We should not let this cartel culture kill our nation’s soul

Henry Munene

We have just under one year to the next General Election. Slightly over a month ago, then Chief Justice Willy Mutunga famously bowed out of office to pave way for the forthcoming momentous polls. It was a historic breakaway from time-honoured Kenyan tradition; you know, we’d rather die than leave office of our own volition. Before he paved way for a new Judiciary head, Dr Mutunga warned us that Kenya is in the vice-like grip of the underworld.

In other words, the mafia-like cartels that hold the four aces of the economy, politics, business and the law will take much more than Jubilee’s spin and CORD’s populism to break. Before Mutunga, President Uhuru Kenyatta pointed to his office and let us in on the unsettling fact that the tenderprenuers had woven their cobwebs there as well. Below these two high offices lies everyday evidence that institutions meant to serve the country may have at one time been sabotaged for narrow ends.