Busy work.

The #OccupyHarmbeeAvenue demo is a classic Kenyan case of busy work. The protestors will stand on the streets, they will chant their slogans, they will go home and nothing much will change. #OccupyHarambeeAvenue is an indictment of the state of our civic-mindedness. It is an admission that our institutions, in which we have expended much national treasure, are mere facades for the inexhaustible greed that plunders and pillages behind the scenes.

This administration, if that is what it is, has conquered the public relations battlefield. It has managed to place the Presidency - both the President and his deputy - at the centre of every important national conversation without revealing what they both think about important national matters. This administrations online communications strategy is unparalleled but the value of political information available to the public ranks somewhere near junk level. There is very little that we know about what this administration's long term plans for our safety are, even after press conferences headlined by the two to cavil against yet another massacre.

The institutional reforms Kenyans prayed for have come to an end. There is one truth about our government, a harsh one too. It's purpose is to collect revenue by whatever means - and to spend with the abandon of a sailor on shore leave after six months at sea. Take the re-branding of the National Youth Service. Part of what we know about it is that it was the result of a consultancy to advise on the future of the NYS. We do not know who the consultants were, we do not know what they recommended, and we do not know how much they were paid. We are not even sure that their services were procured in accordance with the law. What we know is that this administration intends to expend billions in the re-branding of the NYS.

Our safety has been forgotten in the escalating national security crisis. The border between Kenya and Somalia has been porous for decades. This administration is not being told something new. Mwai Kibaki's administration invaded Somalia to ensure that the porous border did not continue to be a threat to national security. The initial battlefield successes were welcomed by Kenyans. Then the politicians started whingeing about the unpaid bills for the operation, which is well into its fourth year now. How much we have spent on the adventure remains unknown, how much we have been paid on the adventure remains unknown, and how much our defence forces have made from trading in charcoal remains unknown. But despite the operation, the border remains porous, bandits seem to be able to attack with impunity, and scores of Kenyans fall victim to the bullets of merciless killers.

There isn't a Kenyan alive who does not believe that those in charge of our safety have failed us. They have failed to keep us safe. Their policies have made our lives riskier. You cannot use public transport without whispering a silent prayer that you should reach your destination in safety. You cannot work late in the office without praying that gangsters will not be waiting to prey on them on their way home. You cannot purchase goods at the market without wondering if they are safe to use. You cannot even worship without wondering whether your pastor is a thief! That is how unsafe we have become. The responsibility for our safety is a collective one, but there is only one man who can ensure that we all pull together but he is busy taking pictures of himself and watching car races in foreign countries.