Kenya's Stroke
A stroke occurs when the supply of blood to the brain is either interrupted or reduced. The brain does not get enough oxygen or nutrients which cause brain cells to die.
In Africa and more especially in my country Kenya, corruption is the stroke that has destroyed my beautiful motherland. Just like a stroke attack, corruption extends from high ranking officials to low ranking officials in both public and private sectors. It is these officials who embezzle funds by employing ghost workers or paying a lot of money to non-existent projects, making sure all that diverted money finds its way into their pockets. This makes organizations collapse and [as a result] several people lose their jobs due to retrenchment or early retirement [in order for] the organization to be revived. With the loss of jobs, the gap between the rich and the poor widens and unemployment increases.
Right now in Kenya, if you want to get wealthy without any sweat, you ensure that you have a top post in any public or private sector. This is where you can embezzle funds and no one questions you since you are a powerful person in society! If you are questioned, you can “Buy” your way out of the case if it is reported. Most young people have stopped working hard at school and you will find them gambling or vying for political seats.
This year the Member of County Assembly (MCA) has attracted several youth; you find that in a county over ten (10) people are vying for a seat in the MCA. The reason for this being that - as a politician you can get rich by stealing public funds. Hence the common say [you will hear] is “it is our turn to eat”.
In 2016, Kenya was listed as the third most corrupt country in the world by PricewaterhouseCoopers. This gets me thinking, what kind of country will we leave to the young generation who are coming in after us? Who will clean up the mess for them? Something must be done and we the youth of today must do that “something”. We need to bring the change we want to see in our country. We need to stop giving bribes to evade the petty crimes when driving or paying money in order to get service in government offices. Procurement fraud and accounting fraud should be brought to an end by us! We need to embrace honesty, transparency and hard work in everything we do.
The young generation ought to be educated on importance of being true to oneself and country. They ought to be shown how sweet it is to reap the fruit of hard work and the joy of being a corruption free country. These words from the second stanza of our national anthem sums up my message to the young people in Africa and in Kenya:
“Let one and all arise
With hearts both strong and true
Service be our earnest endeavour
And our homeland of Kenya
Heritage of splendour
Firm may we stand to defend.”
By Belly Julians Orondo
About The Author
Belly Jullians is a vocal social media activist from Kenya, who fights for "young people to be accepted for who they are in their entirety". Being a beneficiary of a strong local community herself, her activism revolves around issues that affect her community.