excelling in only coveting the presidency.
It was once said, that politics is quite a game where there are no permanent enemies, and no permanent friends, only permanent interests. With corruption suspects straddling both sides of the political divide, it is clear Kenyans are not about to see an end to their predicament. We have been held to ransom by a network of tribal and corrupt leaders who use their wealth to dominate politics.
Most of the current and past leaders, to say the least, are direct beneficiaries of the grand corruption of the past years. They grew up in an era when grabbing everything in sight was the order of the day! The good and the loyal politicians were rewarded with goodies including public toilets and rubbish dumps. They are the same people who looted with impunity in the past but today are pretending to shout from roof tops having turned themselves into champions of our rights.
We are being treated to blatant pretense by politicians in our quest to find a new constitution ahead of this year’s general elections. The work of the constitutional review committee was one of the icons of hope for reforms. The review committee had clearly articulated goals and willingness to listen to ideas not often expressed by the Kenyan political class. The review team seemed to be on track to serve, at least, as a pillar of necessary reforms.
There was the constitution melee! Competing constitutions were brought forth for debate such as the Bomas draft, Wako draft, Kilifi draft, Naivasha accord among many others. The whole review process soon turned into a blame game! It all started with suspicion of how the Bomas delegates list was stacked; then followed the short-term expediencies by the political class and belatedly the irrational paranoia among the delegates. One side painted the other as hypocritical and tribal while the other accused opponents as insincere and power hungry lot et cetera.
The process was incurably and fatally flawed. The unprecedented referendum campaigns and the toxic rivalry between the Banana and Orange factions was enough testimony of how the politicians wanted to scuttle the process by all means. It was bound to fail! And the failure happened with the referendum of November last year.
Honestly speaking, the draft constitution that the Kenyans rejected was a far much better constitution than the current one; but it was rejected because people perceived some sort of abrasiveness in the manner which their voices and concerns were ignored.
Thus continues the campaign of deceit, anti-reform, hateful lies and propaganda! Our political class has now shifted their demands; one camp is pushing for minimum reforms while the other is pressing for comprehensive reforms. The only problem is that on both sides of the political divide lie reactionaries who have age-old anti-reform credentials.
The mistrust and suspicion that culminated in the defeat of the process has persistently dogged every attempt to jumpstart the constitutional review process. An effort to restart the constitutional process has yet again collapsed; the talks were rudely shattered on Thursday, 16th November 2006.
It was clear from the beginning that all parties involved – both government and opposition – did not come to the round table cross-party negotiations with clean hearts and open hands. Once again, selfish partisan considerations prevailed, and one group walked away.
What is most disappointing is that false hopes were raised when the latest talks were convened under inter-parties committee – that eventually became to be known as Multi-Sectoral Review Forum. The talk about minimum and comprehensive reforms gave the impression that we are making progress and assumed that all parties had learnt a big lesson from the previous failures to write a new constitution, particularly the outcome of the referendum.
But be it as it may, the elaborate controversy between the political elite involved in the constitution making is a ridiculous farce on the people of Kenya. This poisonous clique seems to read from the same script with the devil and is in agony to suffocate the Kenyans demands for a new constitution. It does not matter how much fault they want to find with one another and /or how much they want to blame one another – there is only one danger - we run the risk of losing the future!
We badly need constitutional reforms that will place institutions above individuals, and a dispensation, that provides checks and balances in our system of governance. For example, the presidency in this country has never been perceived as a national institution. It belongs to the ‘ruling community’ who arrogate themselves the right to determine how the national cake should be distributed. And indeed, history has it that they end up with most it!
As we wallow in despair, we seem to have a permanent political class whose only fear is loss of power and domination. They are in a state of convulsion and united in their cause against the divided majority of Kenyans. They are determined to remain in power just to protect their wealth using all means at their disposal. Some of them have been around for too long and this is probably the reason why attempts to free the country of corruption has met such a strong resistance.
Politics is also said to be regenerative and vegetative and it has a tendency of attracting its kind! The political class has shown remarkable ability and capacity to reproduce itself, either through successive generation of lineage or sycophantic mentorship. As things stands now, we are falling over ourselves looking among the same elite for a better shepherd to lead us into prosperity.
The end of our misgivings seems far from sight, given the Kenyans worrisome response to emerging political groupings. It is no wonder familiar problems have persisted for years. Things have also remained the same, election after election – and in a surprising way, with a few exceptions, we elect the same people. I don’t understand how we expect to achieve the changes we dream for by electing the same leaders time and again.
We know better, but we don’t want to change things! Our poor scrutiny of leader’s track records explains the buffoonery that is our political leadership. We employ selfish and lopsided parameters to pick leaders and that is why we have ended up with charlatans, torturers and looters in the management of sensitive institutions and public resources.
