Folks,
It is that season of madness once more in our lives.
We have been through this season several times before, but with each passing year, it becomes complex and the common man is left stranded with no clue about what hit him- him because in the Bible, we are all either He or Him. Him will then be inclusive of all gender.
Immediately after our Independence in 1963, the stakes were high, high to the standards of the '60s. That was the time we were to set clear priorities for Mother Kenya. Some efforts were made towards lifting Kenya out of Poverty, Ignorance and Disease. But sooner, this was discarded for the softer options, where man made off with what he was entrusted to hold in trust of the people. Many of our leaders, the Mr-Know-It-All kind, set in motion a process that seemed like race against time with whom becomes the richest.
Much of our Prime Land was taken.
Business at variance with work ethics sprouted up.
And Kenya started sinking slowly. Our leaders learnt that they could eat Kenya, and they set forth.
Our leaders started becoming rich at an alarming rate. And our Country started sinking into debt.
We had set in motion a process that would come to hound and devour us later in life.
No one raised an objection. And if you raised an objection, you were dealt with efficiently and ruthlessly. All present went to the dining table with huge bowls; it did not matter what you got- soup, oxtail, the tummies, the skin- all was dish. And we started elbowing ourselves, each trying to catch the eyes of the Chef. For in him we had started creating a demi-god whose howl meant life or death.
And Mother Kenya was relegated to the back banners.
With time, our national sense of patriotism was also relegated and the word shame erased from our vocabulary. Such were the times one would evict a whole family and take their land purely for speculative purposes. And none raised a voice. And it reminded me of Martin Nimoller in Germany- when he kept quiet as his neighbours were getting rounded up.
When they came for the Christians, he kept quiet for he was not a Christian. When they came for the teachers, he kept quiet for he was not a teacher. And it went on till they came for him. And by that time, there was no one to fight for him. That is the nightmare we are saddled with now.
When our leaders started messing with Kenya, we all kept quiet. We kept quiet because we were Teachers, we were Doctors, we were Lawyers, we were Engineers and all that. And they were our tribesmen.They have now taken everything and now, they are coming for our lives. And they do not care.
The sad case is, they have increased their own pay to an extent that all Professionals are now begging the politicians. All other professions do not pay now. It is only politics that pay. And it it is so because we all kept quiet as they started eating our lives.
Kenya is at crossroads. Everything is not working except parliament. And parliament is on a self destruction mode and the people must now stand up and say no. We have seen enough of this greedy lot.
We all know that you can not sit and determine your own pay. But in Kenya, our Members of Parliament sit comfortably to adjust their own pay to levels they want, the strains on the economy not withstanding. It is this massive greed from our Members of Parliament that has led to the kind of agitation we are now faced with as a Country, where each sector is striking for a pay rise.
How sad is it that a Professor, a fountain of knowledge, is being paid a salary that a Minister in Government pays his House Maid?
How come, a Doctor, one who saves lives is being paid what an MP pays his Guard?
How come, a Teacher, one who moulds us to what we are, is being paid an equivalent of what an MP pays his cook?
These are the issues that are driving Kenyans crazy, and I have no doubt in my mind, that time for reckoning has come.Maybe all Kenyans should strike to ensure that some sanity is brought back to Parliament and their salaries reduced by half.
The greed of our leaders has relegated Service Delivery to the back banners. Our roads are pathetic. When driving across Kenya, it is like you have been sent on a death fight. If you come back a live, you pray to your God. You do not thank the Government for having utilized your taxes well, for we do not have a metre of any smooth road. All our Roads are patched and rusty.
Our school curriculum is in shreds, but who cares.
There is no medicine in our Hospitals, but who cares.
The cost of drinking water per litre is more expensive than Petrol, but who cares.
Garbage is nowadays competing for space with our roads, and in our neighbourhoods. Yet, we have departments in Government who are supposed to keep our Cities and neighbourhoods clean. They have chosen the easier option- dumping waste on us.
But all this is because, we as a people, have also chosen the easier options. We have resorted to the culture of handouts in electing leadership. We chose known thieves, pimps and drug lords to be our leaders, just because they come to us with lots of money.
We have refused to ask the hard questions and we have opted to be nappy kids, praising leaders from morning till evening. We are driving Kenya fast into the grave with our tribal thinking, where because I am a Luo, I must vote for a Luo. If I am a Kikiuyu, I must vote for a Kikuyu, If I am a Kalenjin, I must vote for a Kalenjin.
We have mortgaged our principles and thrown shame out of the window.
Can we wake up from the slumber, for the Season of Anomy is once again here with us- each to his own house. And not even a thought for Mother Kenya.
Odhiambo T Oketch,
Komarock Nairobi.
