August 8 will be our last chance to root out graft

That our politicians have become the butt of jokes speaks volumes of the contempt they are held in by open-minded Kenyans.

A popular joke going around is, “If one politician falls into a river and dies it will be a simple case of pollution. If all of them meet the same fate simultaneously that will be the solution.”

It might sound callous, but it speaks volumes of public perception of their political leaders.

The thoroughly corrupt model of governance that we experience today is what has become of the idealistic vision we created for ourselves while enacting our Constitution in 2010.

Whereas our Constitution contains the most laudable ideals collected from across the world, these have been completely blacked out by greed and corruption.

The single vision of most of our leaders seems to be how to convert every constitutional and governance mechanism into a means of retaining power and amassing wealth; how to substitute national development and prosperity with systematic plunder of the nation’s assets and resources for personal gain.

Systematic national plunder of the scale that we have repeatedly been witnessing during the past few years cannot happen unless there is a criminal partnership between politicians in power, crony capitalists and poodle bureaucrats.

The common denominator of these three is corruption.

The next election will be a crossroad for the people of Kenya. It will give them an opportunity to decide the future course of the country. It will determine whether we can bring back the ideals of patriotism, national interest and prosperity of the people at the forefront of the national agenda.

It shall determine whether we can cleanse and correct our national destiny and bring governance back to serving the needs of the people and the country. Such a cleansing will require a strong, committed leadership that can inspire support from the people in its corruption-free mission.

Democracy is like a swimming pool; if you do not change water at regular intervals it will turn into a cesspool. Such a cesspool is now a tragic reality of Kenyan politics. It is up to you, my brothers and sisters to clean it up.

The next leader must address several major challenges facing the country.

Majority of us, particularly the poor, are directly afflicted by the emergency a crisis of high food prices, double digit inflation, and increasing hunger.

Through uncontrolled spiraling food prices of the last few years,the government deliberately created a huge vote bank of the hungry Kenyans who it is now wooing with relief food. Why else did they refuse to release grains from the National Cereals and Produce Board warehouses into the market over the last few years, to stabilise down prices?

Then there is the crisis of corruption. Whereas the first act for rooting out corruption requires the removal of the corrupt from seats of power, it also requires that the persons who replace them are not corrupt, and do not become corrupt after they come to power.

Next, political cronyism that has evolved into an acceptable administrative norm over the years must be demolished and replaced by rule of law.

Stringent norms of accountability and prompt punishment for corruption will convey the seriousness of government’s intent. This is doable, if backed by political will.