We are actually perfecting the culture of rejecting one group of leaders and replacing them with re-packaged leaders of the past years. Ask them what they would do for this country if they attain power and the answer will be twisted - out of any semblance with reality - Hawana mpango! Hawana plan, as the kids would say in sheng.
The capacity of Kenyans to express their anger on those things that really matter is simply non-existent. Most Kenyans are like the proverbial Ostrich who when faced with a forest fire prefers to bury its head in the sand hoping that the fire will just go away. We seem to have resigned to fate by imagining that the anti-progress and static leaders would just go away. We are firmly in their grip! We have given ourselves to be held hostage while we watch mournfully!
Regrettably, we are grappling with extreme levels of corruption, unemployment, landlessness, marginalization, tribalism and inequality among many other ills. We have offered politicians a chance to balkanize us into tribal groupings; we have also allowed ourselves to be robbed, oppressed and exploited. No wonder they can appoint their spouses, mistresses, kinsmen and protégés to rewarding jobs instead of the relatively well-educated and knowledgeable – the most competent among us.
The trouble is that the public opinion is often ignorant, confused and contradictory. We must stop crying and cursing! We are to blame for vacillation and contradiction. Sometimes we don’t even know what we want or the kind of leaders we are looking for. We need to examine ourselves and ask the question: are we part of the problem that has persistently haunted Kenya for years?
Recently, it was reported that Kamlesh Mansukh Pattni has launched a political party intended to be the ultimate saviour of Kenyans from their current misery. And just in case Kenyans have forgotten, the re-invented Pattni is the person who admitted that he created Goldenberg in order to catapult Kenya into the realm of middle-income countries.
In his own warped sense of values, he succeeded in creating a fair number of millionaires, but in the process, did much damage to this country. Recall the facts of this sordid tragedy? Kenya suffered a severe foreign currency shortage due to the suppression of financial support by our foreign masters. The long and short of it is that, the utter devastation caused by this scandal can only be comparable to a nuclear explosion hitting the entire country – and we are living with its collateral damage up to this day.
Far worse than those manifestations, the dreadful outcome is the severely dented national psyche that has pervaded the Kenyan society. What does one have to say of the fact that we have a Vice-president - a man under whose nose the scandalous Anglo-leasing passport contracts blossomed? Many other dignitaries have also been subjected to investigation in scams of some sort but have continued to sit pretty on their perch even if we shout ourselves silly for their removal.
Instead of letting the law take its course, they run to their communities seeking protection for their crimes. They pretentiously influence the community’s supportive solidarity to blow their opponents away. The community - with all the childlike innocence - circles to defend them and continually works to cover their tracks. They would shamelessly and arrogantly dismiss their pursuers as tribalistic and witch-hunters. Then to prove those who are witch-hunting wrong, the community would vote the corrupt leader back to power.
Our leaders have on the other hand taken such ethnic support as “shields” and have continued do things with impunity. They perpetuate corruption by treating it as a top secret with clandestine like intelligence operations. They also manipulate the economy and the justice system. They can trample on wananchi and get away with it using the systems they control - systems they have perfected in protecting and mystifying themselves to frighten us.
I beg to ask the question: do we have the capacity to compel this corrupt lot to step down to allow investigation into their deeds? May be not! Ask the good son of Kenya Mr. John Githongo who gallantly tried to expose the high-level corruption in the government. He collated his evidence diligently, documented it and presented it to his boss for direction only to be met with some loud silence.
While it remains an undisputable fact that government ministers signed contracts with non-existent companies worth some Ksh. 50 billion mostly for the supply of non-existent goods and services, a statement by the director of the Kenya Anti-corruption Authority exonerated two senior government officials and a former finance minister of any wrong-doing amid condemnation from a cross section of Kenyans.
And that is about as far as it went! We are back to business as usual; the business of despicable pettiness, corruption, patronage, tribalism, cronyism and politics of isolation.
We have unsuccessfully seen several commissions of inquiries being constituted in times of crisis to unearth the truths about Political murders, Land & Tribal clashes, Goldenberg Scandal, Anglo-Leasing scams, the questionable Artur brothers’ saga. Other scams such as charterhouse scam, Kenya Reinsurance scam and safaricom share holding mystery are yet to be resolved. Millions of shillings have been drawn from public coffers to pay persons appointed to carry out the investigations, but all this has gone to waste because the findings of those commissions have either never seen the light of the day or has been subjected to judicial review.
I believe with all my being that, commissions of inquiries are never meant to get to the bottom of anything. The idea is to be seen to be doing something while time passes so that people can forget about the thorny issue at hand. This is the reason why we have never been given any feedback on the findings of these investigations. We have been treated to the same old song that, “No stone shall be left unturned”, yet, “No stone has ever been turned!”
