Kenya needs to agree within itself where it wants to go and what kind of country it wants to be. We seem to be at a crossroads; between the old and the new.
The old Kenya is a disunited, corrupt and rudderless flock of sheep that pontificate leaders on the basis of tribe and “our man-ness”; more often than not a wolf in sheep's clothing praying with the sheep they slaughter in corrupt deals daily.
At the same time, the new Kenya is a nation that is looking for leaders with scruples, a vision and disdain for corruption and impunity.
The leadership that Kenya so deeply craves is a leadership that can bring the future nearer to us and not further from us.
A leadership that is not an empty debe making noise all over, but a leadership that can allow its track record to speak for itself.
A leadership that between election years is focused on delivery and is on the ground with the people.
But as it stands today, these two paths are dividing this nation. Everywhere you look there are supporters of endless campaigns, and the supporters of a focus to deliver what the people so urgently need and crave.
Hopelessly failing
It baffles me that after 55 years of practicing democracy, we still think that every weekend, church services and harambees are platforms for endless campaigns, mudslinging and pontification.
There is no theme as to why we are campaigning. We are not in opposition, so why are we making promises of things we should be doing? Does it make sense that sitting Members of Parliament, Senate, governors and members of the national Executive are campaigning?
What, pray tell is the promise? And why do you need to promise us when you already have ample opportunity to do that which you promised to do two short years ago?
The rhetoric in this campaign rallies is meant for those who have eyes but cannot see and ears that do not hear. How is it that you would take your time to listen to a politician promise to do tomorrow what he is hopelessly failing at today?
Why are you anointing them as God’s chosen for 2022 when they are clearly letting you down today? What miracle do you expect will happen in 2022?
County governments
Stay informed. Subscribe to our newsletter
A tiger does not change its stripes, and we have known our politicians long enough to understand that a politician by any other name would still smell as rotten. Indeed, two brothers had their names legally changed and today they sit atop county governments that are so badly run they are a spectacle to the nation.
Similarly, these leaders we are dancing for today will deliver in 2022 what they are feeding us now: hot air and empty State coffers.
Any leader who does not see 2019, 2020 and 2021 as pivotal years in the development of our nation is not a leader. Any leader who does not realise that the best campaign slogan for 2022 is “I did it and I will do it again” is a blind guide and he will lead us down the path to hell, as we sing hymns of praise to him.
The fight against corruption, the unity of our nation and her development are all points that every Kenyan should agree on. It is saddening, to say the least, that we need to fight and argue about it.
That we have to be dragged, kicking and screaming like insolent brats, to the realisation that on these three we must agree.
We must agree that ending corruption is much more powerful than harambees and useless repentance-less prayers.
We must agree that a united Kenya is a better place for our children to grow up and development is best done than roaming round the nation trading veiled barbs against real and imagined enemies of your 2022 bids.
Sitting leaders should, every day of the week, be focused on putting down a track record, showcasing their skill behind the desk of authority and their dexterity in the corridors of power.
They should campaign with work done and not empty slogans and promises.
It is irritating to see my brothers hoodwinked, again, sold the lie that somehow sitting leaders need no track record and all that must happen is that the chosen must lead because it must be so.
This is not 1900 and this is not a superstition driven land. There are no kings and no princes. This is a democracy where the voice of the people must be taken as the voice of God.
The nation of Kenya needs to wake up from its slumber for a spectre looms on the horizon. A dystopic Kenya is what is waiting for us if we continue to vote with our feelings and not our heads.
The future is bleak because we continue to want to have flashy rallies in lieu of actual work and development. We want to launch funny bridges and cattle dips instead of building bridges of unity and prosperity.
Learn from the best governors we have in this nation, like Kivutha Kibwana. He is never on campaign mode, his work speaks for itself.
Were there a third term he would only need his name as his own slogan.
The net losers are the people who attend rallies when their roads remain unbuilt, their schools without desks and their future in tatters.
The people who should cry the most are those who receive harambee money when the economy lies in disrepair because the corrupt and inept are in harambees.
I cry for you my beloved Kenya, arise, for your future is at a crossroads. Life and death are set before you. Choose ye life.
Mr Bichachi is a communication consultant. [email protected]
The Standard Group Plc is a
multi-media organization with investments in media platforms spanning newspaper
print operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key
influence in matters of national and international interest.
join