It has been three weeks since I last wrote to you. No, I have not retired my pen. Rather I have spent the last few weeks in deep reflection about Africa in general, and Kenya in particular. What does a writer like me contribute to Africa’s development? Of what relevance are the opinions of a Kenyan Commoner who is trying to understand the politics of a country gone mad?
Perhaps there is truth in the frequently expressed view that folks like me are clueless about the realities on the ground, and the ground here being the sanctuary of our politicians. A very high ranking officer in the office of the vice president told me as much when we shared a drink sometimes last year. He thought I was out of touch and my political ideologies about the Kenya we live in today were tiresome ramblings that had no place in the modern Kenya. At one time during our drinking he told me that I was living in Ngugi wa Thiongo’s age!
Oh yes, during the days when I was a passionate supporter of the vice president and his political party, many of his courtiers, including this officer, cheered me on as a “well-informed voice of reason,” and a representative of the new face of Kenyan politics! However, their view understandably changed the moment I broke ranks with the vice president and his political party. From then on I knew nothing about Kenyan politics. I became young and inexperienced and couldn’t comment about our politics. I did not take those comments seriously, of course. Indeed I took great pleasure in telling whoever cared to listen that such comments were a reflection of how much my ideology had hit a raw nerve in certain quarters. Now I am no longer so sure.
Perhaps these folks were right after all. I don’t think I know my country anymore. First, there is this grand coalition thing called the government that is in shambles. In spite of the evidence to the contrary, everybody, including those opposing it, pretend that they are operating a united government. Clearly, I am not the only one who sees this. Many folks I have spoken with during my social outings have agreed that we don’t have a government in the strict sense of the word. Ours is a den of politicians with their own political agendas that cannot be used to serve the common Mwananchi.
This reminds me of an episode sometimes in April. I was standing at my local bus stop waiting to board a Matatu home. The fare to my destination had hiked by more than 100%, as it is the norm in our great city. As a result the place was parked with passengers as they waited for the rush hour to end, hoping that the fare will reduce to a manageable level. Anyway, as we stand there waiting, this man, he was drunk, passes by, stops for a while and stares at us as if we are lost, shakes his head and then says; “you shall know how to vote.”
We all laughed at him; clearly we thought that he had lost it but our laughter suggested otherwise. It was laughter of a resigned acceptance of substandard social services for the majority even as the political elite we had elected into office were awarding themselves wads of cash to feed their insatiable appetites for ostentatious lifestyles. Here we were, waiting in the darkness of the night for bus fare to go down while our politicians were somewhere squabbling over non issues!
Whenever people narrated horrifying experiences in IDP camps, under-staffed and under-equipped hospitals and others starving to death, I would point out that the millions of shillings that the Vice President and some ministers had used in the so-called shuttle diplomacy to save the “Ocampo Six” Little wonder then that Kenyan politicians, contemptuous of their fellow citizens, bask in cynical politics. They do not have to do much to get re-elected. I bet by 2012, we would have forgotten the horrors of 2008 and the suffering the current crop of politicians have subjected us to. We will be there, come next year, to recycle these demagogues back into our system and start whining, almost immediately, after the elections that we have been short changed again!
This cynical politics is typified by an attempt by our politicians to derail the smooth implementation of the new constitution. Look for example at the ongoing debate on the suitability of our new Judicial Officers! Do you think we should let our politicians be the movers of our destiny as Kenyans? I don’t think so and I am looking forward to the day we shall collectively rise as Kenyans of the new generation and say no to sacrilege!
No comments:
Post a Comment