The Insanity Of Kenyan Politics

The people of Kenya are trapped! Trapped in a long standing desire for change that never seems to bear fruit. That desire has an uncanny way of ending up in frustration on almost all fronts: from constitution, corruption, political greed and dishonesty, poverty, un-employment, illiteracy, disease…. You can complete the list.
This past week, two events occurred that capture this frustration. First (was the ruling by the high court barring the state from prosecuting former central bank governor Eric Kotut over the multi-billion shilling Goldenberg scandal. The three judges adjudicating the matter ordered that portions of the Goldenberg inquiry report implicating Kotut be expunged, in effect trashing the report.
While, for obvious reasons, I am not in a position to discuss the merits of the ruling, with specific reference to the Kotut case, the ruling does raise in the minds of Kenyan’s, serious questions on the fate of the Goldenberg saga. Will anybody ever be brought to account over the deliberate squander of billions of shillings from the Kenyan tax payer? Kotut follows in the footsteps of internal security minister Professor George Saitoti and former intelligence chief the late James Kanyotu who also had the courts clear their names over the saga. Kenyans had with the formation of the justice Samuel Bosire commission in 2003 hoped to not only get to the bottom of that matter, but also have the perpetrators brought to book and serve as lessons for future perpetrators of graft . It is now clear that all those hopes are now shattered. With the 3 rulings rubbishing the commissions report, it is highly unlikely that it will ever receive any serious attention especially in legal circles. All other suspects named in that report now have a clear and tested formula to get off the hook…. Just run to the courts! In short - the billions are gone forever and Kenyans would better get used to that!!!!
Another area that Kenyans yearn to see change is the greed and selfishness of politicians, especially those in parliament. On this end one Johnston Muthama MP Kangundo, gave Kenyans a reason to hope. Muthama has written to both Parliament and the KRA ordering that both his salary and allowances be taxed with immediate effect. If indeed this is not merely a populist stance, Muthama has clearly distinguished himself as one in 222! He has at least responded to the public outcry his parliamentary colleagues continue playing dumb to. His move however noble, may just end in frustrating the hopeful Kenyan. Muthama’s offer does not constitute an amendment to the law barring the taxman from touching MPs allowances. Will the Taxman disregard the law and take Muthama up on his offer? I believe the answer to that is a loud NO. Muthama in his benevolence is bound to remain captive to the will of his 221 greedy colleagues. Whoever said the law is an ass clearly had a point!
I believe that all is not lost though. At the risk of overly praising Muthama, whose motivation I am not in a position to vouch for, I believe his move bears a lesson; every Kenyan should pay close attention to. The old age lesson that may even sound cliché: if change will happen it must begin with me. The 10th parliament will never live up to its role as a reform parliament until each mp as an individual views himself as a reformer. It is only then that he will consider what is in the countries best interest before what is in his personal interest. If each of our 222 mps decided to deliver Kenya a new constitution at all costs, Kenya would have had a new constitution yesterday. The seriousness of Kenya’s anti corruption resolve will remain in question for as long as the average Kenyan is content to criticize the so called big fish, while he does not bat an eye when handing a traffic officer a bribe to get off the hook on his traffic offence. It may serve the Kenyan crying for change well to remember that - It is insane to do things the same way and expect different results!