Beneficiaries of state largesse should bear their discomfort stoically

As abruptly as it rose, the latest Luhya unity dirge died. Sulking opposition leaders from the Luhya nation chose their default fallback position as they often do whenever they get upstaged nationally. This, despite the fact that they lack the chutzpah to realise their cherished dream. What triggered the mournful song was the March 9, 2018 handshake between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Raila Odinga.

For all the shouting they did, some of the Luhya leaders soon discovered they could as well have been whistling in the wind. But you can give it them; they love singing, howling and cajoling.

Today, a certain tune emanating from a neighbouring county has taken their fancy.

Forget that Sirisia MP John Walukwe has a pending corruption case; he would rather join the chorus by some Kalenjin leaders that their community is being targeted in the anti-corruption purge.

Whenever matters come to a head, retreating to the tribal cocoon, attempting to whip public emotions over non-issues is a favourite pastime of the feckless Kenyan politician. And so it turns out that when the purge of the corrupt is rattling and steamrolling those in its path, leaders like Samson Cherargei, the Nandi County senator who is fast becoming the quintessential rabble-rouser, are trying to find political relevancy by mischievously crying foul.

But, is the loquacious senator able to explain how Kalenjin farmers in the Rift Valley, suffering huge loses after being trapped in the Sh2 billion maize scam orchestrated by their kin; those who should have looked after their interests, are targets in the war on corruption? How many members of the Kalenjin community find themselves in financial strait jackets because the Government and the National Cereals and Produce Board failed them? Does Cherargei speak for them too?

National resources

Adage has it that what goes around comes around. From the outset, President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto reveled in the winner-takes-it-all attitude after clinching the presidency in 2013. They had scores to settle and debts to pay. Despite public outrage over lack of equity in public appointments and sharing in national resources, the duo went on a binge, rewarding cronies and loyalists. To boards of parastatals and other government institutions were appointed, mostly, members from the duo’s communities. Maybe we shouldn’t begrudge them that, because it is a culture we had internalised. The point of departure is that they were not circumspect in their choices and a complicit rubber-stamp parliament aided them in defeating the provisions of Chapter 6 of the Constitution on integrity. Now that the chickens are coming home to roost, beneficiaries of state largesse should bear the discomfort stoically.

The Government is reaping the fruits of the philosophy of cronyism, tribalism and nepotism as a mode of governance. The consideration of these vices precluded consideration for competence and fidelity to duty, and now we must contend with the bitter fruits of incompetence.

Kenyans can now see the sham that is parliamentary vetting for what it is; a waste of time and resources. That very crucial task should be taken away from an incompetent Parliament, itself lacking in matters of integrity.

Intransigent government

The level of corruption in Government is astounding. A few years back, an estimated 300,000 teachers, nurses, lecturers and doctors demanded better remuneration that would have cost the Exchequer close to Sh30 billion. An intransigent government demurred, claiming there was no money to accede to such demands. The standoff occasioned industrial actions between the years 2014 and 2017.

The impact of those strikes on the economy is not quantifiable. What the Government did was deny at least one million Kenyans, if dependents are added to the number above, a decent life, yet it allowed a handful of individuals to squander more than Sh60 billion in the same period. 

Money that should have bought drugs for patients in public hospitals was misappropriated by a few greedy individuals. Without belabouring the point, I have, over time, written about shady deals at the milk cow that is NHIF.

Today, NHIF card holders pay for services and buy drugs from private pharmacies because life has been sucked out of the national health insurer.

MPs who should have flagged some of these scams are complicit if bribery claims in the august House are anything to go by. While most citizens have given up trying to make ends meet after the promised double digit growth in the economy and the creation of a million jobs annually became a cropper, MPs who should champion their cause to ease suffering would rather invade public coffers.

Worrying about Wanjiku is the least of their problems. One would have expected MPs to demand better remuneration for workers, but no, they are too important to worry about what, to them, is mere riff-raff.

Mr Chagema is a correspondent at The [email protected]