House needs a radical surgery but who will cast the first stone?

Wanyonyi Wambilyanga

I was reading poetry this week and came across this piece by Cinnamon Brown that fascinated me.

How dare you judge me/

Pretending that above your head is a halo/

How? When you’re all materialistic and shallow/

How dare you tell me I do not know God/

When you only pray if you are crying/

And with each passing day your sanctified ways are dying/

Just because you go to church/

and sing, dance, and shout/

Doesn’t mean God favours you most/

Especially when you do charity only to brag and boast/

I may not go to church every Sunday/

Know that in my heart I have built my Sanctuary/

You are always swearing and using God’s name in vain/

Then 10 seconds later asking him to rebuke your pain/

It’s a shame that you put me down

and call yourself righteous/

Dear, the righteous shall be saved only scarcely/

So there still is a chance for me./

You on the other hand are the model of hypocrisy.

Fascinating because I have never seen a more apt description of our political leaders than this. Or may be this was a more vivid description of the kind of society we are. Parliament has been the centre of attraction for the last few months and it is going to be so for many more to come. The MPs are deciding on the integrity and morality of who should serve Kenyans and who should not.

The debates carried out so far have been hypocritical. It was duplicitous watching MPs tear down nominees on this or that issues when some of them have been in court and in the media for worse offences.

The MPs went on and on about how the nominees should declare their sexual orientation, how they have never prosecuted any big shot, how one is targeted because he is from a marginalised community and the brouhaha was to a point unbearable. But when you think about it, aren’t these the same folks who have been said to be patronising Kenyans infamous red light districts?

The last I remember it was the politician who was in bed with the rogue Judiciary and made it impossible for justice to be meted out only for him to turn holier than thou later.

If my memory serves me right, it is the politicians who have been caught in love triangles even out of the country and then parade their wives in front of cameras to show they are dedicated husbands.

Isn’t it the politician who is running way from the long arm of the law because a woman has gone to court seeking upkeep for illegitimate children? When scandals break in ministries, it is the politician behind them or that is what we are made to believe. So what right do they have to peek through someone’s bedroom secrets when theirs are out there for the public to vet and sometime form juicy bits in gossip cloumns and alternative press?

When a politician says so and so should be appointed because he is from my community then he or she is the sleazebag we want to kick out. A contributor on social media said Parliament needs a radical surgery. I agree. But wait a minute, doesn’t the society get the kind of leaders it deserves? Show me your leaders and I will tell you the kind of society you are.

I think as a society we can barely look ourselves in the mirror and feel proud of what we see. As we interrogate those who had the temerity of facing the cameras to explain themselves we need to re-evaluate ourselves on our suitability to do this. If Parliament needs radical surgery then the electorate needs an overhaul of their ethos. If this is not done, then we are a model of hypocrisy and one that may be beyond redemption.

The writer is Chief Sub-Editor Standard Weekend Editions