This is not tapo.

A missed step here and there, but the steady march to greatness is back on track. Where did you get the idea that electric vibrators, overpriced condom dispensers, really overpriced pens, pianos or Hi-Def TVs were the way to go?  When hundreds of millions have failed to stop the inevitable, what gave you the idea that these other things would? I seriously hope you did not "pray" over this or live in that world of fantasy where what Baba wants, Baba gets.

Every regime has its hallowed grounds, and this one is no different. Under the First One, "lands and settlements" was hallowed ground and not even the socialists like Kung'u Karumba, Bildad Kaggia, JM Kariuki or Pio Gama Pinto walked on it in safety. The Second Guy, more or less, turned the State Corporations Act into a carte blanche over the Consolidated Fund. The Sleepy-Hands-Off Guy essentially had two: "I have only one family" and wherever his frighteningly effective Capo di Capo, John Michuki, decided to settle his hindparts. This regime has that massive sprawling edifice known as Devolution and Planning.

The sub rosa combat in the Ministry is finally getting down to brass tacks. This is some Spy vs. Spy stuff, with "leaks" and "incorrect formats" as the preferred weapons of choice. Buck-passing is a perfected art when things go awry. That much-maligned sub-species called "those procurement people" and the other called "juniour officers" are the pawns in this 3-D chess game. But, one way or the other, the principals must unsheath their swords and either strike or fall on them.

One thing is sure to be certain: if there are fingerprints to be found in misappropriations, misuses, abuses of office, and such like, they will not belong to the principals. Some other pawn will be sacrificed. The lessons from the JSC vs. Shollei debacle have been learned. No senior public official is going to let a trail of paperwork bring them to their knees. Casualties of this thing will be many and farflung. 

But the most pitiable of casualties will be those whose livelihoods depend on the gravy train keeping on chugging. Small cash transfers have been affected. Socialites' trips to Dubai have been curtailed significantly. Rent-boys have had to innovate to continue living in the manner to which they have become accustomed. Used car yards of doubtful integrity have cut back on orders. The taxman and his minions faces a lifestyle audit. The fallout, good people, will have a ripple effect that upends the whole cosmological order.

I worry that it might finally galvanise the unhinged to take extreme measures. This is not a place where the strong and the competent of the feminine persuasion have been treated with respect for long. The Iron Lady of Gichugu can attest to that. But given that this Iron Lady seems to have support in certain citadels, it might compel the unhinged to greater unhingedness. You can tell that they are losing it even more when they come up with wild suggestions about constitutional amendments of little to commend them except perhaps the opportunity for the unhinged to "capture power." Someone better tell them that this is not a version of Capture the Flag...or Tapo!