Chinua Achebe’s prophesy in ‘A Man of the People’ comes to pass here

Last week, Kenyans were treated to an entertaining circus when our honourable Members of Parliament ended the year in style. Many Kenyans were shocked at the display of violence, dishonour, shame and crassness exhibited by people’s representatives in the august House. However, I was neither surprised nor shocked at the behaviour of our so-called leaders; they did not do anything out of the ordinary.

What we saw on that memorable Thursday is really the stuff politicians are made of and any show of surprise or shock on our part would reveal that we are either naïve or duplicitous. Our political leaders often behave in a revolting manner but their actions in Parliament last week only served to bring to pass Chinua Achebe’s prophesy in A Man of the People (Heinemann, 1966). I suggest we read, or reread, A Man of the People to enable us see the kind of characters who represent us in the National Assembly and Senate and understand why we should not be shocked.