It is that season of madness once more in our lives.
We have been through this season several times before, but with each passing year, it becomes complex and the common man is left stranded with no clue about what hit him- him because in the Bible, we are all either He or Him. Him will then be inclusive of all gender.
Immediately after our Independence in 1963, the stakes were high, high to the standards of the '60s. That was the time we were to set clear priorities for Mother Kenya. Some efforts were made towards lifting Kenya out of Poverty, Ignorance and Disease. But sooner, this was discarded for the softer options, where man made off with what he was entrusted to hold in trust of the people. Many of our leaders, the Mr-Know-It-All kind, set in motion a process that seemed like race against time with whom becomes the richest.
Much of our Prime Land was taken.
Business at variance with work ethics sprouted up.
And Kenya started sinking slowly. Our leaders learnt that they could eat Kenya, and they set forth.
Our leaders started becoming rich at an alarming rate. And our Country started sinking into debt.
We had set in motion a process that would come to hound and devour us later in life.
No one raised an objection. And if you raised an objection, you were dealt with efficiently and ruthlessly. All present went to the dining table with huge bowls; it did not matter what you got- soup, oxtail, the tummies, the skin- all was dish. And we started elbowing ourselves, each trying to catch the eyes of the Chef. For in him we had started creating a demi-god whose howl meant life or death.
And Mother Kenya was relegated to the back banners.
With time, our national sense of patriotism was also relegated and the word shame erased from our vocabulary. Such were the times one would evict a whole family and take their land purely for speculative purposes. And none raised a voice. And it reminded me of Martin Nimoller in Germany- when he kept quiet as his neighbours were getting rounded up.
When they came for the Christians, he kept quiet for he was not a Christian. When they came for the teachers, he kept quiet for he was not a teacher. And it went on till they came for him. And by that time, there was no one to fight for him. That is the nightmare we are saddled with now.
When our leaders started messing with Kenya, we all kept quiet. We kept quiet because we were Teachers, we were Doctors, we were Lawyers, we were Engineers and all that. And they were our tribesmen.They have now taken everything and now, they are coming for our lives. And they do not care.
The sad case is, they have increased their own pay to an extent that all Professionals are now begging the politicians. All other professions do not pay now. It is only politics that pay. And it it is so because we all kept quiet as they started eating our lives.
Kenya is at crossroads. Everything is not working except parliament. And parliament is on a self destruction mode and the people must now stand up and say no. We have seen enough of this greedy lot.
We all know that you can not sit and determine your own pay. But in Kenya, our Members of Parliament sit comfortably to adjust their own pay to levels they want, the strains on the economy not withstanding. It is this massive greed from our Members of Parliament that has led to the kind of agitation we are now faced with as a Country, where each sector is striking for a pay rise.
How sad is it that a Professor, a fountain of knowledge, is being paid a salary that a Minister in Government pays his House Maid?
How come, a Doctor, one who saves lives is being paid what an MP pays his Guard?
How come, a Teacher, one who moulds us to what we are, is being paid an equivalent of what an MP pays his cook?
These are the issues that are driving Kenyans crazy, and I have no doubt in my mind, that time for reckoning has come.Maybe all Kenyans should strike to ensure that some sanity is brought back to Parliament and their salaries reduced by half.
The greed of our leaders has relegated Service Delivery to the back banners. Our roads are pathetic. When driving across Kenya, it is like you have been sent on a death fight. If you come back a live, you pray to your God. You do not thank the Government for having utilized your taxes well, for we do not have a metre of any smooth road. All our Roads are patched and rusty.
Our school curriculum is in shreds, but who cares.
There is no medicine in our Hospitals, but who cares.
The cost of drinking water per litre is more expensive than Petrol, but who cares.
Garbage is nowadays competing for space with our roads, and in our neighbourhoods. Yet, we have departments in Government who are supposed to keep our Cities and neighbourhoods clean. They have chosen the easier option- dumping waste on us.
But all this is because, we as a people, have also chosen the easier options. We have resorted to the culture of handouts in electing leadership. We chose known thieves, pimps and drug lords to be our leaders, just because they come to us with lots of money.
We have refused to ask the hard questions and we have opted to be nappy kids, praising leaders from morning till evening. We are driving Kenya fast into the grave with our tribal thinking, where because I am a Luo, I must vote for a Luo. If I am a Kikiuyu, I must vote for a Kikuyu, If I am a Kalenjin, I must vote for a Kalenjin.
We have mortgaged our principles and thrown shame out of the window.
Can we wake up from the slumber, for the Season of Anomy is once again here with us- each to his own house. And not even a thought for Mother Kenya.
Odhiambo T Oketch,
Komarock Nairobi.
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