It is a conflict.

I am familiar, slightly so, with the concept of "conflict of interest." I have yet to encounter a situation where I would have to declare a conflict; that, I am afraid, is the lot of a late-blooming lawyer. But I have seen the lengths to which men will go to avoid having to admit that they indeed suffer a conflict in their dealings. It is not just in our corruptly perfidious corridors of power that conflicts are elided with alacrity; anyone with eyes should examine the House of Lords of the United Kingdom and stare in wonder at how the rules are bent when a Peer of the Realm is involved. This, though, is not an excoriation of the hypocritical British.

In Kenya, for example, if you examine the tourism sector, the agriculture, the banking sector, the insurance sector, the communications sector or the transport sector, one is shocked by the conflicts of interest that abound in the national Executive. Men and women in a position to influence policies in these sectors have incredibly large stakes in those very sectors. These are men and women in a position to direct how a particular rule will be enforced, how a particular privilege will be granted or how a particular commercial dispute will be decided.

It is now not so difficult to understand why there are sacred cows in the commercial, private sector. The deities that offer them comfort in the harsh business environment sit in places of some influence. We have been fed, and we have never questioned, the fiction that everyone declares their conflicts up front, and steers clear of matters that would affect their holdings. We have been assured that insider dealing is severely punished. That is if it even occurs. We haven't bothered to determine the veracity of these really long tales.

What makes these conflicts really special is that managing them is done with a nod, a wink and a smile. (With Ebola still raging menacingly, handshakes have been suspended for the foreseeable future.) No one actually goes out of their way to ensure that their interests are protected, unless it becomes explicitly clear that some factotum did not get the memo. Especially if one is a "senior" position, it is as if his fiefdom is primed to cater for his every conflict without troubling him with a decision. Rule-changes are made that mandarins know will not offend him; privileges are granted that mandarins know will benefit, and please, him. When queries are raised in some uninformed quarters, or rent-seeking ones, he will feign shock - SHOCK! - that "such a thing could have happened" and he will order an inquiry to find out "just what is going on her."

How do you think no-compete contracts are awarded? Why do you think that the most favourite phrase in all of public procurement is a battle between "single-sourcing" and "security docket"? Conflicts of interest are the bureaucratic equivalent of never letting crises go to waste, for it is in these moments in flux that the very idea of declaring ones conflicts flies out of the window. In moments of crisis, a conflict-riven man will finally get to build that block of flats in Kileleshwa or Lavington without having to trouble the county's planning department, or he will finally get to take his entire family and mistress too for an extended holiday in California or some similarly decadent destination.

Conflicts of interest guarantee that all talk of reform remains talk only. The most ardent reformer is likely the one with the gravest conflict, having decided to sweep out one Augean stable so that he can fill it with his rose-scented, gold-flaked shit. Look at our former reformers and shield your eyes against the brilliance of their intellect at having succeeded in committing bureaucratic murder without getting too much blood on the hands - certainly none on their linen suits. Wastrels who used to scream slogans in Kamukunji now swan about in five-car motorcades and live in multi-acred spreads in Karen or Tigoni.

Those who have eyes will certainly see. Do you think that the battle between those with conflicts in the tourism sector and those who have conflicts in the security sector will be resolved without more Kenyans getting bombed, shot, stabbed, stripped or raped? I hope so. These sorts of conflicts are playing out in the open now. Look for the clues, for they are everywhere. we call it 'reform"; some others say it is "corruption fighting back." What it is is a vicious battle to control the largest purse's strings with little or no oversight. Not even from troublesome consciences.