Scenes in Parliament should make us laugh at our foolish mistakes

That Kenyans got surprised at such ugly scenes created by politicians is in itself surprising. [Courtesy]

On Wednesday, Kenyans were surprised and some were even angry because of what happened in the National Assembly after the MPs were called for a special sitting.

There was actual caterwauling as the so-called honourable members fought like alley cats over a Bill many Kenyans do not understand and which in effect, will not add much value to their lives.

It could have made much more sense if the Bill of contention was about basic needs which are increasingly becoming luxuries, but it was about political parties which are formed at will and are not guided by any meaningful ideologies.

As a matter of fact, Kenya has more political parties than it needs, and it would have been better if the fight was about reducing the number of parties and even MPs.

In some counties, parties and politicians behind them stand for certain values, and have ideologies that guide their policies.

But in Kenya, politicians hop, skip and jump from one formation to another without thinking about those who voted for them because of what they or their party stood for then.

That Kenyans got surprised at such ugly scenes created by politicians is in itself surprising. We know what our politicians are capable of, and none of those things are good for the country.

Even as they keep promising voters more than pies in the sky, we are aware that they will never deliver because they seek elective posts not for the their love public service, but to fatten their wallets.

They also know that Kenyan voters are forgiving — nay, forgetful, and will never take them to task over the undelivered promises.

So, every election cycle, they bamboozle Kenyans with promises, excite us with handouts, and hurl insults at each other, and we vote them in.

After that, they come together and start hurting the voters first by voting in Parliament to increase their allowances, perks and salaries, then colluding with their friends in the private sector to steal from public coffers.

It is safe to say that with the kind of elected representatives Kenya has, it will take years, and wonders for the country to progress to a level where people do not miss basic needs such as proper healthcare.

Even as Kenyans complain, we need to be aware that these people we hate to love do not elect themselves.

Well, in a way they do, in to the powerful parliamentary committees which give them the opportunity to travel the world first class and waste taxpayers money in the name of benchmarking, and learning newer ways of making lives better back at home.

But before they get to those positions of privilege and wastage, they are voted in. We can deny all that and blame the electoral body by claiming that they were just rigged in, but that will be our legendary selves not accepting blame.

Kenya’s politicians and elected representatives act the way they do because, as pointed out earlier, Kenyans are forgiving and forgetful.

They step on our toes, steal from us and insult our sensibilities but we never take them to task.

They lie to us but we let them get away because we do not want to hurt the egos of our people, our tribesmen and women.

The chaos witnessed in Parliament on Wednesday is not new, and that is why it was surprising and baffling that Kenyans were surprised.

These are acts the politicians have perfected over the years. Some of the people in the National Assembly were councilors before devolution, and later became MCAs and were used to hurling missiles in assemblies too.

But when they contested for National Assembly seats, we forgot about their earlier infractions, and elected them. Not because they had better track records, but they had perfected the despicable art of giving promises which they have not kept to date as they are still giving more — and sadly, we still believe them.

So, whatever happened in the National Assembly on Wednesday should not surprise us, and we should not blame anyone else.

These monsters belong to us because we refused to dehorn them early in their political careers, and thus, they know that they represent zombies, people who will not question them over the crimes they commit against Kenyans or anti-people laws that they pass.

As pointed out before in this column, we elect mistakes every five years and in-between, and we should know it by now.

At this stage, it is pointless to get annoyed at ourselves for what they do to us and mainly over their behaviour.

If we had forgotten that we have a bunch of dunderheads in Parliament, then that was a perfect reminder. Thus, we should take this opportunity to laugh at our poor choices, and then promise ourselves to vote wisely going forward. Have a Happy New Year.