Arguments get so puerile that one
wonders if Kenya is full of immature
adults or adult children. Nothing
brings out the very worst in Kenyans
as elections of any type, be it campus
seats, sports leadership, union
positions and the most toxic being
political seats.
The qualifier is that so long as there
is money to change hands then
Kenyans are attracted like moths
to light. Corruption had so seeped
into our colleges that even student
representation has become a matter of
life and death literally.
If we include in the corruption ring
those that are paid salaries for no
work done, then we would have to
add Senators and MCAs to the list of
fraudsters. To earn a living for no work
output must be the height of conmanship, no wonder teachers are envious.
The constitution actually created
jobs with no work and proceeded to
remunerate those jobs handsomely
and further ensured that it would
be next to impossible to remove the
these money sucking leeches to the
economy.
From the ministries we get a whole
load of parastatals that are money
embezzlement units designed to
legally siphon public funds. The
endless boardroom wars with the
management that are symptomatic of
our government agencies are wars of
who controls the funds for diversion.
The President and ministers routinely
appoint board members with the sole
purpose of sharing the national cake
illegally. Those appointed do not in
most cases have a clue regarding their
appointed jobs and contribute nothing
to the deliberations except drawing
sitting an d sleeping allowances.
All this takes place while the President
is still warning of dire consequences
to those that dip their fingers into the
national gravy pot. How are we ever
96 MAL 11/16 ISSUE
likely to take him seriously when we
proceed to appoint unqualified people
to state jobs?
In Kenya we steal because we can and
are confident that there is nothing you
can do about it. The police are always
for sale and the one holding the purse
is the one that gets justice. It is a pity
that the police do not accept visa cards
as this would be a growth area for card
business.
Should the matter not be resolvable at
the police level then one can escalate
the matter to a cash friendly judiciary
that will find laws to protect the
criminal dependent on the depth of
one’s pockets. Justice will always be
blind with the right amount.
For the first time we have had doubts
cast in the one area that our national
pride is closely interwoven. We are
now globally suspect on whether our
stellar performance in the athletics
field is not just another fraudulently
achieved feat. Our other institutions
do not augur well for us.
So who is to blame for the mess that
Kenya finds itself? Is it our parents
who have failed and they have, the
schools that add no value to our lives
and they don’t, the colleges that turn
young boys and girls into thugs and
they have.
Is it the churches that have become
depraved and commercial and they
are, politicians who lie and smile
and they do, a society that gave up
being accountable and it does not or
a government that is supposed to be
responsive and is not.
When the final word is out what
did you and I do to arrest the moral
decline of this country. Who is the
messiah that we hope will fortuitously
arrive in the nick of time to deliver
this would be great country from its
own self made disaster? It is you!
Who has stopped us from shunning
‘‘He wanted to
know if the girl was
to blame for being
promiscuous, the
teacher for being
predatory, the
headmaster for not
instilling discipline
to both teachers and
pupils, both the girl’s
and teacher’s parents
for improperly
raising them, or
their friends for not
warning them on the
consequences.’’
the Patni’s of this country? Those that
have contributed significantly to the
decline in the quality of our lives.
Those that have grabbed public land
and mortgaged the future of our
children. Those who continue to
ransack the country with impunity.
Why do we invite them to our houses,
harambees, school functions, social
functions, our churches and offer them
seats of honour.
Why do we revere the thief and
condemn the righteous? Who exactly
set us up in this self destructive path?
If we want the perception of this
country to change and we can then
again proudly take our seat in the
comity of nations then we must show
seriousness and commitment in
fighting corruption. We must make
the corrupt lepers in our society – we
must punish and ostracise them, there
are no other options.
Where the corrupt are concerned
‘Together we fall and separated we
stand’ – the choice is ours!