Public shouldn't pay for leaders' mistakes

The nation is increasingly sliding into unpredictable times. It is becoming almost impossible for individuals and organisations to be sure of accessing or continuing to hold what rightly belongs to them.

We recently witnessed innocent children being tear-gassed in the full glare of cameras evocative of the scenes in the musical movie, Sarafina, depicting the 1976 Soweto uprising in South Africa.

What would warrant little ones to demonstrate? They were struggling to reclaim a piece of land that has for years been their playing ground.

Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu and National Land Commission (NLC) chairman Muhammad Swazuri confirmed documents available indicate the playing ground belongs to Lang'ata Primary School.

The public is left wondering under whose authority a "Berlin wall" was erected to seal off innocent kids from their playing ground.

It would have been admirable if Lang'ata police boss Elijah Mwangi had dispatched officers to prevent the erection of the wall as opposed to coming to lob tear-gas canisters at children.

Was it really necessary for the authority to play "let's wait and see" games? Such a game only makes people think it was the proverbial tactic of testing the depth of waters using one leg.

In that case, that land would have become the property of the private developer whose identity or colour of blood remains a puzzle to many despite Ngilu linking it to directors whose names end with Singh.

The Lang'ata piece of land speaks volumes. It is representative of so many things that 'grabbers' keep taking from Kenyans. Others may not have hit headlines but it is a truly worrying trend in Kenya where citizens have to struggle to access virtually everything.

Recently, there was the Form One intake. As I had pointed out in my previous commentary, the merit list having been withheld from the public and corruption bleeding in almost all sectors of the country, parents had all reason to be worried about the whole exercise.

As fate would have it, there are cries from students whose dreams for quality education hang in balance having failed to secure a place in Form One despite attaining good results. It appears to secure a place in Form One, parents must be well networked.

Organisations continue to cry foul over back-door politics used to win tenders. It is not surprising that international audit firm Ernst and Young, in a report released in November last year, found that Kenya's private sector is listed among the world's most corrupt.

 

With one in every three Kenyan companies surveyed admitting to having had to pay bribes in order to win contracts, there seems to be no space for companies which believe in transparency.

Companies face unfair competition, especially in winning tenders and most of them have to factor in the cost of corruption if they are to succeed in the Kenyan market.

Health, education and security are essential in every society. It would be expected that for any society to grow, the three are well addressed. But access to these services is still restricted.

Teachers and nurses strikes have become customary. Despite Kenyatta National and Moi Referral Hospitals being significant to so many Kenyans, strikes keep grounding service.

It is not surprising to see the battles that media industry is fighting. From the dark ages where journalists would be arrested to the now controversial digital migration, it has never been a walk in the park.

Media space has constantly come under attack. The media has been blamed for so many things unjustly.

The Media Owners Association (MOA) has been forced to engage the government in protracted court battles with hope of accessing fair competition in the wake of digital migration.

Most of the policy makers seem to float in confusion similar to that experienced by a gentleman sleeping on a bed too short and a blanket too narrow to wrap himself in.

Kenyans have been forced to demonstrate in order to get access to most things, including those they have a right to like health.

No wonder even pupils are beginning to believe that nothing happens unless some form of protest is involved.