The Intrigues of aFailing State : TheKenya We Want.

The events in the country,
whose history is enduring, in the
past few months have shocked
many, if not scared them. That
a country whose governance
systems were repudiated by friends and foe alike in the 60’ s is still grappling with the bitter
aftertaste of ignoring such wise
counsel is pitiable. Tribalism,
corruption, unethical leadership
and regression are just but the
basic of problems that Kenya is struggling to deal with. Worse
still, curbing primary challenges
of humanity such as hunger,
ignorance and poverty remains a
threat to the very fibres of her
society. Providing education, food, water and medical services
for all remains all but achievable
in the near future if the
current ineptness of the
systems endures. Last January, the spotlight was
on Kenya, but for the wrong
reasons. That was when the
country smelt of death and
smoke. The hope that springs
eternal in all of us enabled us to go through that period and
resiliently rise from the ashes
like the proverbial phoenix. Later
on, cases of internal
displacement, school unrests and
examination fraud, police brutality and road carnages,
floods and drought among many
others, dotted the year.
Regrettably, this year has began
on the same sad and deplorable
state. Seeing images of fellow humans feeding on what
hitherto had been classified as
weeds and wild berries is beyond
painful. Adding insult to injury is
the ongoing rhetoric about
“maize-thieves” by senior politicians while still not doing
much, if anything, about the
situation of the hungry. True,
there is not a more inhumane
death than dying of hunger and
thirst in a free country. Being a satisfied refugee is “more human” by all parameters than being a hungry man in a free
country. George Orwell’ s eclectic piece of literature-The Animal Farm-has
been interpreted and
misinterpreted over the years.
However, any attempt to
juxtapose the book’ s animals with the Kenyan politicians is all
but preposterous, they fit
perfectly like a jig-saw. Kenya’ s political leadership has proved to
be one of the most inefficient in
Africa in the recent past. While
the leaderships of many of the
failed states in West and Central
Africa rule by the bullet, or sometimes by the sword,
Kenya’ s leadership rules by the ever-dangerous word of mouth.
Having perfected the act of
double-speak and poisonous lip-
service, ours is soon
degenerating into a lawless
society where some animals are more equal than others. Fancy
cases of corruption have dogged
the Kenyan government since
independence. They have come in
all shapes and colours. From the
golden bars of the Goldenberg to the white grains of the maize
scam and the flamboyance of
the Artur mercenaries,
corruption has become a
phenomenon in the country’ s top leadership. All the regimes (read Kenyatta,
Moi and Kibaki-Raila) have been
doused in the stench and filth of
graft and while time is fast
flying by, the sleaze is
deepening and becoming a soul- mate of Kenya’ s poor leadership history. Looting the
country of billions with reckless
abandon has created overnight
millionaires and is still creating
more of such treacherous
politicians and business persons. It is only in Kenya where
politicians whose names are on a
list of shame, such as Waki’ s enveloped list, are allowed to
walk free and hold top public
offices, while still under
investigation of funding,
recruiting and organising
hooligans to partake in the shameful and insensitive looting,
killing and annihilation of society
as witnessed during the 2007
post election period.The tears,
blood and sweat that have
moved Kenya to where she is at the moment are soon running
out. The worm has turned and
the populace is getting restless
for the time for the change
that Kenya needs has indeed
cme. It is high time our politicians start being accountable to the
electorate over issues of
governance and delivery of
services. Is there a day when public
hospitals shall be trustworthy
centres of treatment and
recuperation? Is there a day
when public offices will deliver
quality and efficient services instead of being safe havens for
poorly paid and apathetic
workers? Is there a day when
public schools will match up to
the lure of private schools? Will
we ever see a Kenya where teachers will rejoice with the
government and appreciate their
salaries? Is there a time when
national exams will be free of
the filth of leakages and
fabricated computer errors? Is there a season when the
Budalang’ i floods that wreak havoc upon the inhabitants of
the area be controlled and used
for more beneficial activities? Is
a day coming when we will
demand for better leadership
from our politicians? Will we ever be keen enough to see the
corruption episodes being
scripted and encrypted and not
stay mum and unconcerned like
we are now? Will we ever elect
leaders based on ability and not on tribe and wealth? Will there
be a time when we shall have a
functional system of governance
and taxable parliamentarians? I believe that day is coming.
That day will come soon enough,
but only if we, as Kenyans, are
willing to open our eyes and see
and then act. That day will come
soon enough if we stop becoming ostriches with our
heads in the sand. That day is
soon coming, if we are willing to
dream and are ready to pay
the price to make that dream
come true. The day will come soon enough if we take control
of our leadership instead of
letting the avarice of our
politicians wipe out our society.
They be the blind leaders of the
blind, and if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the
ditch. It is time for Kenyans to
take over and to open their
eyes. Yes we can!