Country looted by leaders can be anything but good

Let us not cheat ourselves. The health of the Kenyan nation is bad. It is wicked to pretend that it is anything else. It does not matter that it is President Uhuru Kenyatta who tries to convince us otherwise.

We should get very worried when, in the face of all the evidence to the contrary, the President looks us straight in the eye and tells us that all is well. Let me tell you the truth; all is not well. And this is why, traditionally, I have never trusted the people in Government. They tell you things that make you wonder whether they think that you operate on cold porridge in the head. How do they tell you things that defy the plain evidence before you? 

It seems that we have reached that state that Arthur Eric Blair (aka George Orwell) satirized in his 1945 novel, Animal Farm. ”Somehow it seemed as though the farm had grown richer without making the animals themselves any richer – except, of course for the (privileged) pigs and dogs . . . As for the others, their life, so far as they knew, was as it had always been. They were generally hungry, they slept on straw, they drank from the pool, they labored in the fields; in winter they were troubled by the cold, and in summer by the flies.”

It would appear that Kenya has grown richer under successive governments, without making the citizens themselves richer. The living standards have become more comfortable, without making the citizens more comfortable. In the rainy season, Kenyans die of floods. In the dry season, they die of drought and famine. At all other times, they are terribly broke. They don’t have enough to eat. They live in slums. They hate each other along tribal lines. They die in road accidents, or get killed by goons.

Their country has serious water problems. The leaders cheat them that they will build dams and instead stash into their pockets billions of shillings meant for the dams. Their leadersdramatise a non-existent “war against corruption.” They say nasty things to each other, just to look as if they are “doing something.” In this regard, the President looks like the chief whistle blower in his own government. 

In his own political party, the President looks like the leader of the Opposition. His deputy looks like the leader of government, asserting that there is no corruption. The business of government is to have two factions screaming at each other about things neither side believes in. The government would be more honest if the President were to tell us, “Fellow Kenyans; Mabibi na Mabwana, the Presidency presents to you a play titled ‘The War on Corruption.’Karibuni.” For it is all drama and nothing more. It’s pure hot air.

The health of a country that is being looted by its political leaders can be anything but good. Hence, the Big Four Agenda is a lonely pipe dream. You cannot brag about food security when citizens are dying of famine and government is denying that they are dying. Meanwhile, as they die of hunger, food is rotting in stores in the next county, because there is no proper food policy. Farmers don’t know whether to plant or not, because government has bastardised their crop. The health of agriculture and food security is terrible.

The health sector is in disarray. The country’s nurses had been on strike for about two months. Everyone has forgotten about this. Public hospitals across are limping, as a result. Besides, doctors’ morale has never been lower. You treat your own medics like something the cat has just brought in, while pampering foreigners from Cuba. And as you pamper the Cuban Santeria, you have a surplus of homegrown doctors that you don’t seem to want to give jobs. How do you say that the health in the country is sound?

The state’s own statistics suggest that 8.5 million Kenyans in the employment age bracket are jobless. How can the health of such a nation be good? The gears of training are in disharmony with the engines of the labour market. Trainers are interested in collecting fees without caring about the future of those they train. Training is completely out of rhythm with national planning and development. We simply don’t know where our children are going. Our health cannot be said to be good. Devolution represents our best hope in solving our challenges. Yet funds do not follow functions to the counties. The National Government pays lip service to devolution. Meanwhile some governors have turned their counties into sultanates where they reign without accountability to anyone. How do we talk of good health in the county?

Meanwhile, the political Opposition stands at the doorstep of government, drooling. Its saliva-dripping tongue hangs outside the mouth; its lungs engaged, panting; “he-he-he-he!” It longs to be admitted to the gravy train. For, “If you can’t beat them, you join them,” so the saying goes. Today, people who claim to be the Opposition are among the loudest state apologists. Civil society has either been cowed, or it has joined in. The religious fraternity and the academy have joined in. The citizens are sheep that bleat, “Four legs good, two legs better.”

In the process, the country’s debt portfolio has rocketed to Sh5.9 trillion. It is still growing. And the money gets stolen. And the citizens defend the thieves, because they are of the same tribe. Who will speak for Kenya? God, we are in a mess. This is the true state of the nation. God, have mercy. Give us grace. 

- The writer is a strategic public communications adviser. www.barrackmuluka.co.ke