The 10th Parliament in Kenya

The 10^th Parliament in Kenya 4^th February 2009

Yesterday, 3^rd February 2009, I was impressed by the calibre of debate in the House as captured on Television. I came to appreciate the effect of live coverage in this age and time when things appear elephant for Kenya . It makes it easy for the electorate to separate the chaff from the grain.

Of particular interest to me was the Constitutional Amendment debate that seeks to entrench the Waki Report in the Constitution in as far as setting of the Tribunal to try those adversely mentioned in the Report.

The Second reading was moved by Hon Martha Karua and seconded by Hon James Orengo. Immediately thereafter, Hon Danston Buya Mungatana took to the floor and made my day. He implored parliament not to entrench the said Amendment in the Constitution because the whole process was flowed and in bad taste. And he had all the right reasons.

His argument was sound. We have had several Commissions whose results have never been made public. We have used these Commissions as safety valves to reduce the pressure from the public as we launder the offenders. People who masterminded the worst of scams in Kenya are currently senior members in this Government. People who were accomplices to the worst scams in Kenya are sitting pretty in the Civil Service. People who have brought down Kenya in the last 46 years are still calling the shots in Government.

Honestly, we are where we are simply because of these people. As the world is changing and going hi-tech in terms of service delivery, these people are also going hi-tech in terms of thievery. They steal in a manner that cannot be detected; not even those who refund money to the Treasury can be detected and named!

Setting another Tribunal now is just business as usual. They have always escaped with it, and now, Parliament must not be used to enable them cheat us again. Besides, as Hon Mungatana said, the country needs urgent intervention in the food situation. The money that this monolith of a Tribunal will need to set it up is the kind of money that can secure food for many Kenyans now.

If we had a sound situation in which we can proudly point to as a consequence of the setting up of a Commission, Kenyans could not have been this impaired. We could all have had faith in its setting because we could all have known that justice will be done. But the history of such creations speaks for itself.

Commissions have been used in Kenya to cover Grand Theft by Government officials and time has come when Kenyans from all walks of life must call on their respective Members of Parliament to vote against this thing. Those who think that it must be business as usual must be stopped in their tracks.

I was more so impressed by the MP for Limuru, Hon David Ngugi, who pointed out the sad scenario that followed on the death of the Hon Robert Ouko when all witnesses were systematically eliminated one by one. How sure are we that the same would not happen now when this Tribunal is set up in Kenya ? The Executive wants the soft way out and they must not be granted this.

They are the simply reason for continued impunity in Kenya .

They must face the world and be shamed and convicted for crimes against humanity. And the media must give us this advantage. Many Kenyans were killed, most killed by the Kenya Police. How will the Police prosecute their own?

The political elite have taken Kenya and Kenyans for granted for too long. Time has come when we must all follow the proceedings of the House and pass judgement accordingly. That is why the Executive have created many amorphous bodies to fight corruption. The simple reason is to set the bodies against each other to enable the Grand Theft to continue unabated in government.

The Executive have no intentions of fighting graft and impunity in Kenya . This is their fodder.

How can Kenya suffer food shortage at this age in time? When countries such as Somali have enough to feed their citizens? It is sad that a country such as Somali that has had no government since 1991 is able to feed itself amidst the bandits and pirates, while in Kenya , a country that has been stable politically for all the 46 years of Independence , has a serious issue with feeding her people.

Something must be terribly wrong. Or the leaders have simply lost it. They had no idea at leadership and as such mistook leadership to be synonymous with thievery.

Time has come for the Middle Class to rise up and be counted, not on the basis of tribal support, but on the basis of issues national. We owe it to Kenya that we want.

Odhiambo T Oketch,

Komarock Nairobi.