Speaker Muturi blew his moment of glory to please legislators

Henrik Ibsen’s play, An Enemy of the People, is for me one of the best political plays. In the masterpiece, Dr Stockman loses his house, his job and even his popularity for standing up to corruption involving a ‘baths’ project in his town, which is headed by his mayor brother, Peter. In a matter of days, there is so much hatred for the man that he is alone in the profoundest sense of the term. And just when you thought the good doctor would beat a hasty about-face to regain his societal acceptance, the doctor famously quips: “The strongest man is the one who stands alone.”

And National Assembly Speaker Justin Muturi reminded me of Dr Stockman when he invited Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission officers to investigate graft in the august House. Here was another great man – from my county, perhaps I would have added – with the interests of the country so much at heart he was willing to face the wrath of MPs to ensure the gangrene of corruption is stopped from spreading at one of the key pillars of our democracy – the National Assembly.