As of now, something has clearly gone a miss! Our country seems to be descending into a haven of criminals, lawlessness, and widespread fear. From land clashes in Mt. Elgon, Molo, Tana River, Mungiki, carjackings and kidnappings. It is becoming apparent that we are living in a state of fear.
The story of Mungiki gang that finds perverse pleasure in beheading and dismembering its victims has been gradual, but a deadly transformation. The sect was allowed to arm itself, operate cells across the country and more recently stake claim in businesses under the guise of ‘protection fee’
The sect faults some politicians in the former and the current governments over breach of agreement and their message is crystal clear: It is pay back time. This flirting with the Mungiki by our politicians is unforgivable and brings out the worst of what our leaders are capable of doing with the lives of the electorate.
Before colonialists arrived, different communities lived in designated areas. The pastoralists settled in areas where they could access water and grass for their livestock. People were displaced from their land and herded into the so called native trust lands.
When our post-colonial masters took over power, they made the problem worse by grabbing the same lands, ‘legally they say’, which they dispensed freely to political cronies who already owned land elsewhere. This has now boiled down to land fragmentation, disparities in land ownership, landlessness and increased conflicts. The landless and the pastoralists have been reduced to criminals to be kept away at all costs!
There has also been a deliberate effort in recent times to release positive economic growth figures. The propaganda of the 6.1 per cent economic growth (even if the figure is correct) does not take into account the population increase. Over 57 per cent of Kenyans are living in a vicious cycle of abject poverty – while a very small clique of about 10 per cent control over 42 per cent of the country’s wealth.
They claim that it has come forth due to leaders’ tireless efforts, considering that they have, since gaining power, increased their personal wealth by a much larger margin – some perhaps by more than 100 per cent. It is obvious that the 2030 vision of 10 percent annual economic growth would not help Kenyans if the boom will end up in the hands of the ruling class.
I have to take a swipe at our churches for taking a devious position on matters of national importance. They have forsaken the electorate; they have let Kenyans walk on their own in such delicate, dangerous and competitive politics. The church has a fundamental role to play in ensuring a favourable political destiny for the people of Kenya.
In the Old Testament Daniel, Amos and other men of God spoke on political and social matters in Israel, Judea and the surrounding nations. Both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ spoke on political concerns of their day. In both cases, God’s representatives spoke out against abuse of political power and also sought for just use of power.
The church needs to continue engaging the government on matters of justice, corruption, leadership policies and other matters of moral importance. The church has to observe that politics is a religious matter because it is a moral performance which is about the strengthening of values that determine how people govern themselves and /or exercise power given to them by the people.
We must realize that the fight against these injustices will only bear fruits if we elect good leaders. We want leaders who will inspire, foster collaboration, turn vision into action and make public commitments that could form the yardstick for evaluating their performance once in public office.
Kenyans are hard-pressed on every side but have a unique talent of forgetting the past. We must take a long hard look at the political landscape and become wise to save this country from sinking further into hopelessness. We must be careful in the way we choose our leaders by avoiding euphoria based declarations, politics of emotions and diversionary promises. And anyone who would claim the leadership of this land must understand that we have had enough of this insincere politics.
We desire for issue oriented politics, honour in the conduct of politics and a concrete plan of action that will lead us out of the morass of 43 years of corruption, tribalism and poverty. We should send greedy leaders packing and demand that anyone who aspires to become a leader in this land should tell us why we must elect them!
The past may be well beyond us, but the future is still in our power. We have another opportunity to change the destiny of this country. We need a contingency plan that will not only restore our national integrity, but reform the political thinking and practice. According to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who once said, and I quote, “we are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. We must move past indecision to action. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long dark and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.”
In a way, I am also agreeing with James Russell Lowell who eloquently stated:
Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide, in the strife of truth and falsehood, for the good or evil side; some great cause, God’s new Messiah, offering each the bloom or bright, and the choice goes by forever.
Just as war is too good to be left to soldiers, so is politics too important to be left to politicians. I believe this struggle is not in vain because the reward for our toil is not what we will get for it, but what we will become by it. Kenyans have proved once before that you can push them only so far and, should not be taken for granted ever again!
I will be launching a progressive people’s forum called SAUTI YA MKENYA with the motto ‘MKENYA AJIKOMBOE’ and I will be convening meetings in the near future to enlighten our fellow Kenyans more on this.
Remember the vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart; this you will build your life by and this you will become. MAY GOD BLESS YOU ALL!
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If you genuinely want to react on this information, and /or other powerful truths, then write using the above e-mail address. Otherwise, Look and lift up your heads, because I will be updating this article in the near future. Remember, an alarming variety of crises face a bewildered Kenyan society than ever witnessed before!
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