Once
more my heart swells in pride as the United States re-elects Kenya's
favourite son Barack Obama to four more years as the most powerful man
in the world. Never mind that the US presidency is not a panacea for
global ills, that it is in the capable hands of a Kenyan - a Luo, for
that matter - means that all Kenyans - indeed, all Luos - are
represented in the most powerful country in the world, a country that
Ronald Reagan and George Washington called the Shining City on the Hill.
It is also heartening to see that Barack Obama's victory is resounding -
over 300 electoral college votes to Mitt Romney's 203. US conservatives
- and their Kenyan counterparts - must re-examine their principles,
especially when it comes to the so-called culture wars that revolve
around God, Gays and Abortion; in Wisconsin, an openly gay Congresswoman
has been elected to the US Senate.
My heart sinks when I witness the shenanigans of Kenya's presidential candidates. In a crowded field, it is near-impossible to pick out a credible political message from the cacophony televised into our living rooms every day and night. A shiver of apprehension runs down my spine when I witness the determinedly underhanded way in which Kenyans will be registered as voters in November. It grows into a full-blown panic when I realise that we are all anticipating the worst, preparing for it, and making ready to lay the blame on any and all comers. It is unfair to compare Third-world Poor Kenya with First World Developed USA, but nonetheless there are certain values that no amount of wealth can buy and we seem to have refused to inculcate any of them in our children or our leaders or, even, ourselves.
Dishonesty and greed seem to be the only national values we are willing to promote. These are starkly outlined every time MPs raid the Consolidated Fund to finance their lifestyles, the Judiciary does the same to obtain luxurious limousines for its judges and magistrates, children cheat in national examinations, or men of the cloth take to the marital beds of members of their congregations. It seems that no one is happy with their lot in life and rather than working hard to change their fates, they will lie, cheat and steal their way to great wealth and fame. We will learn nothing from the US election that is of use to us. We will instead wring our hands in despair. And then plot to lie, cheat and steal to victory.
My heart sinks when I witness the shenanigans of Kenya's presidential candidates. In a crowded field, it is near-impossible to pick out a credible political message from the cacophony televised into our living rooms every day and night. A shiver of apprehension runs down my spine when I witness the determinedly underhanded way in which Kenyans will be registered as voters in November. It grows into a full-blown panic when I realise that we are all anticipating the worst, preparing for it, and making ready to lay the blame on any and all comers. It is unfair to compare Third-world Poor Kenya with First World Developed USA, but nonetheless there are certain values that no amount of wealth can buy and we seem to have refused to inculcate any of them in our children or our leaders or, even, ourselves.
Dishonesty and greed seem to be the only national values we are willing to promote. These are starkly outlined every time MPs raid the Consolidated Fund to finance their lifestyles, the Judiciary does the same to obtain luxurious limousines for its judges and magistrates, children cheat in national examinations, or men of the cloth take to the marital beds of members of their congregations. It seems that no one is happy with their lot in life and rather than working hard to change their fates, they will lie, cheat and steal their way to great wealth and fame. We will learn nothing from the US election that is of use to us. We will instead wring our hands in despair. And then plot to lie, cheat and steal to victory.
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