“In Kenya, leadership is an opportunity and not a service. It is an opportunity to grab, get rich- stinking rich, and lord it over the masses.”
By NZAU MUSAU
DESPITE numerous petitions on the two professors- Karega Mutahi and Sam Ongeri to quit office over corruption scandal in their docket, the two have maintained they will stay put.
They will not budge because this is political witch-hunt engineered by their enemies to finish them and their people!
But was not this expected? Do Kenyans really hope these men will be graceful enough to voluntarily resign? Is resignation part of the Kenyan culture? Is political leadership in Kenya a form of service?
Kenyan political leaders do not resign, they are forced to resign. In other words, resignations are pushed through by ordinary Kenyans through civil action which inflames the bosses who in turn give word that its time to go.
Remember the cases of the stoic David Mwiraria or the unlikable Kiraitu Murungi who dramatically resigned with a Bible quotation? Remember the case of the mocking Amos Kimunya, he of the “I’d rather die than resign” statement?
Or even more recent, remember the case of Shakespeare-quoting Aaron Ringera? It cost the country weeks of intense public debate, parliamentary censure and disownment by the board for him to quit.
And mark you, that was a judge, a most honorable judge who once chaired the integrity committee of judiciary! That should tell you that we should expect no less from the two professors although writing in the SN today, Philip Ochieng’ says they should behave differently.
In Kenya, leadership is an opportunity and not a service. It is an opportunity to grab, get rich- stinking rich, and lord it over the masses. In Kenya, leadership knows no values and integrity is an alien virtue.
There can be no values in Kenyan leadership when what the people present for leadership are the most despicable lot in the society; the moneyed, the corrupt, the known thieves, the immoral, the wheeler-dealers, the most wicked lot.
And since this lot cannot profess values as accountability, the responsibility falls back on the people to beat them into line when the opportunity presents itself. In the last few years, Kenyans have shown that they can exercise this important role.
Accordingly, they should not let the gains slip back. The standards must be kept as the country struggles to cleanse itself of generational ineptitude, theft and immorality. It is significant to note that the 10th parliament is composed of a more focused lot than previous one.
Incrementally and over time, Kenya will cleanse the practice of politics and instill proper values in leadership. This is why we should not worry so much at such antics as displayed by Ongeri and Mutahi because they belong to the past.
The future of Kenya is not this bleak as exemplified by these two professors. It is a bright one and where the citizens will claim their space in determining the direction of politics and leadership.
But as I said, that future will be attained by securing the incremental gains garnered over time and through struggles of ordinary men of this country. And that includes sustained pressure on leaders to perform and account for their ways.
The future I am talking about will require a lot of civic education to impress on politically apathetic society that this country has become, to take charge of the political bus. It will require the knowledge of the ordinary Kenyan that politics and its practice is the most important activity around their lives.
In the meantime, our half-hearted approach and concern for politics will continue to cost us and benefit the select few who know how lucrative this venture is in the midst of a sleepy citizenry.
Ends………./.
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