Waiguru risks damaging political drum

The goat that destroys the musical drum, the old saying goes, pays with its own life. This is because by chewing the skin threads it destroys the traditional equipment and soon a new hide will be needed for replacement.

There are many goats, at least analogously among us, destroying the musical drum nearest them and soon they will be paying with their lives. And mind you we’re not talking about the genre Wahome Mutahi used to call ‘Mogotio Goats’.

We learnt this week that Anne Waiguru may be headed for bigger things; yet another proof she is no ordinary woman.

Some executive in the anti-graft agency who we trust we have insulated sufficiently with the blanket of independence and tenure of office, writes (not calling or seinding) to the man nearest to President Uhuru Kenyatta’s ear to report the status of her ‘case’.

Yes, and she is cleared of the Sh791 million probe at the National Youth Service. But a while earlier we had learnt that she would be running for the Nairobi governor’s seat.

At the same time, Kenya Ports Authority’s top management including the Chief Executive are sent home because of the stench of corruption hanging around the KPA yard.

Also, in the nation of double standards, somewhere in the Rift Valley, two friends of Deputy President William Ruto – Davis Chirchir and Felix Koskei – are reminiscing over the short stint in Cabinet. Two problems though; Mr Koskei has not been charged over the lease of a 100-acre State land potato farm.

Mr Chirchir is featuring on the list of chaps who ate the chicken drumsticks in UK’s graft bust. No one has cleared or hauled them to court, even though theirs was an older case. But life has to go on.

And the DP has picked another set of friends to fly the flag. Not that Ms Waiguru is necessarily guilty or that she is unfit to hold office. But then her juniors, including former Principal Secretary Peter Mangiti and former NYS Director Nelson Githinji, are in court and the charges certainly speak volumes about the rot in the ministry and the service.

But for the gracious and special lady who has moved from whistleblower to witness, then suspect whose home was raided and her shelves, drawers, handbags and children’s books ransacked, someone seems to have made up his mind that the juniors are to blame.

If she didn’t fail to safeguard our resources then she may have taken the wrong oath or job when we saw her take up the Bible before Mr Kenyatta and Mr Ruto.

So is it because she is a woman, our sisters would ask? My answer is simple; those forced aside earlier including Chris Murungaru, Kiraitu Murungi, David Mwiraria under President Kibaki, and even Mr Nicholas Biwott, under President Moi were men! Except for Charity Ngilu, the rest of the brood forced to step aside to face graft investigations by Mr Kenyatta were men.

Also consider the fact that in the same week that Ms Waiguru came out of hibernation just after a few weeks of going under, another lady who humiliated, degraded and insulted a security guard at Village Market, who says we should now refer her to as Dr Nancy Barasa, came out of the cocoon of silence. She literally chewed her tongue talking about miscommunication and being misunderstood by the lady guard.

But give it to her, she took responsibility for her actions. And even though she appeared dodgy on some of the pertinent questions on her conduct that day, she impressed some of us with her simplicity and humility ( a new streak in her indeed for even she admitted she is naturally a very forceful person).

Some other men and women are in the ‘freezer’, but they have chosen a strategy different from Ms Waiguru, who has rubbed her nose on the nation’s face even before the blot against her name dries.

We expect Ms Waiguru and her ilk ought to be sensitive to the fact that however innocent she thinks she is, Kenyans still want to know who was the sentry post when the kraal was unbolted and our cows stolen.

Even if she did not touch a coin, she must be sensitive to the plight of Kenyans who in their suffering feel that it is because of corruption.

Graft as we know thrives because of three things: lack of political will to fight it; selective application of the instruments of investigation and prosecution; and finally, temerity by those in whose dockets millions are stolen and/or squandered to behave as if that was merely fouling of the air around us.

One would have thought Ms Waiguru’s conscience and those of her VIP backer(s) would be pricked. Even in the village, the boy who loses part of his parent’s herd knows he will eat last and not a glass of milk will he get that day.

Just like the analogous goat chewing the strands holding the drums, and having decided to throw her hat into the political ring, soon Ms Waiguru will be bleating... for that is the nature of politics. Welcome to the political arena, Ms Waiguru.