Right
out of the gate in 2003, the 9th Parliament decided to raise its
pay-and-perks to astronomical heights and Kenyans went along with it.
After all, 24 years of Nyayoism had come to an end and Baba
Jimmi was promising a New Day and a New Deal. Fast forward to 2012, and
the game is not yet done. The 10th Parliament, quite in contravention of
the Constitution that it halfheartedly supported, is going over the
peoples' heads and attempting to collect even more shillings than its
record suggests it merits.
Representative government in Kenya has failed to meet the needs of the people. When one casts his eye over the shambles that are the education, health and public security sectors, one is astonished that the government continues to stand. The Executive has consistently failed to provide the tools that citizens need to better themselves. Jomo Kenyatta's promise to wipe out poverty, ignorance and disease has not been achieved, not by his, Daniel Toroitich arap Moi's nor Mwai Kibaki's governments. More and more Kenyans continue to access public goods that fail to meet the basic minimum standards for them to improve their lives or that of their children. The Legislature, the institution that should speak for the weak and downtrodden, is not only riven with rivalries but its members are more interested in lining their pockets than in checking the power of the Executive or making laws that will give hope to the masses. The Judiciary, even with the installation of a progressive Chief Justice, continues to fail to offer justice to the millions who come before it for the same.
We have now given to ourselves a Constitution that prescribes genuine checks-and-balances for our government, but we are determined to concentrate all our faculties on the inane and the insubstantial. Uhuru Kenyatta presided over the coming out party of The National Alliance Party just as his fellow Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, presided over that of the United Democratic Front Party. Both have declaimed on the paucity of political integrity, conveniently forgetting that their entire careers have been devoid of the same integrity they claim to champion. It is the same with all the political stalwarts striding confidently abroad in the land. Their promises of change are mere words to be flung at the people in the hope that when the political dust settles, they will still continue to operate as they have for decades. None is willing to accept that the old way of doing things has consigned Kenya to second-class status in the comity of nations, begging for handouts from all and sundry. It is a sad testament that men and women who should think of their constituents instead demand their constituents' love and loyalty without giving back in return. The future, sadly, is not as bright as Kenyans think it will be. The forest may have changed, but the monkeys remain the same.
Representative government in Kenya has failed to meet the needs of the people. When one casts his eye over the shambles that are the education, health and public security sectors, one is astonished that the government continues to stand. The Executive has consistently failed to provide the tools that citizens need to better themselves. Jomo Kenyatta's promise to wipe out poverty, ignorance and disease has not been achieved, not by his, Daniel Toroitich arap Moi's nor Mwai Kibaki's governments. More and more Kenyans continue to access public goods that fail to meet the basic minimum standards for them to improve their lives or that of their children. The Legislature, the institution that should speak for the weak and downtrodden, is not only riven with rivalries but its members are more interested in lining their pockets than in checking the power of the Executive or making laws that will give hope to the masses. The Judiciary, even with the installation of a progressive Chief Justice, continues to fail to offer justice to the millions who come before it for the same.
We have now given to ourselves a Constitution that prescribes genuine checks-and-balances for our government, but we are determined to concentrate all our faculties on the inane and the insubstantial. Uhuru Kenyatta presided over the coming out party of The National Alliance Party just as his fellow Deputy Prime Minister, Musalia Mudavadi, presided over that of the United Democratic Front Party. Both have declaimed on the paucity of political integrity, conveniently forgetting that their entire careers have been devoid of the same integrity they claim to champion. It is the same with all the political stalwarts striding confidently abroad in the land. Their promises of change are mere words to be flung at the people in the hope that when the political dust settles, they will still continue to operate as they have for decades. None is willing to accept that the old way of doing things has consigned Kenya to second-class status in the comity of nations, begging for handouts from all and sundry. It is a sad testament that men and women who should think of their constituents instead demand their constituents' love and loyalty without giving back in return. The future, sadly, is not as bright as Kenyans think it will be. The forest may have changed, but the monkeys remain the same.
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