Palaver - 31.03.11 - The Standard

Palaver

Tigania West MP Kilemi Mwiria and his Tigania East counterpart Peter Munya recently engaged in a public debate on who between them is fit to be governor on account of academic exploits. Munya flaunted his three law degrees — a Bachelor of Law, a Master of Law, and another Master of Law. Mwiria flaunted his PhD, Master of Education, and Bachelor of Arts. Well, the sons of Tigania have done pretty well but when it comes to leadership on account of education, they should shut up when Robert Mugabe speaks. Sample the qualifications of a most reviled leader: Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Master of Law, Bachelor of Law, Bachelor of Education and (surprise! surprise! ) Bachelor of Administration. If education reflects quality of leadership, then Mugabe should be the best.

Fake it until you make it. This has been the dictum of pretenders who often practise professions they are least or not qualified for. We have had fake doctors, teachers, lawyers and even engineers but several Indians have taken the dictum a notch higher — literally. One ‘pilot’, Parminder Kaur Gulat — recently landed a packed passenger plane on its nose instead of rear wheels, and investigations have revealed several other pilots with falsified qualifications.

Difficult times demand difficult measures, says a Palaver fan. He says when he saw in The Standard Wednesday pictures of Makadara MP Gidion Mbuvi imbibing a coloured stuff in a Dasani bottle at a public rally, the name Mututho flashed in his mind.

And finally ...

Palaver ponders the level of mistrust between leading politicians. When word spread that ODM would hire lawyers for three suspects allied to its party, Eldoret North MP William Ruto flatly turned down the alleged offer, fearing the party was out to plant spies among his legal team. What happens when the bitter rivals meet in social joints? Either they carry their drinks to the gents or pour down whatever drinks had remained before the loo visit. Just a thought.